Dr Marie Ó Mír PhD

BSc Physiotherapy 1997, PhD Physiotherapy 2019

Dr Marie Ó Mír is the CEO of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP). She is the Co-Chair of the Health and Social Care Professions Alliance (HSCPA), an umbrella organisation of Professional Bodies, representing over 21,000 HSCPs. A Chartered Physiotherapist, she has worked clinically for 27 years, mostly in CHI, Crumlin, where she developed the first national Paediatric Orthopaedic Triage Clinic. 

She was awarded a PhD from UCD in 2019 for her research on Advanced Practice Physiotherapy in Paediatric Orthopaedics, and also completed a Professional Diploma in Healthcare Leadership in RCSI in 2022. 

Marie has worked previously with the HSCP Office in the HSE to publish the Advanced Practice Competency Framework for HSCPs, and is currently a member of the Expert Working Group set up by the Department of Health to develop Xray referral rights for physiotherapists, encompassing education and governance frameworks and legislative changes.

She regularly lectures on paediatric orthopaedics and advanced practice, and has presented her research both nationally and internationally - including at the World Congress of Physical Therapists in Singapore 2015, in Cape Town in July 2017, and in Geneva in 2019 and Dubai 2023.

What led you to studying the BSc in Physiotherapy?

My neighbour was a physiotherapist in South Tipperary where I grew up. Her name was Roisin Kiely. She was treating Nicky English as the time, who was a hero of Tipperary hurling, working in the local hospital also, and looking after Aidan O’Brien's horses. I though she was amazing. She gave me a chance to shadow her and I was hooked.

You returned to college to do a PhD in Physiotherapy later on – please share your experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed my PhD. Coming to it in my late 30s, I relished the chance to study and learn again. I was also delighted to be in the new Health Sciences Building, as it wasn’t there when I did my undergraduate. I loved all my extra credit modules, except perhaps some of the statistics ones… I don’t like maths!

I had incredible support from the whole academic team in the UCD School of Physiotherapy. My joint supervisors were Catherine Blake and Cliona O’Sullivan, who went way above and beyond. Olive Lennon was on my panel and gave such great direction. Catriona Cunningham was also a great support, as was Tara Cusack. It was a natural fit for me to go back to UCD, and I made lifelong friends there on the academic team.

What was your favourite part of studying Physiotherapy?

People, all the people you meet. Your fellow students, the patients you look after, their families. I loved being on placement the most when I was a student. Physios are active people; they love getting stuck in and getting to work.  

What advice would you give to someone considering studying this course? 

You have to be a people person and enjoy communicating. You have to be a problem solver too. But the most important skills you will learn are how to listen, and how to empower people in their own health.

Physio is so much more than the traditional idea of the physio on the pitch side. We have 18 different specialities for people to join in the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists. The range is huge, and you most likely will fall in love with an area you never considered before trying it.

It is a great career also to travel with. I have travelled the world working as a physio and Irish physio graduates are held in high esteem.

What was your experience at UCD like? Any highlights?

The class of 97 were and are amazing.

I also loved hanging out at the old UCD bar… sadly no longer there!

What is your current role?

I am the CEO of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, the national professional organisation for physiotherapists.

How do you feel the Physiotherapy degree prepared you for this role?

As undergraduates, we were always encouraged to think on our feet in UCD, and the learning wasn’t spoon-fed to us. We were taught to be resourceful and resilient, cycling to and from clinical placements in the middle of the day. (That was not a highlight). We were also taught the importance of the team.

Coming back to it over 20 years later, the skills and confidence I got from my PhD, I can’t enumerate. I definitely would not be in this role, if I hadn’t done my PhD. It opened my eyes to so many new ideas and ways of seeing things. I had been working in a very specialised clinical area until then and thought I had almost pigeonholed myself to that area. After my PhD, I really realised how transferable many of my skills were.

Describe your typical workday. 

I say I used to solve problems for my patients, and now I solve them for my members and the profession!

The core for me is the office team in the ISCP. I spend a lot of my time resourcing issues and capacity for the team so that they can do the work they always do, with such excellence. I believe the members are at the core of the work of the ISCP, but my team are at my core, so that they can fully support the members.

My days are never the same. I liaise with the Board, President and Vice President regularly. I meet with the HSE and DoH around advocacy issues. I go on site visits to meet members. I help plan our communications strategy, and work with the Professional Advisor of profession issues.

I am also part of a network of CEOs of the other Health and Social Care organisations in Ireland, and the CEOs of World Physiotherapy internationally, where we discuss the issues on managing organisations like ours, as well as issues facing our professions.

Winning Association of the Year, 10 months after I became CEO, was actually a recognition of all the work that the organisation had been doing for so long. The professional team consists of 11 people serving 4000 members. We are small but mighty and very agile!

I am Co-Chair of the Health and Social Care Professions Alliance, which meets monthly.

I am passionate about learning, so currently I am enrolled in a Professional Diploma on Strategy and Innovation, which is taking up a lot of my time.

What’s the proudest moment of your career to date?

There are two: I was recruited into the ISCP to advocate for an amendment to legislation to allow physiotherapists refer for Xray. I compiled the evidentiary review and spent the next 5 years advocating on this, and then working with the HSE and DoH on its implementation. When the legislation change was introduced by the Minister in June 2025, it was a huge moment for me.

At the other extreme, I worked in CHI Crumlin for years. I still have a letter I got from the parents of a young child who went on to receive a significant diagnosis after attending a clinic I ran. They had long suspected something serious was wrong, but felt no one was listening. They wrote a beautiful letter thanking me for my care in starting them on the journey to get the answers they needed. I will always have that letter. Care is not always about healing but about listening.

In your career/personal life, who have been the most inspiring or helpful mentors/advisers that you’ve had?

In my career, Eavan Guilfoyle is an amazing paediatric physio who taught me most of what I know. All the physios in CHI Crumlin are a continuous source of inspiration and learning, particularly the MSK team, especially Ciara Cooney and Susan Ward who taught me how to reflect and be a little calm!

I was and still am forever blown away by the work ethic of Cliona O’Sullivan and Catherine Blake, my PhD supervisors.

Esther Mary D’Arcy is still a mentor to me in the ISCP and World Physiotherapy, and the epitome of compassionate leadership.

I am forever in awe of the intellect, optimism, and can-do attitude of almost every physiotherapist I meet!

In my life I am so lucky in my friendships and learn so much from all my friends.

My children teach me so much about laughter, loyalty and empathy every day, and my husband Oisin is my personal coach in almost everything, except cooking!

He is a great leader in his own sphere, and I have learned almost everything I know about the practicality of leading teams from him.

What is lifelike outside work for you? Tell us a bit more about your current life, hobbies, or what you do to relax?

Knitting, sea swimming and Nordic noir are my delights, as well as dark chocolate. I have 3 teenagers I adore but drive me to distraction at times, and a 6-month-old German Pointer, who is also driving me to distraction.

My husband and I both turned 50 this year. It has been a great year, and we will fit in a few more celebrations.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Doing my PhD I was told… this is a journey, you have no idea where it will take you, just go with it. I think that is applicable to most of life.

Content added: November 2025