Meet Our Board of Management

Leon is a Tallaght native from Springfield. He is a mixed-race man with heritage from Senegal and Ireland. He is the founder of “Black and Irish,” an organisation tackling racism in Ireland and building representation across different areas of Irish society. He is a former student union president of Maynooth University and holds a degree in psychology.

Madeleine Mulrennan works as an independent consultant specialising in education matters and professional regulation. She has previously worked in further education and in teacher education. She was President of St. Catherine’s College of Education, Sion Hill, from 2000 to 2007. She was a Special Advisor (policy) in two government departments. Madeleine is a graduate of the University of Dublin, Trinity College, and the Dublin Institute of Technology and has degrees in education, community health, and law. She is a member of the Governing Authority of Maynooth University and recently chaired the review of Home Economics at Junior Cycle for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

Elizabeth Nixon is an Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology in the School of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin. She is the director of the undergraduate degree program in psychology. She is a graduate of University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. Her research and teaching interests lie in parenting and family as a context for children’s development. She is a Co-Investigator of Growing up in Ireland, the first national longitudinal study of children’s development in Ireland. She established and co-directs the Infant and Child Research Lab at Trinity, where she researches parent-child interactions.

Anita Nolan is a qualified Social Worker and a proud member of the Tallaght West Community. She is a graduate of the Liberties College Dublin, and the University of Dublin, Trinity College. Anita has worked with children and families since 2012, in Ireland and abroad. Her work experience to date includes early years childcare, working with women and children fleeing domestic violence, child protection social work, and working with young people at risk. Anita is particularly interested in programmes and approaches that empower people, increase resilience, and create better outcomes for children and families.

Aisling holds an Honours Degree in Business and Accountancy, has been a qualified accountant with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) since 2016, and is currently studying for a Masters of Economic Science in Policy Analysis with the Institute of Public Administration (IPA). She has worked in the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General since 2014 and has considerable experience and expertise in Public Sector Financial procedures and Governance requirements. Aisling is a Tallaght native with two children, a son and a daughter. She is interested in social policy, early intervention, and evidence-based policy. She is currently training in restorative practices.

Catriona Rodgers has been a guidance counsellor with DDLETB for the past 10 years, supporting young people and adults in Post Primary and Further Education to help guide them to reach their personal, educational, and vocational goals. Catriona is a graduate of IT Tallaght, now TUD, and has studied at UCD, Trinity College, IICP, and Maynooth University. She is passionate about lifelong learning and has strong values of inclusion and equality, particularly for young people in the LGBT+ community and those with SEN. Catriona, a Tallaght native, still lives in the area with her husband and four young children.

Siobhán Swaine, a National College of Ireland graduate with a Degree in European Business and Languages, is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and the Insurance Institute of Ireland. As a HR Manager in the Financial Services sector with 19 years of HR experience, Siobhán excels in partnering with senior leaders, aligning HR strategies with business goals. Her expertise spans Recruitment, Employee Relations, HR Operations, and Organisational Transformations. Originally from Co. Monaghan and now residing in Tallaght, Siobhán, a mother of three daughters, actively engages in community-based programmes.

Originally from Cork, Jerome started his career at the Coca-Cola Company, progressing through senior sales and marketing roles internationally. Concluding as Commercial Director for Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo, he later served as Commercial Director for Ireland at John West.

Jerome transitioned to senior public affairs and communication roles, initially with the Irish Brewers Association and then as Director of Responsible Retailing of Alcohol in Ireland. With a BA in History & Economics from UCC, he also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in General Management from IMD and recently completed an MSC in Sport Management from UCD. Jerome presently lectures at UCD and TU Dublin.

Emer Woodfull Emer is a practicing barrister at the Law Library Dublin who was called to the Bar in 2003. She has a background in child, criminal, investigative, inquiry and employment law and is a Chairperson appointed by the Mental Health Commission to conduct tribunals. She was previously an award-winning current affairs broadcaster and series producer for RTE, the national broadcaster. In her early career, she worked as a teacher in Ballymun and a school for young offenders. She is a Board member of Oberstown Children Detention Campus.

Noel McCarthy is Professor of Population Health Medicine in Trinity College Dublin. He studied medicine at Trinity qualifying in 1989 and has worked in hospital medicine and public health in Ireland, Sweden and Africa. Before returning to Ireland in 2021 he worked in England as a Consultant in Public Health Medicine in Public Health England, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Warwick and Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. This included work across a wide range of public health topics and populations. 

Geraldine is a community activist and volunteer in Tallaght West and been involved in working with the community her entire life.

She has been involved with CDI for more than eight years since she took part in Restorative Practice training and then went on to complete the Train the Trainers course. Geraldine is on all the community forums in the local area and believes that participation and showing up is the most important part of making sure you have the right information for the right person at the right time.
Geraldine spent two years involved with the Tallaght West Parents’ Network where she trained parents in all 13 local schools about the importance of parental participation and how to run a parents association.

She currently runs a women’s group in Glenshane every Wednesday morning and has experience being a parent representative on her children’s school board on occasion during their school years.

Dr. Graham Finlay is an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin. He is also currently Vice Principal for Widening Participation in the College of Social Sciences and Law and has engaged in a number of groups concerned with promoting disabled people’s rights and educational disadvantage, including serving as chair of the Board of Management of a DEIS school in Inchicore. He has published a number of articles and reports on the theory of human rights, human rights policy, migrants’ rights and citizenship education.