Social Workers Registration Board - Biographies

Fr. Val Collier

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Val was ordained a Priest with the Salesian Order ( Salesians of Don Bosco ) in 1972. He was also a teacher for a few years.
 
Further to this Val became Chaplin to a Residential school and Remand centre for 2 years.
He also managed the development and operation of Don Bosco House residential and aftercare services for boys for the past 28 years.
 
Val was a member of the RMA (Resident Managers Association) for 28 years.
He is currently a member of the Board of Management of Don Bosco House, Chaplin and resource person to the new Director of Don Bosco House.
 
   
 

Damien Courtney

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Damien grew up in Sligo and is a graduate in sociology, political science and modern history from NUI Galway.  He holds postgraduate qualifications in demography from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium and he is a Member of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. 
 
Damien has spent most of his working life at Cork Institute of Technology where he is Head of the Faculty of Business and Humanities.  He was Head of the Department of Social and General Studies there from 1983 to 2003 in which the flag-ship under-graduate programme was in Child Care, then Social Care.  He was instrumental in franchising this programme to IT Tralee and Limerick IT.  He has been actively involved in the development of the Social Care profession in Ireland.  He has also chaired/been a member of many validation panels and acted as an extern examiner in several Irish HE institutions.
 
He has published and lectured in Ireland and abroad on different aspects of social and public policy; statistical and social demography; social care education and training; data collection; Irish emigration; politics; education, employment and mobility; disadvantaged youth; older people; the family and lifestyles in Europe.  He is co-author of the National Economic and Social Council’s Report on Social Welfare: Implications of Demographic Change.  He is a Member of the Central Statistics Office’s Expert Group on Population and Labour Force Projections.  He was Convenor of the National Council for Educational Awards’ Committee on Caring and Social Studies, a Member of the Council for Social Welfare of the Irish Catholic Bishop’s Conference and Chair of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council’s Working Group on Social Care.  He was an Executive Member of FESET, the European Association of Training Centres for Socio-Educational Care Work and a Founding Member of IASCE, the Irish Association of Social Care Educators.  He has also been involved in many other Irish and international organisations and agencies. 
 
Damien taught in the Department of Social Theory and Institutions at UCC when they successfully obtained approval from the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) to provide the CQSW, the Certificate of Qualification in Social Work.  He also taught on the Master of Social Work programme at the European Institute of Comparative Social Studies, Maastricht, in the Netherlands and has been a Visiting Lecturer at the Université de Haute Bretagne, Rennes 2, and the Institut Régional du Travail Social de Bretagne, in France.
 

 

Chris Curtain

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010, Chris is Professor and Head of the School of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway and Vice President for Innovation and Performance. He is author/editor of 9 books, over 80 articles/book chapters and more than 20 national and international reports, mainly on the themes of governance, rural development, natural resources management and Family.

Chris has carried out research on for the past thirty-five years with colleagues in Ireland, in Europe and in the United States. He is active as an independent expert for the European Union, the United States Department of Agriculture, and many third sector institutions.

In addition to his work at the National University of Ireland, Galway, he has taught at universities in the UK, in mainland Europe, the United States and Mexico. He has participated in the third, forth and Fifth EU Research Programmes Framework. He has been active in the European Union’s Erasmus, Socrates and Tempus higher education programme. He designed and has responsibility for the Diploma in Community Development Practice which has been used by many Irish and European Leader companies as a core element of their capacity building programmes. He has extensive experience in evaluating development programmes. Chris has supervised 22 PhD to completion and is currently supervising 7 PhD students.

 

Pat Dunne

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Pat joined the health services in 1974. He was then appointed as the Area Administrator in Community Care Area (7), Dublin North Central where he remained for several years followed by appointment as the General Manager in Community Care Area (6), Dublin North West.  Pat was responsible for the administration and management of all health and personal social services in his Community Care Area. 
 
In 2000 Pat was appointed to the position of Assistant Chief Executive Officer in the Northern Area Health Board. Following the establishment of the Health Services Executive in 2005, he took up the role of Local Health Manager in North Dublin where he had responsibility for Primary, Community and Continuing Services in his area.  Also, he retained responsibility for regional and supra-regional child care services.
 
Early in 2010 Pat was appointed Assistant National Director with responsibility for Children and Families Social Services in the Dublin North East Region while again retaining responsibility for supra-regional child care services. Since the year 2000, Pat has gained vast experience in all aspects of the provision of services to children and families at local, regional and national levels.
 
In his current role the focus is on implementation of the development and change programme for children and family social services at national and regional levels.  Pat has been involved with social work staff and managers across the full spectrum of services including child welfare and protection, family support, mental health, intellectual disability, and primary care, not only in the HSE and its predecessors but also with a broad range of voluntary providers and other external stakeholders.
 

  

Monica Egan

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Monica has been a member of the Health and Social Care Council since her appointment in March 2007. From Dublin, Monica is Head of the Social Work Department in St. Michael’s House, Ballymun, Dublin which is an organisation providing services and supports to people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
 
A former President of the Irish Association of Social Workers and a former member of the Executive of the International Federation of Social Workers, Monica was also up to recently a member of the Board of the National Social Work Qualifications Board.
Monica believes that the Council and Social Workers Registration Board will contribute to maintaining high standards in the profession so that the public and particularly those who use social work services will have faith in the social workers with whom they come in contact.  
 

 

Ursula Fernee

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. On completion of her Social Science studies in Dublin and London, Ursula Fernée began her career as a Welfare Officer in The Adoption Board.

A long history of experience in both the English and Irish Probation Services reflects her interest in and commitment to social work practice in the criminal justice setting. This experience encompasses work, both as a practitioner and as a manager in the courts, community, multi-disciplinary projects and prisons.

As Assistant Principal in the Research, Training and Development Directorate of the Probation Service Ursula has pursued a dynamic and coherent strategy to ensure that all staff have the skills and knowledge to support the organisation in achieving its goals. This Strategy has reflected the Probation Service’s remit, ranging from risk assessment/risk management, domestic violence, restorative justice and work with victims to European co-operation, professional publications and the management of student practice placements.

Ursula is a member of the Editorial Board of the Irish Probation Journal and of the Health Service Executive Education, Training, Research & Policy National Advisory Group for Children and Families Services. Promoting and developing competence to practice is central to her organisational role and Ursula looks forward to applying her skills and knowledge within the broader context of the statutory registration of social workers.


 

Denis Gallagher

Denis Gallagher is from Achill and is a native Irish speaker. Denis joined An Garda Síochana 1975 and served Dublin, Claremorris and Castlebar. Denis was appointed to the Detective Branch in 1992. He then became an Immigration officer, Castlebar district from 2002 until retirement in 2006. Denis is presently employed by AXA Insurance as an independent investigator.
 
As a member of An Garda Síochana for 31 years, including 24 years as a Detective Garda, Denis has been involved in many major investigations, which included surveillance, protection, immigration, court prosecutions and regular liaising with social workers. As President of the Garda Federation, which consisted of 2,500 members, he was leader of the delegation, which negotiated the successful reunification of our group with the Garda Representative Association, under the stewardship of Peter Cassells and Kevin Duffy, of the ICTU. His role as officer of numerous boards and organisations, has amassed a wealth of experience in positions of leadership. Dennis role as Chairperson of the Bright Eyes Fundraising Group, has given him direct contact with consultants, doctors, physiotherapists, radiographers, nurses and managers allowing him to gain an in-depth knowledge in the role played by each profession in the administration, and efficient running of Mayo General Hospital.
 
 
 

Fiona Geraghty

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Fiona graduated from University College Cork with a Bachelors Degree in Social Science B.Soc.Sc. (Hons.) in 1997. Fiona went on to complete a Masters in Social Work (M.S.W.), graduating in 1999. Upon qualifying, Fiona worked in Roscommon as a child protection and welfare social worker.
 
Fiona was part of the social work team that facilitated the implementation of the ISO 9002 system for Quality Management in the Social Work Department and then subsequently travelled overseas where; she worked temporarily as an intake social worker in Melbourne Australia. Following this, Fiona departed for New Zealand where she spent the following year working for Child Youth and Family Services in Wellington.
 
In 2002, Fiona returned to Ireland and secured a social work post with a child protection and welfare team in Cork city. In 2005, Fiona was appointed Senior Social Work Practitioner. Fiona is a former member of the organising committee from last year’s Biennial Child Protection and Welfare Social Work Conference, which was held in U.C.C. Fiona, continues to work in her capacity as Senior Social Work Practitioner with the area team that she has been employed with since 2002.
 
Fiona envisages her practice experience will make a meaningful contribution to the role and function of the Social Work Registration Board.
 

 

Ned Kelly

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Ned Kelly joined the Irish health service in the 1970s, later qualifying as a psychiatric nurse. He subsequently gained substantial experience across the service enabling him to develop and advance within his chosen career pathway.
 
Currently as” Director of Nursing” for North Lee Mental Health Services in Cork, he has been responsible for the delivery of this nursing service to a population of approx 168,000. Over the past decade service delivery has been dominated by significant adjustments where health care managers have found their work increasingly difficult. This phenomenon has been attributed to rapid environmental change where organizational life has become more complex and demanding. Throughout; his objective has been to achieve organisational transformation and improved quality outcomes requiring leadership, vision and clear direction to all his staff. This process was underpinned by his ongoing support for continuous professional development coupled with an enthusiastic commitment to participation in further education for all staff.  He has steadfastly applied his energies to the delivery of continuous quality improvement which is reflected in his core values of loyalty, integrity and accountability.
 

 

Mary Hargaden

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Mary Hargaden is a child care manager working in HSE local health office North Dublin. She holds a social work qualification (B.Soc Studies and C.Q.S.W) and Masters in Health Services Management from Trinity College.  
 
Mary has worked in a in the former Eastern Health Board, Mid-Western Health Board and Northern Area Health Board and in the voluntary sector as practitioner and manager in children and families services. She was seconded to the Department of Health to support the establishment of family support initiatives and in the development of family support policy.
 
She has been a Board member of the NSWQB from 2000 and has served on the Non-national qualifications committee for most of that time.
 
 
 

Valentine O’Kelly

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Valentine is a native of Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh and has lived for the past 43 years in Co Donegal. She is a Graduate of U.C.D. with a “Batchelor of Social Science” and a Diploma in “applied Social Studies”.  She is also a Graduate of T.C.D with a Post Qualifying Qualification Advanced Diploma in “Child Protection and Welfare”. B.SOC.SC  D.A.S.S. AND ADCPW.
 
Valentine spent her professional life working with the North Western Health Board first as a Social worker, Principal Social Worker and latterly as a Child Care Manager for Co Donegal.  She retired in 2005 and Acts as an Independent Chairperson in the Area of Adoption, Fostering and Child Projection Case Conferences.
 
She is involved expensively in the Voluntary Sector locally in the areas of Community Development, Child Care, Child Protection and Community Education.  She is a member of the Governing Board of the Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
 
Her particular experience lies in the area of Management of Child Protection and Child Care.  Both in the Statutory and non-statutory area.  She has considerable experience in Corporate Responsibilities and Governance on various boards in both Voluntary and statutory sector and regular interviews for these agencies.
 

 

Suzanne Quin

Appointed to the Social Workers Registration Board in August 2010. Suzanne is Dean of Social Science and a staff member of the School of Applied Social Science in University College Dublin.  She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (BSS), the University of Wales (CQSW and Masters in Social Work) and University College Dublin (PhD, NUI). Her areas of teaching are social work in health, health policy and groupwork and she was the Director of the Masters of Social Science (Social Work) Course from 1991-2002 and the PhD Social Work programme from 2003-2009. 
 
Suzanne was a member and subsequently Vice Chairperson of the National Social Work Qualifications Board from 1995 – 2003. She has been a member of the Accreditation Panel for the National Social Work Qualifications Board since 2004 and has participated in a number of accreditation/re-accreditation reviews, both as a member and as a chairperson of the panel of assessors. 
 
In 2010, Suzanne was chairperson of the International Organising Committee for the 6th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health.  Before coming to UCD in 1986, she was Head of the Social Work Department in the National Rehabilitation Hospital and also worked in St Vincent’s Hospital and the Eastern Health Board.   

   

 

Cormac Quinlan

Cormac qualified in Social Work in 1997 from Trinity College Dublin and since then has been working extensively in the HSE in the area of Children and Families work. He is currently employed A/Principal Social Worker in Dublin South West, Local Health Office of the HSE and has held this position since 2007. In 2003, he also had the opportunity to work for the Child Youth and Family Service in New Zealand. In his current role Cormac holds responsibility for over 80 staff including team leaders, social workers and child care workers managing the delivery of a service in a large area of complex need and high deprivation. His role also incorporates integrating and planning with a number of other agencies and services and representing in the HSE and social work in such forums. Cormac also participate in a number of National Steering Committees in relation to service developments.


Additional to his full-time employment Cormac was invited in 2005 by the Master Social Work Programme, Trinity College to become a college tutor and continue to work in this role. His special interests include child protection and welfare work, social work education and training, ongoing professional development and the development of social work as a profession. Cormac feels his experience, both as a practitioner and manger of a large social work service, will be an addition to the work of the Board as well as ongoing support and education role in respect of social workers in training. He is a highly motivated committed professional with a great passion for social work and the contribution in can make to peoples lives.