Domain 5: List of Contributors
Dr Denise Lyons is a social care worker who lecturers on both Social Care and Creative Skills modules in the Institute of Technology Carlow. She is also a qualified art therapist. Denise served as secretary for Irish Association of Social Care Educators (IASCE) for five years, and was one of the founding members of Social Care Ireland Executive, serving as president from 2012 until 2014. Denise’s publications include Creative Studies for the Caring Professions (2010) and Social Care: Learning from Practice (2014), which she co-edited with Noel Howard. Denise’s PhD, which she completed in 2018, explored the experiences of social care workers in different settings.
Dr Teresa Brown is a social care worker currently lecturing on Social Care degree and masters’ programmes in the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest TUS. Teresa has extensive experience as a social care worker in Northern Ireland, Ireland and Romania. She has practised in the areas of residential care, secure care and child protection/family support. Teresa is currently a board member of Social Care Ireland and an active member of the Irish Association of Social Care Educators (IASCE). Her PhD, completed in 2016, focused on social care workers’ experiences of relationship-based practice.
Sharon Claffey qualified as a social care worker in 2020 with a BA (Hons) degree from Institute of Technology Carlow. She has practice experience in childcare and recently in the homeless sector. She has experienced many different areas in this sector, for example family hubs, all-male hostels and residential care. She has also completed an internship in IT Carlow, where she worked in the placement office for ten months. She was an active volunteer throughout her time as a student and has volunteered with Le Chéile (Mentoring and Youth Justice Services) for four years to date.
Paul Creaven graduated from Limerick Institute of Technology in 2015 with a first class honours in Applied Social Studies (Social Care). Since then Paul has worked in services that support people diagnosed with acquired brain injuries, strokes, autism spectrum disorder, physical and sensory disabilities and mental health. As well as working in diverse service settings Paul has worked on projects in accessibility, has been a local co-ordinator of a national audit by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a certification co-ordinator with ETB and QQI frameworks in vocational and day services, and a fundraising co-ordinator; has supervised students on placements and provided presentations to businesses, schools and colleges on awareness of acquired brain injuries, strokes and services. Paul is now a community service manager in Rehab Care in Galway, where he has been working since early 2019.
Niamh Delany has seventeen years’ experience as a social care worker in services supporting people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. She holds a master’s in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy and is passionate about the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Throughout her career Niamh has advocated for and empowered decision-making and choice using person-centred planning. She serves as Independent Chair of the Peamount Healthcare Equality and Human Rights Committee. Niamh offers quality improvement and regulatory support consultation to organisations providing services for people with disabilities. She is an active member of Social Care Ireland.
Helena Doody is a social care worker in education and Head of the Department of Humanities in Technological University Dublin, Tallaght Campus. Helena has over thirty years’ experience working with marginalised groups and individuals. During this time, she has worked in the social care sector as social care worker, social care leader and co-ordinator of services. She has a passionate interest in advocacy, equality and issues regarding access to higher education, which is the topic of her current doctoral research. Her experiences to date have provided her with a multi-lens view of the systemic inequalities that exist in society from both the social care front line and academia. Helena is currently on the Board of Directors for Social Care Ireland.
Laura Doyle, who is a social care manager employed in a service for adults with intellectual disabilities, graduated with a BA (Hons) in Applied Social Studies in Social Care in 2012 from Waterford Institute of Technology and worked as a social care worker for a number of years supporting adults with disabilities. Laura currently supports a team of social care workers in the provision of high-quality services and supports in a day service setting. Laura is also a PhD student in Waterford Institute of Technology, undertaking a research project on ‘Moving towards a human rights-based approach in disability services: An analysis of social care workers’ skills and competencies, which explores how policy manifests into social care practice.
Francis Gahan qualified as a social care worker with a BA (Hons) in 2013. He has practice experience in disability service provision and residential childcare. He holds an MSc in Applied Social Research from Trinity College Dublin and is currently undertaking PhD research at Technological University Dublin. He also continues to work on the Applied Social Studies (Professional Social Care) programme at Carlow College, St Patrick’s, where he attained his undergraduate degree.
Sarah Joyce currently works full time in frontline homeless services. She has extensive experience in numerous challenging environments from homeless services, education centres and direct provision centres to addiction services, dealing with people from a person-centred perspective. She holds a BA (Hons) in Social Care from Technological University Dublin.
Antonia Kenny is a social care worker currently teaching in Moate Business College in the School of Caring. Prior to this, Antonia worked in Rehabilitative Training and lectured across the Humanities Department in the Institute of Technology Carlow. Antonia has also worked in residential care and day service settings for people with disabilities and is a committee member of the Social Care Ireland Disability Special Interest Group. She completed her MA in Health Promotion in 2017 with the National University of Ireland, Galway, focusing her research on the barriers and facilitators to social inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities. This research was published in the Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care in 2018.
Gillian Larkin is a lecturer in Applied Social Care at Technological University Dublin, Tallaght Campus. She lectures across the programme in Professional Practice, Management and Supervision in Social Care, Leadership and Organisational Change in Social Care and Strategy and Governance in Social Care. Prior to becoming a lecturer, she worked in family support and residential care settings for fifteen years, and for the last ten years has worked on a voluntary basis coaching and mentoring people experiencing difficulties with addiction and mental health. She is currently completing a MA in Applied Psychology (Positive and Coaching Psychology).
Lindsay Malone is a social care worker in education and is the Deputy Head of Faculty of Lifelong Learning at Institute of Technology Carlow. She has spent the last number of years as an associate lecturer teaching across BA and MA programmes. Lindsay has held senior management roles across both the voluntary and community sector and the private sector. She is currently undertaking a PhD in Education and Social Justice at Lancaster University. Lindsay was previously a director with the Gaisce National Council and is a fellow and mentor with the Irish Institute of Training and Development (IITD).
Victoria McDonagh is a social care worker with over twelve years experience in both Ireland and Australia. She is currently a lecturer in Social Care and Early Childhood Studies in Waterford Institute of Technology. Victoria has worked with a wide range of service users in the areas of family support, mental health, dementia care, chronic illness and disability. She has also worked in management, leading social care teams and programmes. Following her degree in Social Care, Victoria has completed postgraduate study in Family Therapy and a master’s in Child, Youth and Family Studies. Victoria is passionate about empowering service users to reach their full ability as well as providing person-centred support. She is also active in research in social care and early childhood.
David Power has an MA in Management, a BA (Hons) in Social Care, a BA in Applied Social Studies, a National Certificate in Vocational Rehabilitation, a diploma in Education and Community and a diploma in Employment Law. He was President of the Irish Association of Social Care Workers (IASCW) and one of the founding members of Social Care Ireland Executive. He has represented the profession on the Health and Social Care Professionals Council for eight years. He has over 34 years experience in the provision of services to the most vulnerable people in our communities (including with the Children Detention Schools, the Crisis Interventions Service, Community Care HSE) and is now the Director of the voluntary agency Smyly Trust Service.
Noelle Reilly is a social care worker currently working as social care placement co-ordinator and associate lecturer in Institute of Technology Carlow. Noelle has extensive experience as a social care worker in Ireland and has worked in residential care and in the disability sector. Noelle is currently a member of Social Care Ireland and is an active member of the Irish Association of Social Care Workers and a member of the Social Care Workers Registration Board.
Juliane Reinheimer is an experienced social care worker and has worked with people with intellectual disabilities in St Michael’s House since 2003. She spent several years in Germany, in Castletown Bearhaven psychiatric hospital, has worked in Co-Action and has volunteered in the Darndale Life Centre. As well as a social care degree from the Open Training College, Juliane completed a diploma in Public Relations at Griffith College and has an LLM in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy from the National University of Ireland Galway.
Padraig Ruane is a social care worker currently working with the National Advocacy Service as a disability advocate. Padraig graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2009 with a degree in Social Care. He has experience in disability services, individualised services and for the past six years has been working in the area of advocacy.
Christina Sieber is a social care educator currently working as the Professional Practice Co-ordinator for Social Care with Institute of Technology Carlow, Wexford Campus. Christina completed a master’s in Social Care at Cork Institute of Technology in 2005 and a master’s in Teaching and Learning in the Institute of Technology Carlow in 2018. Christina worked in the field of social care for nineteen years in mainstream residential care before taking up her current post with IT Carlow. She has been an associate lecturer with IT Carlow’s Life Long Learning department on the Social Care course since 2015 and has supervised many students completing their dissertations at both degree and master’s levels. Christina’s main interests are in the area of reflective practice and the correlation between reflective practice and critical thinking.
