Facilitating the effective and equal participation of persons with A nUdaras Naisiunta Mfchumais disabilities in the Irish criminal National Disability Authority justice system (Article 13 UNCRPD) Annual Conference 2020 Meet the Speakers

Plenary Session Helen Guinan Helen Guinan spent most of her career working with, or on behalf of, children and young adults with intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities. She has been Chairperson of the National Disability Authority (NDA) since July 2014 and started her second four-year term in August 2018. She has been closely involved over many years with a number of organisations, statutory and non-statutory, including the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Council for Special Education, and the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies. She spent ten years as Principal in St. Paul’s School, Cork; a school for students with complex needs. As Chairperson of the National Disability Authority, Helen is committed to ensuring that this statutory body continues to provide independent, evidence-informed advice and information to Government about current matters influencing the lives of persons with disabilities in Ireland.

Anne Rabbitte T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Disability Hailing from Portumna, Co. Galway, Anne Rabbitte entered politics in 2014 when she was elected to Galway County Council for Fianna Fáil. Two years later, in 2016, she was elected to Dáil Éireann and was then appointed to the Fianna Fáil front bench as Spokesperson for Children & Youth Affairs. Re-elected to the 33rd Dáil in 2020, Deputy Rabbitte was subsequently appointed Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Disabilities by An Micheál Martin in July 2020. Before entering the political arena, Anne worked for a financial institution for 25 years and is a qualified financial adviser. For 3 years, Anne also ran a community childcare facility. Catalina Devandas Aguilar Catalina Devandas Aguilar is the Costa Rican Ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva. She is a lawyer by training and a well-recognised human rights defender. She has worked extensively on disability rights and inclusive development for the past 20 years. She was the first-ever UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from December 2014 to August 2020. During her six year mandate, she supported the advancement of the rights of persons with disabilities and their inclusion at international, regional and national levels. Ms. Devandas Aguilar was previously part of the disability rights movement at national, regional and international level and continues to work closely with organizations of persons with disabilities.

Andrew Walter Andrew Walter is the First Assistant Secretary of the Integrity and Security Division in the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department. The Division provides advice to Government on a wide range of legal and policy issues, including: counter-terrorism legislation, human rights, privacy, criminal laws, fraud and corruption, foreign influence and administrative law. A lawyer by training, Andrew joined the Department in 2002 and has worked in a variety of policy and strategy roles. Andrew is also the Chair of the Council of General Affairs and Policy of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

Dr Aideen Hartney Dr Aideen Hartney was appointed Director of the NDA in July 2020, following four years as the Head of Policy, Research and Public Affairs within the organisation. Prior to joining the NDA, Aideen held a number of senior management positions in University College Dublin, most latterly as manager of the UCD Earth Institute, an interdisciplinary research institute focused on understanding and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Catherine O’Neill Catherine O’Neill is a Registered Intermediary in the Justice System, a Speech and Language Therapist and an Arts Psychological Therapist. As a therapist she has worked with adults and children with Communication Needs and Mental Health issues, in a variety of settings including palliative care, acute mental health wards and day hospitals, schools and clinics. In 2014 Catherine, with other founder members, set up Intermediaries for Justice (IFJ) due to a firm belief in giving a voice to voiceless people. She is currently Chair of IFJ and has run Conferences and Seminars for IFJ on subjects ranging from: Working with Defendants; Trauma in the CJS; Joined up working in CJS; Abuse and its many faces in the CJS and Vulnerability and Justice. She has chaired and contributed to the writing of many Toolkits for The Advocates Gateway. Catherine currently runs trainings for the police on communication to Achieve Best Evidence and on Trauma Informed Practice.

Raymond Byrne Raymond was appointed the full-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission in April 2016 for a five-year term. Before this, he was Director of Research in the Commission. He qualified as a barrister in 1982, and between 1982 and 2007 he was a lecturer in law in the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University. In September 2019, Raymond was appointed as an Adjunct Full Professor in the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, for a three year period. Raymond has published widely on legal matters. Raymond chaired a Working Group whose work led to a Council of Europe 2009 Recommendation on Missing Persons and Presumption of Death. He was previously Chair of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and President of the Irish Association of Law Teachers. Dr Seamus Taylor Dr Seamus Taylor is Head of Applied Social Studies in Maynooth University. Seamus teaches Social Policy at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He specialises in social policy and criminal justice issues and in social policy and equality and diversity issues. He leads the Master of Social Science (Rights & Social Policy) programme at Maynooth University. He has undertaken doctoral research on Disability Hate Crime. He previously worked as Director of Equality and Diversity at the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales where he lead on hate crime policy and as Director of Strategy at the Commission for Racial Equality in Britain. He is independent chair of the CPS London Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel. He is currently working on a new book, Disability Hate Crime: from vulnerability to ableism to be published by Policy Press.

James Browne T.D, Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform James Browne was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality with responsibility for Law Reform in September 2020. James was elected to Dáil Éireann in the February 2016 general election as a representative of Wexford and re-elected in the 2020 general election. He has served as the Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Mental Health, leading initiatives to reform mental health services in Ireland, including the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2018 and served on the Committee on the Future of Mental Healthcare. He was born in Enniscorthy, Wexford, and is the oldest of a family of 4. He was educated locally at St. Mary’s CBS, Enniscorthy before attending Waterford IT, University College Cork and the King’s Inns. He was called to the Bar in 2006. The Hon. Ms. Justice Mary Irvine Ms. Justice Irvine was appointed President of the in June 2020. Ms. Justice Irvine was born in Dublin and educated at the convent of the Sacred Heart, Mount Anville, University College Dublin and the Honourable Society of King's Inns. She was called to the in 1978 and to the Inner Bar in 1996. As a member of the Inner Bar, she specialised in medical law and was the legal assessor to the Fitness to Practice Committees of both the Medical Council and An Bord Altranais. Ms. Justice Irvine was appointed a judge of the High Court in 2007. Following the retirement of Mr. Justice John Quirke, she chaired the Working Group on Medical Negligence and Periodic Payments established by the President of the High Court in 2010 to examine the system within the courts for the management of claims for damages arising out of alleged medical negligence and to identify shortcomings in that system. On its establishment in 2014, Ms. Justice Irvine was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal. In 2018 she was appointed to chair the Cervical Check Tribunal. Breakout Session 1: Policing Michael O’Neill Michael is Head of Legal at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. He leads the Commission’s team of solicitors who, as well as representing the Commission, may provide legal advice and representation to members of the public on matters of equality and human rights law. He has worked in the field of public law (including general and regulatory crime) for over two decades. Earlier in his career he was a référendaire at the Court of Justice of the EU in Luxembourg, as well as an academic (at NUI Galway, HEC Paris and the University of Edinburgh). He is a graduate of the National University of Ireland (UCC and UCD), the University of Ulster and the College of Europe, Bruges and he was called to the Bar in 1995. Kate Mulkerrins Ms. Kate Mulkerrins was appointed as Executive Director of Legal in An Garda Síochána in November 2017. Kate is a Barrister with 20 years’ post-qualification experience in the area of criminal law and commenced her legal career at the Bar of England & Wales. She was called to the Bar of Ireland (King’s Inns) and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (L.L.B.) and a First Class Master’s Degree in Criminology. Prior to taking up the role as Executive Director, Kate held the position of Senior Principal Prosecutor at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, heading up the Prosecution Policy & Research Unit, since the Unit’s establishment in January 2008. Prior to her role in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kate was Legal Advisor to a number of Rape Crisis Centres, throughout Ireland (Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland) with the Rape Crisis Network Ireland. Simultaneous to this role she taught law (part-time) at NUIG.

Alan McGovern Chief Superintendent Alan Mc Govern is proud to be attached to the Crime Legal Division at Garda Headquarters with specific responsibility for the Human Rights Section, Legal Section, Legacy Section, Mutual Assistance and Firearms Policy Unit. Having joined An Garda Síochána from the Irish Defence Forces he has previously served with the Special Tactical Operations Command, the Emergency Response Unit, the Armed Support Unit, the Garda College and the North Western Region. He has gained international experience working with young people on a Community and Policing in Transition Programme in Washington and New York and assisting the Department of Foreign Affairs in Kenya and Tanzania. He holds a Masters in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation from Trinity College Dublin, an Executive MBA from Dublin City University, a Masters in Serious Crime Investigation from the University of Limerick, and an Honours Degree in Public Management. He is also certified in Operations Planning through the Common Security Defence Council at the Hellenic Supreme Joint War College, Thessaloniki. He is currently a member of AMBA.

Dr Claire Edwards Dr Claire Edwards is Director of the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21) and Lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork. Having formerly worked for the Disability Rights Commission in the UK, her research and teaching interests focus on sociological and geographical understandings of disability, and on dynamics of socio-spatial in/justice in the lives of people with disabilities. She has conducted research on disabled people’s interactions with the criminal justice system, on disability organisations’ engagement in urban regeneration initiatives, and on issues of Universal Design in relation to children’s play spaces. She recently completed a 2 year study (2017-19) funded by the Irish Research Council entitled Disability and the Creation of Safe/r Space, which explored how fear and experience of hostility affects people with disabilities' perceptions and use of everyday spaces in Ireland.

Terri Sweeney Meade Terri Sweeney Meade works at the Office of Public Works in Intermediate Projects as an Assistant Principal Architect. Terri has responsibility for delivery of building works which span from small scale projects through to a range of capital works that include Garda Stations, National Schools, and Office Fit outs on behalf of government departments, Urban Realm design interventions and Universal Access Works on behalf of Commissioner John McMahon. Terri has been a member of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group since 2017. In 2019, together with Ruth O’Reilly, Senior Standards Officer, NDA and Connect the Dots, co-edited An Operational Review of the Effectiveness of Section 25 of the Disability Act 2005. Breakout Session 2: The Courts & Legal Professionals

Eilis Barry Eilis Barry is Chief Executive of the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC). Prior to joining FLAC, Eilis was a barrister specialising in all aspects of employment law, anti- discrimination and equality. She was the legal adviser of the Equality Authority and head of its legal section from 2000 to 2009, when she resumed practice at the bar. A former board member and Chairperson of FLAC, Eilis drafted Case Law Review of Mental Health in the Workplace and authored Equality How?, a guide to taking cases under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 and the Equal Status Acts 2000-2008. She regularly spoke at conferences and seminars on employment and equality law. She is co-editor of ‘Equality in Diversity, the New Equality Directives’, ICEL No. 29, and former editor of the Employment Law Reports.

Angus Cleary Angus Cleary has worked for the Equality and Human Rights Commission for 10 years. He recently led an inquiry on the Criminal Justice System that looked at whether it treated people with disabilities fairly. The recommendations have been welcomed by the UK and Scottish governments. They are currently working with them to implement measures to identify and provide support to defendants, to facilitate their effective participation in criminal proceedings. This is particularly relevant during the COVID pandemic, where hearings are increasingly virtual and it is more difficult to identify those who require support with comprehension or communication needs. He is currently leading an inquiry into low paid workers in the health and adult social care sectors.

Dr Bronagh Byrne Dr Bronagh Byrne is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s University Belfast. She is Co-Founder of the Disability Research Network and Co-Director of the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s. Dr Byrne’s expertise is in the implementation of the UNCRPD and the Rights of the Child. She has published widely on disability and the right to inclusive education and has been a principal or co-investigator on a range of interdisciplinary research projects funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the Council of Europe, public bodies such as the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People and leading charitable foundations such as UNICEF and Action on Hearing Loss. Most recently she has led on a co-produced research project examining the implementation of Article 13 UNCRPD on access to justice for Deaf people in Northern Ireland.

Dr Alan Cusack Alan is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Limerick. He is the Director of Postgraduate Studies (Law) and is the Course Director for the Master of Arts in Serious Crime Investigation. Alan is a graduate of UCC (BCL, LLM, PhD), UCD (Dip. Emp) and the Law Society of Ireland (Solicitor, 2012). In 2017, Alan completed a PhD in the School of Law at University College Cork in the area of access to justice for victims of crime with intellectual disabilities. Alan is a qualified solicitor and, subsequent to commencing his doctoral research, practiced for a number of years with Arthur Cox solicitors in Dublin. In 2013 Alan was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights at University College Cork and, more recently, in 2018 he was elected to the Board of Directors for the Irish Criminal Justice and Disability Network.

Breakout Session 3: Prisons Fíona Ní Chinnéide Fíona is Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, Ireland’s leading NGO campaigning for the respect of human rights in prison and progressive reform of penal policy in Ireland. Fíona has led the organisation’s external communications and campaigns across different roles since March 2009. In January 2020, IPRT launched ‘Making Rights Real for People with Disabilities in Prison,’ a ground-breaking research report conducted for IPRT by the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, NUIG, supported by a grant awarded by IHREC. Fíona has over 20 years’ experience working in the area of advocacy in Ireland and Europe, with particular focus on human rights and anti-discrimination campaigns. Fíona holds undergraduate and post- graduate degrees from Trinity College Dublin, and an M.A. in Political Communications from Dublin City University, where her research interests centred on media, public opinion and policy change. Fíona sits on the Board of Directors of Community Creations Ltd, which comprises SpunOut.ie and Crisis Text Line Ireland.

Maria Ní Fhlatharta Maria Ni Fhlatharta is a researcher and human rights advocate based at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy NUI Galway. She has been involved in a number of large research projects, predominantly focused on access to justice, legal capacity, and reproductive health. She sits on the board of directors for the Disability Rights Fund and is a member of the Ethics, Law and Pregnancy in Ireland Network.

Dr Maggie McGovern Dr Maggie McGovern has over a decade’s experience Seirbhis Phriosuin working in both the Statutory and NGO Sectors. She has na hEireann a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology from the Irish Prison Service University of Ulster (UU) and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University College Dublin (UCD). Currently, Dr McGovern is a Senior Psychologist in the Irish Prison Service and is based in The Dchas Centre, Women’s Prison. She has supported persons with disabilities through various roles in the voluntary sector and HSE prior to roles in secure environments. Dr McGovern has special interests in developmental psychology, trauma, exploitation and systemic frameworks. She is an advocate for trauma-responsive public services. Professor Gautum Gulati Professor Gautam Gulati is Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Limerick. His research based MD was awarded by the University of Limerick with a thesis on “Assessing need and advancing psychiatric care in Irish prisons”. He works as a prison psychiatrist. He teaches at UCC, UL and NUIG and is a research collaborator with a number of universities including the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. He has authored a core textbook of Psychiatry in 2013 and a forthcoming textbook of Psychiatry for General Practitioners. He is current Chair of the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry at the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland. Breakout Session 4: Children with Disabilities in the Youth Justice System Dr Karen McAuley Dr Karen McAuley is Head of Policy with the Ombudsman for Children's Office (OCO). Among her responsibilities are to lead the OCO's work to monitor and advise on a diverse range of developments in legislation and public policy affecting children's rights and welfare and to engage with relevant international monitoring mechanisms in this regard. Karen has worked in the field of children's rights in Ireland for 20 years. Prior to being appointed Head of Policy in 2017, Karen led the OCO's Participation and Education unit. Before joining the OCO in 2007, Karen worked as an independent consultant (2005-2007), with Amnesty International (2003-2004) and with the Children's Rights Alliance (1999- 2002). Karen holds a BA in English and German from Trinity College Dublin and an M.Phil. and PhD from Cambridge University.

Deaglán Ó Briain Deaglán is a Principal in the Department of Justice and Equality, Ireland, where he has responsibility for policy on support for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and abuse, human trafficking and other community safety issues. He also has responsibility for youth crime programmes and policy, and is currently working on developing a revised Youth Justice Strategy. Previously, he had responsibility for human rights and equality legislation and policies, including the establishment of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and human rights reporting to the UN and other international bodies. He had specific responsibility for Disability Policy coordination across Government from 2014 to 2018 and led the development of Ireland’s National Disability Inclusion Strategy and the preparations for UNCRPD ratification. He holds an MA in Bilingual Practice from Dublin City University. He is a former member of the Council of Europe’s Disability Committee and serves as the Department of Justice and Equality representative on the board of the National Disability Authority. Professor Ursula Kilkelly Professor Ursula Kilkelly is an established international authority on the rights of the child, having published nearly 100 books, articles, chapters and research reports on children’s rights, youth justice and youth detention. In 2019, Ursula was awarded a grant from the Policing Authority to research children’s experiences of police questioning with Dr Louise Forde and another year long grant from the Irish Research Council, funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, to lead an inter-disciplinary study designed to ensure that national youth justice policy is informed by the best international research evidence. Ursula combines her scholarship with leaderships roles including as Head of the College of Business and Law at UCC and as chairperson of the Board of Management of Oberstown Children Detention Campus, in which she is serving her second term appointed by the Minister for Children.

Darren Conroy Darren has over 22 years’ experience working in youth justice, youth work and social care services. He has worked in Extern in a number of management roles since 2004 and currently is Programme Manager for a range of services across the West, Mid-West, Midlands and Dublin. He is also lead for Externs Youth Justice Services which includes projects such as Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs), the intensive Janus Justice Project in the Mid-West and the Bail Supervision Scheme. Breakout Session 5: Decision-Making Capacity and the Criminal Justice System

Martina Colville Martina is Head of Corporate in the Department of Justice. The Corporate pillar drives and manages organisation-wide activities to enable the Department to achieve its strategic goals and deliver effective, responsive Department processes and services. The Corporate pillar develops and implements the approach, solutions and infrastructure across a number of diverse areas: technology, financial and people planning, procurement, legal, corporate governance, compliance and audit controls. Up until the transfer of functions from the Department of Justice and Equality to the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth, Martina chaired the Steering Group for the implementation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, which comprises representatives of the Department of Justice, Department of Health, the Courts Service, the Decision Support Service and the Mental Health Commission. Áine Flynn Áine Flynn graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a law degree and M.Litt. in criminal justice policy. She was admitted as a solicitor in 1999 and from 2012-2017 was a senior partner in KOD Lyons, a firm specialising in criminal defence and public interest law. She was on the panel of legal representatives of the Mental Health Commission and the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board from their inception in 2006 and represented wards of court instructed by the General Solicitor. She has written and lectured on human rights and has been a member of the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society since 2012. Prior to her present appointment, she was a member of the Law Society’s Mental Health and Decision-Making Capacity Task Force. In October 2017, Áine commenced in post as Director of the Decision Support Service under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Louise Loughlin Louise Loughlin is the National Manager of the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS). NAS provides an independent, confidential and free, issues-based representative advocacy service. In overseeing NAS, Louise also oversees the Patient Advocacy Service which is delivered by NAS on behalf of the Department of Health. Louise has worked with NAS since 2011, and has been National Manager since 2016. Louise is a Qualified Solicitor in Scots law and has expertise in the areas of advocacy and the rights of people with disabilities across three jurisdictions. Louise has a particular interest in capacity issues and safeguarding. Louise is a member of the National Care Experience Survey Programme Steering Group, the HSE Disability Consultative Forum, Mental Health Commission’s Assurance Oversight Group for the Decision Support Service and the National Safeguarding Committee. Patricia T Rickard-Clarke Patricia Rickard-Clarke is a solicitor and former Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission. She is the Independent Chair of Safeguarding Ireland clg and Chair of SAGE Advocacy clg. She was a member of the HSE’s National Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act Steering Group preparing for the implementation of the Assisted Decision- Making (Capacity) Act 2015, a member of the Multi- Disciplinary Group appointed by the Minister for Health to draft a code of practice for Advance Healthcare Directives and was also a member of the National Disability Authority’s Expert Group that developed the non-health care codes of practice for the 2015 Act. She is author of the Irish section on the International Protection of Adults published by Oxford University Press and has contributed to a number of publications on topics related to decision-making capacity and rights of older and vulnerable adults, the latest being Changing Horizons in the 21st Century – Perspectives on Ageing published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2020. Breakout Session 6: Probation and Re-integration into the Community after Prison Fergal Black Fergal Black was appointed Director of Healthcare in the Irish Prison Service, in June 2008. In March 2012 he was assigned additional responsibilities for prisoner Work Training, Education, Psychology and Chaplaincy Services and the position was retitled Director of Care & Rehabilitation. For the previous 25 years he worked in the Health Service Executive as Superintendent Community Welfare Officer, General Manager and Local Health Manager for Dublin West. He was seconded to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in 1999 for six years to work on the establishment of the Reception and Integration Agency and subsequently as a member of the Youth Justice Review Team. He has continuously held briefs to develop services for socially excluded groups including prisoners, asylum seekers, travellers and homeless persons. Michael Murchan Michael has over 40 years’ experience in the Department of Health (DOH) and has worked for the last 10 years in the Mental Health Unit (MHU). In addition to providing Parliamentary support to the Minister, MHU has a broad range to responsibilities relating to Mental Health. These include legislation (updating the Mental Health Act 2001); policy (A Vision for Change and its successor Sharing the Vision); annual Estimates/Budget funding; HSE Annual Service Plans for Mental Health, Inter-Department and international initiatives, etc. Michael was a DOH representative on the Justice/Health Inter-Departmental Group to examine Issues relating to people with Mental Illness coming into contact with the Criminal Justice system. He is also on a representative on the HSE Transition Governance Group to oversee the transfer of the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum to the new National Forensic Mental Health Service facility at Portrane, due to open in 2021. Barry Owens As Prison Operations and Business Development Manager with IASIO, Barry is responsible for day-to-day prison operations and business development across the organisation. Barry has been working in the area since 2002, when he started as a Training and Employment Officer with the Linkage Service. He has been actively involved in the development of all criminal justice work guidance initiatives, in which IASIO has sought to merge guidance counselling with desistance studies, a branch of life-course criminology that studies how people come to stop committing crime. Barry also has been involved in the development of referral and support systems in housing, welfare and medical cards for prisoners leaving custody. He holds a BBS from DCU, a PG Dip in Adult Guidance Counselling from NUI Maynooth, a PG Diploma in Public Management from the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and an MA in Criminal Justice from the IPA. David Williamson David Williamson qualified as a Social Worker in Belfast in 1979 working for a year in the UK in Social Services before moving to Dublin in 1980. David joined the Social Work team at St Patricks Hospital, Dublin and spent three years working within the private service delivery sector of the hospital before transferring internally to the contracted public service sector covering the south central portion of Dublin and based in St James Hospital. David joined the Probation Service in 1991 and worked in Mountjoy Prison before moving to work in a Probation funded community project in Clondalkin. Promoted to SPO in 2000, he managed the Laois/Offaly team and Portlaoise Prison before returning as a manager to Clondalkin. In 2003 David was selected to manage a joint project with the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (Protect N&S), rolling out joint training and targeting improved practice across the two services as part of the enhanced justice strand of the Good Friday Agreement. He moved to Dublin North Inner City and the Bridge Project in 2012. In Summer 2018 he was re-assigned to the Staff Training and Development Section where he is focussing on professional practice standards and a service wide practice framework for Probation Officers. Video Library Joan Clarke Joan Clarke is a Galway woman and mother of two. In 2006, she was excluded from jury service because she was deaf and would have needed the assistance of a sign language interpreter. At that time, the Juries Act 1976 stipulated that deaf persons were “unfit” to serve on a jury. Supported by FLAC (the Free Legal Advice Centres), Joan instituted High Court proceedings challenging the decision to exclude her from jury service. In July 2010, the High Court struck down the blanket ban on deaf persons serving on juries and said that each situation would have to be decided on its merits. Gáibhin McGranaghan Gáibhin McGranaghan is AsIAm’s Policy Officer. He works closely within AsIAm’s Community Support team and with their partners from right across Ireland’s disability sector. From planning and collaborating on research into issues facing the autism community, to lobbying Oireachtas members to ensure they prioritise autism at a political level – his role is a diverse one with equally varied responsibilities. Some of his key projects with AsIAm include developing the Understanding Autism Handbook for Public Servants; coordinating the first study into reduced timetables amongst autistic school children in Ireland; representing the organisation on advisory panels investigating special education reform; and managing AsIAm’s #HealthierHappierLives campaign during the 2020 General Election.