Andrea is presently the Clinical Manager at Men’s Aid Ireland. Having previously worked in Drogheda Women and Children’s refuge for a period of 5 years she joined Men’s Aid and has supported male victims of domestic violence and coercive control since 2014.

Andrea is professionally trained in the areas of domestic violence, youth justice, addiction issues, homelessness, family law, mental health, and all aspects of domestic abuse. She has completed level 8 training in this area at DKIT.

She has gained significant operational and strategic insights in regard to service delivery to victims of Domestic Sexual and Gender Based Violence and regularly represents Men’s Aid at interagency engagements throughout the country. In particular she continues to deliver professional victim centric briefings to An Garda Siochana/ Social Workers/ Counsellors/ GPs/ and other statutory and non-statutory agencies.

Andrea is also a trained Tulsa Designated Liaison Officer for Men’s Aid in regards to responsibilities under “Children First” and as a consequence liaises with Tusla on a regular basis regarding child protection issues.

Her broad experience and knowledge of the subject has assisted Andrea in fulfilling many other functions for Men’s Aid, the most significant of which is her in house training and mentoring role for new team members and her ongoing lead support role for all those employed at this charity.

Ann has been involved with Women’s Aid Dundalk since 2004 and has worked in a variety of roles including, volunteer support worker, administrator & development cross border project worker and chairperson. In 2016 Ann retired from the board and in 2017 she took on the role of Services Manager. Ann holds a BA in Business (Management Studies) and a Higher National Diploma in Community Development.

Ann is also currently serving as Chairperson with Safe Ireland National Social Change Agency CLG.

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A Pharmacologist by background, Edel spent a number of years in UCD as the Irish Kidney Association‘s Newman Scholar in Nephrology as a Principal Investigator and also lecturing in Pharmacology. Edel worked then for the Health & Safety Authority, where she was a Senior Inspector in the Hazardous Substances Assessment Unit managing a team of chemists, environmental scientists and toxicologists. She represented Ireland on EU working groups / committees in the area of Chemical safety.

Edel is currently Head of the School of Health and Science in DkIT and has been in that role since 2007. The School offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and part time programmes in Health and Science disciplines. It also has a very active research profile with a number of Research Centres across a range of disciplines.  She plays a key role in the academic management and strategic direction of the School and Institute. She also represents DkIT on a number of regional and national committees in a range of areas. She currently represents DkIT on the Louth Children and Young Persons Service Committee.

She was also on the Management Committee of the Genesis Programme and was Chairperson of the Expert Advisory Group for the Changing Lives Initiative programme. Edel co-ordinated the multi-disciplinary team that lead to the development of the Certificate in the Fundamentals of Understanding and Responding to Domestic Abuse.

Dr Emma Carroll is a Clinical Psychologist who has recently taken up post as Head of the Student Counselling Service within DkIT. As part of her current role, she is supporting the implementation of the National Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment Framework and leading on the implementation of the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework. Within both areas, domestic violence can be a significant factor in the onset or exacerbation of distress.

Prior to this, she worked as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist within HSC-NI leading a Trust – wide staff wellbeing service at strategic and operational levels. She is looking forward to working with and learning from colleagues across the different sectors as a member of the River Project Steering Committee.

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Dr Kathleen Nallen is Project Lead for the DkIT RiVeR Project.

Prior to this she was a Midwife Lecturer and Midwifery Programmes Director at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). She is a qualified nurse, midwife and tutor with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. She completed a MSc. in Midwifery with Trinity College Dublin and a Doctorate in Midwifery through Queen’s University Belfast in 2016. Kathleen is also Programme Director for the ‘Certificate in the Fundamentals of Understanding and Responding to Domestic Abuse’ programme delivered by DkIT since 2016.

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Dr. Michelle Walsh completed her PhD within the Unesco Child and Family Research Centre in NUI Galway. She undertook a nationwide study which looked at the Effects and Understanding of Sexual Harassment among the Irish Adolescent population. The findings from this study were launched in July, 2021 by RCNI, entitled Storm and Stress and can be found on the RCNI website. Michelle holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Supervision and Professional Practice and is also a fully accredited psychotherapist and clinical supervisor.  

Michelle worked with RCNI (Rape Crisis Networks Ireland), as the Clinical Project Lead, on the Clinical Innovation Project, evaluating Counsellors and Survivors experiences of working online and also quantifying counsellors training needs and developing programmes to address these deficits. The research emerging from this project, entitled “A Safer Space”, was published in 2022. A former Board Member of Rape Crisis Midwest, Michelle previously worked there as the Training and Development manager, delivering and developing training for all sectors of the community in relation working with and understanding Sexual Violence and its impacts. Michelle is the current CEO of MOVE Ireland, a national perpetrator program aimed at tackling DSGBV.

Additionally, Michelle has trained support workers for Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Limerick. She is aware of the many of issues faced by Clinicians who work with, and Survivors who have experienced, sexual violence. Michelle is passionate about preventing, and ameliorating, the harm of sexual, domestic, and gender-based violence.

Dr Susan Lagdon is a Lecturer in Psychology (Mental Health) at Ulster University. Susan’s research interests include domestic and sexual violence and abuse, particularly the mental health implications of interpersonal trauma and the availability and types of support for victims. Susan’s work involves the use of multiple mix methods with a particular focus on participatory and stakeholder engagement to guide research process. Susan has over 30 research outputs. Current projects include the Healthy Young Adults Relationship (HYAR) Project funded under the Medical Research Council’s Public Health Intervention Development (PHIND) fund, as well as the COSHARE (Consent, Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Equality in Higher Education) project in partnership with NUI Galway funded under the HEA’s North-South Research Programme.

Susan is co-chair of Forensic Managed Care Network and a member of the British Psychological Society. Susan is also the external examiner for DkIT’S Certificate in Fundamentals of Understanding and Responding to Domestic Abuse and sits on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma.

Susan completed her PhD during 2016 which focused on intimate partner violence, mental health and service experience in Northern Ireland. This worked included the publication of “Every Voice Counts”, a research report which looked at the Northern Ireland policing response to victims of intimate partner violence. Susan is also a fellow of the UK higher education academy.

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Emma is a Domestic Violence campaigner & global public speaker and has been since 2015 after she shared her story online which to date has been viewed over 50 million times worldwide. Emma has travelled to many countries such as Australia and spoken at many worldwide events such as the third world women’s conference in the Hague, TedX in Cyprus, Safe Ireland world summit and many more. Emma continues to share her strong message and to raise awareness around Domestic Violence, Emma is a support worker at Saoirse women's refuge.

Emma completed the level 8 ‘Fundamentals of understanding & responding to Domestic Abuse’ programme in 2017 at DkIT and since then has continued to share her knowledge with the world, empowering women make a stand and take control.

Above all of Emma's hard work and contribution she is a mother of 2 and is passionate about raising awareness for the younger generation, sharing knowledge and tools so the younger generation are aware of the signs and what to look out for when in relationships. Emma believes the younger generation hold the key to change in Ireland.

I am an accredited Integrative Psychotherapist based in Galway city with a Masters in Gestalt Adolescent Psychotherapy. Over the past 17 years I have worked in Galway Rape Crisis Centre and in Private Practice with Young People and their parents.

Currently, I am working in the Student Counselling service of the University of Galway, on a full-time basis. Within this position, I play a key role on the University's Sexual Violence Harassment Prevention & Response Committee, in addition to being a member of the Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland (PCEHI) Executive Committee.

I hold a particular interest in Sexual Violence education and prevention. In line with this I have extensively collaborated with Active*Consent on various different Education programmes including developing and delivering a First Point of Contact (Disclosure) Training, with my colleagues in Galway Rape Crisis Centre, for Students and Staff across the third level sector, on a national basis.

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Geordie has been working in the Community/Voluntary sector for 20 years. His education background includes a MSc in Conflict Resolution. His past employment has included work with ex/political prisoners/combatants, cross-border youth work, local youthwork in Louth with a focus on young offenders and more recently targeting adults with a history of repeat-offending under the Joint Agency Response to Crime programme (JARC).

Geordie has 6 years-experience of working directly with male perpetrators of Domestic Violence with both MOVE Ireland and North East Domestic Violence Programme (NEDVIP) as a facilitator on the CHOICES Programme and more recently as a Practice Supervisor also.

Joanne Murphy is an experienced manager with a demonstrated history of working in the child and family, training and addiction sectors. Skilled in project management, policy development, cross sectoral partnerships, and strategic service delivery. She has a strong educational background with a postgraduate Diploma focussed on Public Health and Health Promotion and a B.Sc. in Community Youth Work from University of Ulster, Jordanstown.

In her current role, as Children and Young People’s Services Committee, Coordinator, she is involved in bringing a diverse group of agencies together in Louth to engage in joint planning and coordination of services for children and young people. Her role aids communication, enhances responsiveness and assists in ensuring effective implementation of policy through to outcomes focused provision.

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Laura is an Assistant Principal on the Community Safety team in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Policy function. With a background in law, Laura has been in the Department for a number of years and has worked in a number of different areas.

Her work on Community Safety team since 2020 has involved the development and implementation of the Supporting a Victims Journey plan and the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender based violence; development of policy proposals for new legislation; and development of new supports for victims.

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María currently works as LGBTI+ & DSGBV Health Coordinator in the HSE National Social Inclusion Office. As part of her dual role, María is responsible for the coordination of the implementation of HSE actions in relation to the First National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy as well as the Third DSGBV National Strategy. In relation to the latter, she is responsible for the design, coordination and implementation of the HSE National Training Strategy for Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. Due to her vast experience working in addiction services, prior to her current role, María has also been involved in international projects and initiatives focused on the intersectionalities between drug use and gender/LGBTI+ identities.

María holds an MSc in Health Psychology and an MSc in Gender Studies.

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My name is and I am the Children’s Services Manager in the Drogheda Women’s and Children’s Refuge for the past eleven years. I have BA in Early Childhood Studies and Practice and recently completed a Level 9 Certificate in Leadership and Management. I teach the Child Protection lecture on the 'Certificate in the Fundamentals of understanding and responding to Domestic Abuse' programme in DkIT and in 2022 completed the programme as a student.

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Áine Costello is National Coordinator of Barnardos National Childhood Domestic Abuse Project. Áine has been working in the area of social care for the past 20 years and with Barnardos for the last 15 years in both family support capacity and as coordinator for the TLC Kidz programme, working exclusively with children and mothers who have experienced domestic violence. She took on the role of National Coordinator almost 3 years ago, and has been working towards increasing the visibility of childhood domestic abuse and to support a collective and collaborative approach to identifying the needs of children