Speaker Biographies
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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES SESSION SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY Emily Logan, Chief Emily Logan is the first Chief Commission of the Irish Human Rights and Commission of the Irish Equality Commission. Previously, Ms Logan served as Ireland’s first Human Rights and Equality Ombudsman for Children. Since her first year in Office Ms Logan has Commission championed for an amendment to the Irish Constitution to further enhance the rights of children. In 2008, she was appointed by her peers to the position of President of the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children. Orla O’Connor, Director of Orla O’Connor is Director of NWCI. She holds a Masters degree in the National Women’s European Social Policy from UIM and a degree in Social Science from Council of Ireland UCD. Orla has worked in senior management in non-governmental organisations in Ireland for over 15 years. She was previously the Head of Policy of NWCI, and has leg campaigns on a wide range of issues on women’s rights, including social welfare reform and for the introduction of quality and affordable childcare. Opening Address President of Ireland, On 11 November 2011, Michael D. Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth Michael D Higgins President of Ireland. A passionate political voice, a poet and writer, academic and statesman, human rights advocate, promoter of inclusive citizenship and champion of creativity within Irish society, Michael D. Higgins previously served at almost every level of public life in Ireland, including as Ireland’s first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. Key note address Ms Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Ms Lakshmi Puri is Assistant Secretary – General of the United Nations Secretary-General and and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women. She is directly responsible Deputy Executive Director for the leadership and management of the Bureau for UN Women Intergovernmental Support, UN System Coordination, and Strategic Partnerships. Puri joined UN Women in March 2011 and steered its engagement in major intergovernmental processes, such as the Rio+20 conference and the Commission on the Status of Women. From 2007 – 2009, she served as UNCTAD’s Acting Deputy Secretary-General. Puri had a distinguished 28 year career with the Indian Foreign Service, where she held the rank of Permanent Secretary of the Government of India. She has a Bachelor of Arts (honours) from Dehli University and a postgraduate degree from Punjab University, as well as professional diplomas. Key note address Mary Robinson, Former Mary Robinson is President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate President of Ireland and Justice. She served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN President, Mary Robinson High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. In August 2014 Foundation – Climate she was appointed the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Justice on Climate Change. Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, and is a board member of several other organisations. Key note address Frances Fitzgerald TD, Frances Fitzgerald TD is the Minister for Justice and Equality and was Minister for Justice & appointed to this role on 8th May 2014. She is an experienced national Equality politician and previously served as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from March 2011 as leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad. She represents the constituency of Dublin Mid-West. Frances is former chair of the National Women’s Council of Ireland and was motivated to go into politics chairing NWCI and the Women’s Political Association. She continues to be a strong advocate for women’s equality and very supportive of the work of NWCI. Frances lists John Hume as her political hero. She also admires Hilary Clinton for her tenacity, political determination and success. Frances believes the recent civil partnership legislation was yet another milestone for this country. Plenary 1: Chair: Prof Monica Monica McWilliams is Professor of Women’s Studies, based in the Women, Power & McWilliams, Transitional Transitional Justice Institute at the University of Ulster. Monica was the Decision Making Justice Institute, University Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission of Ulster from 2005 – 2011 and responsible for delivering the advice on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. She was the co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition political party and was elected to a seat at the Multi-Party Peace Negotiations, which led to the Belfast (Good Friday) Peace Agreement in 1998. She served as amember of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly from 1998 – 2003 and the Northern Ireland Forum for Dialogue and Understanding from 1996 – 1998. Her published work focuses on domestic violence, human security and the role of women in peace processes. She was the Distinguished Lecturer at the 2010 Women PeaceMakers Conference at the University of San Diego’s Institute for Peace and Justice. She is the recipient of two honorary doctorates and a special Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. She is a graduate of Queen’s University, Belfast and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Nóirín O’Sullivan, Appointed Commissioner in 2014, Nóirín O’Sullivan joined An Garda Commissioner of An Garda Síochána in 1981 and has more than 30 years of professional policing Síochána experience across a wide range of both operational and administrative function areas and has worked in a broad range of police disciplines at both national and international level. Dr Micheline Sheehy Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington has recently retired as lecturer in Plant Skeffington, National Ecology in the Botany Department, NUI Galway, where she taught for 34 University of Ireland, years. She is Hanna and Francis Sheehy Skeffington’s granddaughter and Galway recently won a case against NUI Galway for gender discrimination in failing to promote her to Senior Lecturer. She is currently engaged in a campaign to redress the gender imbalance in senior posts in NUIG. Prof Siobhán Mullally, Siobhán Mullally is Professor of Law at University College Cork (UCC) and Director of the Centre for is Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights at the Criminal Justice & Human University. Siobhán is also a member of the Permanent Court of Rights, School of Law, Arbitration at The Hague, the Council of Europe Group of Experts University College Cork and Against Trafficking in Human Beings, the High Council of the European Member of the Irish Human University Institute as well as acting as Ireland Country Expert of EU Rights and Equality Network of Experts on Free Movement of Workers and Ireland County Commission representative on the EU Odysseus Network of Experts on Asylum and Immigration Law. Previously she acted as a legal expert for the UNDP and chaired the Board of the Irish Refugee Council. Siobhán has published extensively on gender equality, asylum and refugee law, migrant rights, human trafficking, and forced labour. She graduated from the René Cassin Institute with a Certificate in Teaching Human Rights Law, UCC with a Bachelor of Civil Law, the London School of Economics with a LLM and from the European University Institute with a PhD. Laura Harmon, President of Laura Harmon is the President of the Union of Students in Ireland. USI the Union of Students of represents over 300,000 students across the island - north and south. Ireland Laura happens to be the first woman President of USI in 20 years. Laura was previously a two term Equality and Citizenship Officer with USI. Laura is from Ballyvourney, a Gaeltacht area in Co: Cork. She is a graduate of University College Cork. Plenary 2: Chair: Dr Ursula Barry, Ursula Barry is a Senior Lecturer with the School of Social Justice, Overcoming School of Social Justice, University College Dublin, Ireland specialising in gender, equality and Women’s Poverty Direct of MA in Women, public policy and long-time activist on reproductive injustice in Ireland. & Achieving Gender and Society, Irish representative on EU Research Network on Gender Equality and Economic Univeristy College Dublin Employment (ENEGE.eu). Editor of, and contributor to ‘Where are we Independence now – new feminist perspectives on women in contemporary Ireland’ New Island Publishers 2008. Finola Brennan, National Finola Brennan is a qualified nurse and worked as a midwife in England Collective of Community and Ireland. In Donegal she worked in Care of the Older Person for Based Women’s Networks – twenty-one years. For the past 13 years she has worked as Co-ordinator Donegal with Donegal Women’s Network. Finola is a member on the board of Donegal Women's Domestic Violence Service and is a member of the Donegal Anti-Human Trafficking Group and the 5050 group, North West and National. Dr Mary P. Murphy, Mary P. Murphy is a lecturer in Irish Politics and Society in the Lecturer in Irish Politics and Department of Sociology, Maynooth University. She has research Society, Maynooth interests in welfare states, gender, social security, globalization, the University and Member of politics of redistribution and power and civil society. She has published the Irish Human Rights and widely. A lead investigator in the H2020 Euro 3 research project Re- Equality Commission InVest, she is also a part time member of the Irish Human Right and Equality Commission. Jane Xavier, Domestic Jane Xavier is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group Workers Action Group, (DWAG), a group of over 350 migrant women employed as childminders Migrant Rights Centre of carers, au pairs and cleaners in private homes in Ireland. DWAG Ireland empowers workers to assert their rights and to campaign for new laws and better enforcement of existing laws for workers in the sector. Jane is also the Chairperson of Au Pair Rights Ireland (ARAI). Esther Lynch, Legislation Esther Lynch is Legal and Legislative Officer at the Irish Congress of and Social Affairs Officer of Trade Unions (ICTU).