Mr. Martin O’Brien, ECOO Regional Representative

Martin is a practicing optometrist based in County Wexford in Ireland. He completed his undergraduate degree and (pre)-registration in the UK  and worked in Northern Ireland for a number of years before returning home to live in Ireland. After moving home, Martin joined the AOI Association of Optometrists Ireland (now known as Optometry Ireland) and held a number of positions in the Association since including President and is currently a member of the Executive Committee, and currently holds the position of Education & CPD Committee Chair. In addition, he represents the profession of Optometry at the National Programme Office for Traffic Medicine-Working Group in Ireland and also sits on the NPOTM Vision sub-group; contributing towards the medical fitness to drive guidelines in Ireland. In 2021, Martin was one of the first optometrists in Ireland to qualify as a vaccinator as part of the Irish Covid-19 reponse, and was appointed as one of the expert team to develop the protocols for optometrist-vaccinators.

As part of the Optometry Ireland CPD programme, Martin regularly arranges CPD events and delivers a range of courses and lectures. He has been an examiner for the Irish registrations examinations in a variety of subjects. Since 2009, Martin has represented Optometry Ireland (formerly known as the Association of Optometrists Ireland) at ECOO, and has served 2 terms as Professional Services Committee Chairperson and as part of the ECOO Executive Committee; and is currently a member of the ECOO PS Committee. In 2011, he was awarded Fellowship (by portfolio) by the College of Optometrist (UK) and has also been awarded with Fellowship of the Association of Optometrists Ireland.

He is married with three children (and a dog) and is a passionate advocate for optometry and the enhancement of the scope of practice of the profession.