About us
Inclusion Ireland has been working as part of the disability rights movement in Ireland for over 60 years as a “civil society“ organisation.
Inclusion Ireland was established at a time where advocacy in Ireland was only getting started. From the beginning, the organisation connected people with intellectual disabilities and their families to networks of support, supported people through giving information and worked alongside people with intellectual disabilities and their families for their right to live as equal citizens.
How we are run
Inclusion Ireland complies with the Governance Code for Charity Organisations as set out by the Charity Regulator in Ireland.
Inclusion Ireland has a CEO and Board of Directors who make sure that we work in accordance with our values and strategic plan.
Inclusion Ireland’s commitment to its values and purpose is reflected in its leadership, which includes a Co-Chair with lived experience on the Board of Directors.
What we do
• We are a campaigning organisation; we work for changes in laws and policy.
• We provide an accessible information and signposting service for people with intellectual disabilities and family members. This means when people call or email us, look at our website or come to our talks, we help them with information about their rights.
• We support other organisations to become more accessible and inclusive of people with intellectual disabilities.
• We hold the state to account for its progress with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
• We support people with intellectual disabilities to become self-advocates.
• We are at the table wherever people talk about the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and work to influence thinking.
The United Nations Convention on The Rights of Persons With Disabilities
The UNCRPD says that all persons with disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Read more
Our Team
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Derval McDonagh
Chief Executive Officer
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Daniele Paiva Da Silva
Finance and Administration Manager
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Emer O’Shea
Community Engagement Manager
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Lucinda Murrihy
Head of Strategy and Innovation
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Caoimhe Suipéil
Head of Communications
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Alex Kearney
Administrative & Membership Officer
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Barry Lynch
Advocacy Project Worker
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Fiachra O’Connor
Advocacy Project Worker
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Noirin Clancy
Advocacy Project Worker
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Paul Alford
Self-Advocacy Project Worker
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Petria Malone
Advocacy Project Worker
Our Board of Directors
Ashley Sands
Ashley is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. Ashley’s son has an intellectual disability and she has a keen interest in access to housing for people with disabilities. She was appointed as a director in November 2020. Ashley works in Human Resources and has extensive experience of Human Resource Management, systems, people management, learning and development, compliance with various regulators and legislation.
Tomás Murphy
Tomás was appointed Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Inclusion Ireland in January 2025. Tomás has been a self-advocate board member since 2020. He has experience of working with Inclusion Ireland on three research projects where he has earned a Certificate in Research. Tomás is a former ambassador for the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disability and works for A& L Goodbody where he sits on the Disability Committee.
Rona Bowe
Rona is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, having trained with PWC. She has over 25 years of leadership experience in Operations and Finance, including 23 years in the ICT sector with Microsoft Ireland. Rona is extremely passionate about Diversity & Inclusion and was very active in this space in Microsoft, founding the Families Employee Resource Group in Ireland in 2018 and appointed as the D&I Site Lead in 2022. She was a finalist in the Women Mean Business Awards in 2019. She is also a Non-Executive Director on the board of St. Margaret's IASDL and Chair of their Risk & Quality Committee. Rona holds a B.Comm. Degree (UCC), M.Acc. (UCD) and a Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance, Risk and Compliance from UCC/ Irish Management Institute.
Briana Fitzsimons
is a mixed race (Afro-Latina/German Jew) woman of colour who immigrated to Ireland in 2017. Briana is interested in both International Development and Education, Training and Research as sectors. Briana worked as a special education teacher for 12 years and is now the Managing Director / Director of Education of Black and Irish, an organisation that is dedicated to celebrating and bringing awareness to the lives and experiences of black and mixed-race people in Ireland.
Glenn Shanley
was appointed as a director of Inclusion Ireland in November 2020. He is married with three young boys and is the Head of Corporate Banking in Ulster Bank. He is on the management team of the Commercial Banking Division of Ulster Bank has responsibility for all commercial customers.
Martin Rowan
was appointed as a director in November 2020. He was Chairperson of the self-advocacy subcommittee of the Board of Inclusion 2016-2019, and has been co-chair of the Carmona self-advocacy group and was also a member of two other self-advocacy groups.
John Moore
was appointed as a director in November 2020. He is company secretary of Inclusion Ireland and is the parent of a person with intellectual disabilities. He has 20 years company director experience in advertising, marketing, communications, digital and brand.
Siobhán Bryan
has been a board member since November 2020. She is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Muiríosa Foundation, a service for people with intellectual disabilities in the Midlands.
David Fraughan
joined the Inclusion Ireland Board in 2018. David is a self-advocate and the Munster representative of the Steering Committee of the National Platform of Self-Advocates.
Sarah Jane Lavin
joined the board of Inclusion Ireland in 2018. Sarah Jane is a self-advocate and a member of Inclusion Ireland’s Self-Advocacy Sub-Committee.
