Keynote Speaker
Mary Butler, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People
Mary Butler is Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for Mental Health and Older People. She is a TD representing the Waterford Constituency. In the 32nd Dáil, Mary served as Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Business, Enterprise & Innovation and the All Party Oireachtas Group on Dementia. Mary served as a Councillor having won a seat in the 2014 Local elections in the Comeragh area before contesting the 2016 General Election after securing the Fianna Fáil nomination for Waterford. She also had the honour of being the first female Fianna Fáil TD to be elected for the party since 2007. In the 2020 General Election, Mary was delighted to be re-elected to continue her work representing the people of Waterford City and County. She was appointed to sit on the Special Oireachtas Committee for Covid-19 response before being appointed a Minister by the Taoiseach in early July.
Event MC
Dil Wickremasinghe, Broadcaster and Journalist
Dil has a longstanding passion and interest in social justice and mental health. Since her arrival in Ireland she has been an activist, campaigner, journalist and broadcaster. Her interest in mental health began when she experienced mental health difficulties in 2006 and reached out for support. She experienced first-hand how the services in Ireland lacked awareness in the importance of creating an inclusive therapeutic space. Along with Anne Marie, Dil Co-Founded Insight Matters in 2011 with the view to provide inclusive, accessible and affordable mental health support. In 2014 she was honoured with the Frederick Douglas Award as part of the Lord Mayor’s Awards for her outstanding contribution to Dublin civic life. After taking a year out to reflect on her life’s purpose Dil has returned to college to train as a Counsellor and Psychotherapist. She is currently attending the B.A. Counselling & Psychotherapy in Dublin Business College.
Panel Speakers
Dr Eddie Molloy, Director, Advanced Organisation and Former Chairperson, Mental Health Reform
Dr. Eddie Molloy has been an independent management consultant for 45 years, specializing in strategy, organisation structure, large-scale change and innovation. He has worked in all sectors in Ireland and abroad, and has had special interest in mental health services for 20 years. As the first Chairman of Mental Heal Health Reform he oversaw the transition from the Irish Mental Health Coalition to the new organisation whose 10 year birthday we celebrate today. Eddie has carried out many assignments within the HSE and was a member of the recently disbanded Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council. As a carer, he was a member of the Dublin Southwest Mental Health Services management team, attending fortnightly meetings at Cherry Orchard. He has published numerous articles on public service reform, with a particular focus on the structures and processes of personal accountability.
Robert McCafferty, Mental Health Activist
Robert is passionate about fairness and equality for service users and in recent times, he has been passionate about how people in crisis access mental health services through A&E. These passions, and his belief in recovery led Robert to get involved in mental health activism. He has previously been a member of Amnesty International’s Experts By Experience Group, and this is where he first came into contact with Mental Health Reform. He has been a member of Mental Health Reform’s Grassroots Forum for the past seven years.
Caroline McGrath, Barrister and Former CEO, Mental Health Reform
Caroline McGrath is a practising barrister since 2008. She has a diverse practice and is on the panel of Chairpersons of Mental Health Tribunals. Prior to entering the legal profession, Caroline held a number of roles with NGO’s working in the areas of disability, mental health, housing and homelessness. For the period 2008 - 2011 and alongside her work as a barrister Caroline worked as part time Executive Director of the Irish Mental Health Coalition (now Mental Health Reform) and was centrally involved in developing and implementing the vision, first strategy and structure of Mental Health Reform. Caroline also served as member of the Board of Directors of Mental Health Reform from 2011- 2017. Caroline is a graduate of Kings Inns and holds a Masters in Sociology (Health and Illness) from UCD and a BA (Law and European Studies) from the University of Limerick.
John Saunders, Chair, Sharing the Vision National Implementation Monitoring Committee
John Saunders is the Executive Director at EUFAMI, an organisation of family member associations across Europe. John has been the Director of Shine, Supporting People affected by Mental Ill Health since 2001 until 2021. He has previously worked in the field of Autism and Learning Disability. He is the Chair of the Mental Health Commission, the regulatory body for Mental Health Services in Ireland. He is also Chair of the National Implementation Monitoring Committee, an Irish Government body established to oversee and report on the implementation of its new Mental Health policy – Sharing the Vision. He was a member of the National Expert Group to review and update Mental Health Services established by the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Ireland.
Michele Kerrigan, Chairperson, Mental Health Reform
Michele Kerrigan has been the Chief Executive Officer of GROW in Ireland – World Community Mental Health Movement since 2007. Prior to this, she was Deputy CEO of Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland with special responsibility for the MS Care Centre. She was involved at both a European and International level representing MS Ireland. She has considerable experience of the statutory and voluntary sector. Michele has contributed to the development of new structures within GROW in Ireland as well as the development, implementation and monitoring of strategic plans. She campaigns for improved mental health services and has a strong focus on a recovery- based approach to mental health provision, which is in line with GROW in Irelands’ Program of Recovery. Michele holds a diploma in Health and Social Care and Business Computing and a Masters in Management in the Voluntary and Community Sector.
John Farrelly, Chief Executive, Mental Health Commission
John is a recognised expert in governance and risk-based regulation. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons and was educated at the Honourable Society of King’s Inns, Harvard Kennedy School, Smurfit Business School, and University College Dublin. A Dublin native, John has worked in Ireland and the UK in both clinical and executive management positions. Prior to becoming Chief Executive of the Mental Health Commission, John was the first CEO of Ireland’s Charities Regulator, and was deputy Chief Inspector of Social Services in the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
Sharon Lane, Chair, Sharing the Vision National Reference Group of Service Users and Family Members
Sharon was selected as Chair of the Reference Group of Service Users and Family Members in February 2022. Sharon has over 20 years’ experience in the not for profit and public service sectors in Ireland and Australia and is an experienced mental health advocate who is committed to improving mental health service provision and to ensuring that the voice of the service user is central to the process.
Dil Wickremasinghe, Broadcaster and Journalist
Dil has a longstanding passion and interest in social justice and mental health. Since her arrival in Ireland she has been an activist, campaigner, journalist and broadcaster. Her interest in mental health began when she experienced mental health difficulties in 2006 and reached out for support. She experienced first-hand how the services in Ireland lacked awareness in the importance of creating an inclusive therapeutic space. Along with Anne Marie, Dil Co-Founded Insight Matters in 2011 with the view to provide inclusive, accessible and affordable mental health support. In 2014 she was honoured with the Frederick Douglas Award as part of the Lord Mayor’s Awards for her outstanding contribution to Dublin civic life. After taking a year out to reflect on her life’s purpose Dil has returned to college to train as a Counsellor and Psychotherapist. She is currently attending the B.A. Counselling & Psychotherapy in Dublin Business College.
Barbara Brennan, See Change Programmes Leader
An inspirational ‘thought leader’ in her field, Barbara has over 12 years’ experience in changing the culture of mental health at all levels of society. A regular contributor to national mainstream and social media, Barbara is at home speaking to local community groups, CEO’s or senior leaders in the public and corporate world. She has lectured at Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, and University College Cork inspiring people to think differently about mental health and wellbeing. In the national discourse on mental health Barbara has motivated change and advised policy makers such as the National Office for Suicide Prevention, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Mental Health Commission and Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association. A highly esteemed trainer and facilitator, Barbara now uses her passion and experience to lead a national programme ‘See Change’, to give voice to people with lived experience of mental health difficulties, inspire a message of hope and recovery and ultimately spark an international conversation on reducing stigma.
Blessing Dada, Mental Health Advocate
Blessing, from Dublin, Ireland, is a 2x award-winning Black-Irish mental health writer, speaker & content creator/blogger, who’s an outspoken passionate activist on various social justice issues, especially on the intersectionality of mental health awareness. Accompanied with her own lived experiences with all things mental health, chronic illnesses and disability, she raises awareness of perspectives for Black & other ethnic minority communities in Ireland. She is also a passionate student and works as a Youth Support Worker for the Youth & Community Development sector. Being involved with numerous organizations, such as SpunOut.ie and Seechange.ie, she can be found participating in various projects, podcasts & writing to spread awareness: through empathy and education. Blessing finds this really important because mental health issues do not discriminate; anyone can experience a mental health problem, no matter their background.
Patrick Reilly, Mental Health Worker, Pavee Point
Patrick Reilly is a Traveller Mental Health Worker with the Mental Health Initiative in Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre. Pavee Point is a national Traveller organisation that works to challenge racism and discrimination and promote the realisation of human rights and equality for Travellers and Roma in Ireland. As a Traveller activist Pa works to challenge and address Traveller mental health inequalities, representing Pavee Point and Irish Travellers both nationally and internationally. Using a community development approach he advocates for equality of participation, access and outcomes in mental health services for Travellers.
Jim Ryan, Assistant National Director, Head of Operations and Service Improvement, HSE
Jim has worked in a variety of both Community and Statutory Organisations during his career. He obtained a BA and Higher Diploma in Education from UCD before becoming a Secondary School Teacher. Jim then joined Foroige as a Youth Worker with the Tallaght Youth Service for 8 years in the early 1990’s. He then took up the role of Drug Task Force Coordinator for the Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown area before becoming the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services with the East Coast Health Board. Jim subsequently became the Local Health Manager for Dun Laoghaire before taking up his current role of National Head of Operations for the Mental Health Services in 2014. During this time also he has led out on the development of the new 170 bed National Forensic Mental Health facility in Portrane.
