John is a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland and the Insurance Institute of Ireland, with a Diploma in Corporate Direction awarded by UCC & a Professional Certificate in Governance awarded by UCD & the Institute of Public Administration.  He served as a County Councillor for Tipperary from 1999 to 2019 and as a member of the former Tipperary VEC and Tipperary ETB from 1999 to 2019, performing the role of Tipperary ETB Chairperson from 2014 to 2019.  He served as ETBI President for a one year term from September 2018, following from his considerable work at local and national level for the ETB and broader education sectors