Approved housing body (AHB) Respond has announced the appointment of Aoife Watters as its new chief executive officer (CEO).
Aoife Watters, who will officially take up the role in April 2025, is set to become the organisation’s third CEO and the first female CEO in its 40-plus-year history. The board has taken care to ensure a smooth and orderly transition working with the current CEO and its executive management team.
Currently serving as CEO of Dublin Cemeteries Trust, Watters brings a wealth of experience from both the commercial and charity sectors. She has served as a board director and chair with another AHB, also chairing its Finance and Audit Board Subcommittee. She was finance and corporate services director for a large cross-border housing and homelessness charity.
Aoife Watters has built a distinguished career, leading transformative change and driving organisational effectiveness in the commercial and charity sectors with expertise in governance, strategic leadership, and financial stewardship. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity, achieving gender balance on boards and driving initiatives that support inclusive and high-performing teams. She is poised to continue Respond’s legacy of growth and impact.
Respond is Ireland’s largest construction-led AHB and services provider. The organisation has over 40 years of expertise in delivering homes and working to build communities around those homes. With over 18,000 social and cost rental tenants nationwide, Respond has a tenant satisfaction rate of 89%. Recognising the importance of community, Respond also provides 17 early learning and school-age care services, three daycare services for older people, and six family homeless services and family support services.
Speaking about her appointment, Aoife Watters said: “I am honoured to join Respond and to have the opportunity to lead this exceptional organisation. Respond’s values and guiding principles are very much aligned with my own. I have long admired Respond’s reputation for delivering high-quality homes and embedding them in communities where people can build their lives. Its strong track record of growth, innovation and supporting communities has had a lasting impact around Ireland. Building on this foundation and the important and wide-reaching transformational work of my predecessor, Declan Dunne, I am looking forward to working with the board, team, and stakeholders to ensure a smooth leadership transition, driving the organisation’s next chapter of growth. Together, we will continue Respond’s vital work, delivering homes, supporting communities and making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”