Meet the Steering Group
The driving force behind the All Ireland Social Prescribing Network
Deirdre Connolly
Professor Occupational Therapy
School of Medicine
Trinity College Dublin
Deirdre Connolly is a Professor of Occupational Therapy at the School of Medicine, Trinity College, Dublin. She is also a researcher in social prescribing, evaluating the impact of social prescribing on the health and well-being of individuals with chronic diseases, multimorbidity, and people living with and beyond cancer.
Email: connoldm@tcd.ie
David Robinson
Consultant Geriatrician - Saint James’s Hospital
Associate Professor in Medical Gerontology - Trinity College Dublin.
Dr David Robinson is a consultant physician in geriatric medicine at St James' Hospital and a senior clinical lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin. He helped create the Local Asset Mapping Project (LAMP), a community-generated online directory of services to improve health and wellbeing through social prescribing.
Email: davidjamesrobinson@me.com
Tony Doherty
Regional Coordinator,
Healthy Living Centre Alliance
Northern Ireland
Tony is the Regional Coordinator with the Healthy Living Centre Alliance, a network of health and well-being organisations in the north. He Chairs the Northwest Integrated Care Partnership and, as such, has been involved in a number of NI Government Workstreams i.e. Expanding Community Development Practice and the new Integrated Care Service. A published writer of memoirs, Tony is Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust in Derry and is a Member of the NI National Lottery Community Fund.
Email: tony@hlcalliance.org
Dr. Karen Galway PhD
Senior Lecturer in Mental Health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery
Queen’s University Belfast
Dr. Karen Galway, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Mental Health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast. Her research experience spans public, voluntary, and academic sectors, as well as the fields of psychology, public health, epidemiology, nursing, and mental health. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers, reports and policy reviews on public mental health, mental health promotion and suicide prevention. Dr Galway has been involved in research funding totalling £1.6m. She is a Director at the National Suicide Research Foundation Ireland and joined the All Ireland Social Prescribing Network in 2021 as co-lead for research and evaluation.
Seán Ahern
Manager - Midleton Family Resource Centre
Director - FRC National Forum
A native of Co.Cork, Seán has extensive experience in community development and has applied its principles in a meaningful and sustainable way to enhance communities both nationally and internationally over the past 25 years. A Maynooth Alumni (National University of Ireland) he has previously worked in a host of diverse communities across Ireland and for a period in Lagos, Nigeria. Seán currently sits on the Board of Directors of the FRC National Forum and on CYPSC Cork. He remains passionate and driven on social issues, including Justice, equality and human rights. He believes strongly in creating a sustainable future for every member of society and for societies as a whole, through co-operation, consultation and collaboration.
Email: manager@midletonfrc.com
Rita Bevan
Social Prescribing - Regional Coordinator Family Resource Centre National Forum
Rita is the Regional Coordinator for 10 Social Prescribing sites across the Cork and Kerry Region. Rita is responsible for overseeing the development, growth, and sustainability of the Health and Wellbeing Community Referral Project. Rita offers support to the Managers and Link Workers across the ten sites. Rita supports Link Workers in building a broad support network to grow referral pathways that promote the development of an integrated collaborative approach with agencies, groups and service providers at a local level. Rita works in partnership with the 10 sites and the UCC Research Assistant to evidence the Social Prescribing programme.
Email: ritabevan@familyresource.ie
Eithne Foley
North Cork Social Prescribing Link Worker Irish Social Prescribing Peer Network Representative
Eithne has been a SociL Prescribing Link Worker since January 2020, based in the Le Chéile Family Resource Centre in Mallow and represents the Irish Social Prescribing Peer Network on the Steering Group. With a background in sociology, Eithne is passionate about empowering the people she works with to improve their wellbeing through social connection.
Email: linkworker@lecheilefrc.ie
Jennifer Neff
CEO - Elemental Identity Working Group
Jennifer is driven by a passion for ending health inequalities. She set up Elemental with Leeann Monk to establish, scale and measure the impact of social prescribing, connecting people, building communities, and improving lives. Jennifer works every day on that mission to spread the word about the social prescribing movement and demonstrate its uptake and impact.
Emma Maguire
Senior Health Promotion Officer
HSE Community Healthcare South East
Garry Glennon
Manager - Local Youth and Family Service
Donegal
Garry manages The Local Youth and Family Service which delivers programmes across Donegal supporting the health and wellbeing of children, young people and adults. A passionate and committed practitioner Garry believes in Social Justice and equality for all and has worked in the community sector for nearly 30 years. An initial member of the Donegal Steering Committee for Social Prescribing since 2013, Garry is delighted to see the continuous positive outcomes for beneficiaries accessing Social Prescribing Services across the island of Ireland.
Email: garryglennon1@hotmail.com
AnnMarie Crosse
Slaintecare Healthy Communities Coordinator
HSE CH CDLMS