speakers

Speakers - Mindful Journey Conference 2018

Mary Mitchell O’Connor

Mary Mitchell O'Connor TD is Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for Higher Education having been appointed on 14 June 2017.‌

In March 2018 the Minister led the Technological Universities Bill through the houses of the Oireachtas. The first application from TU4DUBLIN consortium of Dublin Institute of Technology, IT Blanchardstown, and IT Tallaght was received at the end of last month.

The Technological Universities legislation has been a high priority for this Government and will radically change the higher education landscape. It provides the opportunity to drive regional development and provide more opportunities for individuals, enterprise and the community. These institutions will have significant impact and influence regionally, nationally and internationally.
Minister Mitchell O’Connor is committed to leading the development of national policy on equity of access to higher education for all students, overseeing a range of support measures which facilitate greater levels of participation by disadvantaged students, mature students and students with disabilities.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor is awaiting her Gender Equality taskforce report later this month. The Minister is determined that Ireland’s female academics will have all the same possibilities of career advancement as their male counterparts. The Minister is dedicated to supporting the Irish education system in becoming more internationalised, by encouraging and assisting with the development of further links and relationships between Ireland and many partners at individual, institutional and country level. Minister Mitchell O’Connor previously served Minister of Business, Enterprise and Innovation from 6 May 2016, leading on the creation and maintenance of high quality and sustainable full employment across all regions of the country, seeing, for the first time in almost a decade, over 2 million people employed in Ireland.

Mary was a School Principal in Scoil Cholmcille in Skryne, Co. Meath before taking the reins of The Harold School in Glasthule, Co. Dublin, a large urban school of over 600 pupils. Mary has an Honours Masters’ Degree in Education and Management from National University Ireland, (NUI) Maynooth.

Professor Lokesh Joshi

Lokesh is the Vice President for Research and SFI Stokes Professor of GlycoSciences at NUI Galway. Lokesh received his PhD in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry from Bath University, UK and went on to gain Post-Doctoral and Research Associate experience at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Director of Center for Glycoscience and Technologies in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. Lokesh's research focuses on the role of complex sugars in health and diseases including chronic illnesses and host-pathogen interactions and he has published over 100 research articles in international journals. Lokesh grew up in the tradition of yoga and meditation and has been practicing mindfulness since his time at Cornell University. Lokesh is interested in individual and organisational wellbeing to develop a sense of purpose, higher performance and a greater contribution to society.

Associate Professor Craig Hassed

Associate Professor Craig Hassed works at the Department of General Practice and is coordinator of mindfulness programs at Monash University. His teaching, research and clinical interests include mindfulness-based stress management, mind-body medicine, meditation, health promotion, integrative medicine and medical ethics. Craig is regularly invited to speak and run courses in Australia and overseas in health, professional and educational contexts. Craig was the founding president of the Australian Teachers of Meditation Association and is a regular media commentator. He also featured in the documentary, The Connection, and wrote the companion e-book, “The Mindfulness Manual” and co-authored with Richard Chambers the free online Mindfulness course in collaboration with Monash University and FutureLearn.

Craig writes regularly for medical journals and has published twelve books;

“New Frontiers in Medicine” (Volumes 1 and 2)
“Know Thyself” on mindfulness-based stress management
“The Essence of Health” on the lifestyle approach to health and chronic illness
A textbook co-authored with Kerryn Phelps, “General Practice: the integrative approach”
A book written with Stephen McKenzie, “Mindfulness for Life”
A book written with Richard Chambers, “Mindful Learning” on the role of mindfulness in education
"Playing the genetic hand life dealt you" on epigenetics
"The Mindful Home", written with Deirdre Hassed
A book written with Patricia Dobkin, “Mindful Medical Practitioners” on the role of mindfulness in medical education
“Illuminating Wisdom”, a book of calligraphic art written with Deirdre Hassed

Dr Ann Caulfield ‌

‘Mindfulness Matters for children too!’
Dr. Ann Caulfield will outline the journey of Mindfulness Matters, a Mayo-based initiative set up by Ann and Derval Dunford, which has endeavoured to embed mindfulness into primary level education since 2011. Its vision is that every child will be introduced to mindfulness through wellbeing in the classroom and that teachers will know the value of and practice mindfulness as a means of personal and professional self-care and wellbeing.

Dr. Ann Caulfield’s background spans the fields of education, community development and health. She has a particular interest in mindfulness in the workplace and advocates the practice of mindfulness among educators by designing and delivering Continuing Professional Development in schools, organization and health providers. Her work is deeply informed by her personal mindfulness practice. As a co-founder of Mindfulness Matters, she facilitates popular face to face and online wellness courses for professionals. She has completed doctoral research into the implication of mindfulness on stress reduction among Irish primary school teachers. Ann is a part-time lecturer in Applied Social Studies at the Galway Mayo Education Centre and is a graduate of Dublin City University and the University of Lincoln.

Dr Catherine O’Brien

Dr Catherine O Brien M.R.C.Psych is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services) Inpatient Unit Merlin Park, Galway which is a 20-bedded in-patient unit for children and adolescents (under 18) with mental health concerns. In addition to managing admissions diagnosis and treatment, Dr O’Brien has a role in medical student teaching. Mindfulness is incorporated into many CAMHS treatment programmes and Dr O’ Brien has a special interest in developing Mindfulness based interventions further with patients and also incorporating into medical student teaching for 4^th Year medical students from NUI Galway on clinical psychiatry placement in CAMHS.

Mary Lovegrove

Mary is co-founder of Mindful Nation Ireland a new non-for-profit organisation supporting and encouraging mindfulness and compassion initiatives in public life, in particular the healthcare, education and criminal justice sectors and also in the workplace and across the political system.

Mary is a qualified mindfulness teacher and nurse and has led several national culture change programmes in the healthcare sector both in Ireland and the UK.

Niamh Bruce

Former Executive Director and Director of Programmes for the Sanctuary (A non-profit meditation centre in Smithfield area www.sanctuary.ie) for over 10 years. She now continues to work for the Sanctuary and others on a freelance and consultancy basis. A mindfulness facilitator in several forms, Niamh has also developed several programmes. With a strong interest and role in Mindfulness and Young People, Niamh has co-developed the Sanctuary Warrior Programme for young people who are finding the journey to maturity and social integration challenging. She delivered Warrior through the Garda Youth Diversion Programmes and Behavioural Support Units and School Completion Programmes. Niamh also co-developed and delivers the M2M training for the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). Niamh is also a teacher trainer for the Mindfulness in Schools Programme (MiSP) and the .b (dotb) programme for 11-17 year olds and is the voice on their animations used both here, the UK and America and is a paws b trainer (curriculum for 7-11 year olds).

In the area of the legal profession and Criminal Justice Niamh taught mindfulness for staff and students in Black Hall Place and also delivered mindfulness sessions in the Law Library for Barristers on behalf of the Sanctuary. In 2017 Niamh was the keynote speaker for the Prison Education Services and launched prison leaflets in Arbour Hill. At the end of 2017 Niamh carried out a 3 week course for inmates at Arbour Hill and concurrently ran a short course for prison staff. In May 2018 Niamh just completed a 6 week course for inmates at Arbour Hill.

Eilis Barry

Eilis Barry is chief executive of FLAC, the Free Legal Advice Centres, an independent NGO that campaigns for access to justice. She was the legal adviser of the Equality Authority and head of its legal section from 2000-2009. She has also practiced at the bar specialising in all aspects of employment law, anti-discrimination and equality. Eilis drafted “Case Law Review of Mental Health in the Workplace” and authored “Equality How?” which is the ICTU guide to taking cases under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008 and the Equal Status Acts 2000-2008. She is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars. She was co-editor of ‘Equality in Diversity, the New Equality Directives’, ICEL No. 29, and former editor of the Employment Law Reports.

Kate O’Flaherty

Kate O'Flaherty is the Head of Health and Wellbeing in the Department of Health. She leads the work to coordinate implementation of the Healthy Ireland Framework, which is a major Government-led initiative aimed at improving health and wellbeing. Kate is both a pharmacist and a journalist by professional background and previously worked in a number of roles in both sectors before joining the Department in 2013.

Dr. Paul D’Alton

‌Dr. Paul D'Alton is Head and Clinical Lead of the Department of Psychology at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of Psychology, University College Dublin. He has worked clinically for over a decade in cancer care and has taught mindfulness to clinical populations for almost 15 years.

He is founder and Co-Director of the MSc in Mindfulness Based Interventions at UCD. He is a Fellow and past President of the Psychological Society of Ireland.

He teaches on several post-graduate programmes at University College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin. He has completed a number of funded research projects and is frequently invited to speak at scientific gatherings in Europe and the USA. He has published several book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles.

He has a keen interest in equality and human rights and has contributed to public, policy and political debate in this area. He is a regular contributor to newspaper, radio and television and has used these opportunities to advocate for improved mental health services, cancer care and early intervention for children.

Leanne Robins

Leanne Robins is a Senior Medical Social Worker based within the CAMHS Inpatient Unit at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway. Originally from Australia, she has spent over 20 years in both Australia and Ireland working with children and young people as a mental health clinician and therapist. Much of this work has involved working with children and young people who have severe mental health difficulties or who have been exposed to considerable trauma. As such, the development of healthy self-care strategies, such as mindfulness has been central in maintaining a compassionate and reflective practice with the young people and families that she has worked with during this time. In addition, Leanne is completing her PhD with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at NUIG, and has taught on a number of undergraduate and post-graduate courses within the Department of Political Science and Sociology since her move to Galway in 2006.

The Mindful Mornings at Merlin (MMM) initiative commenced in 2016 to invite all staff within the CAMHS Inpatient Unit to join together for a short practice of Mindfulness twice per week. A twenty-thirty minute session on a Tuesday and Thursday morning is facilitated by Leanne Robins to include a mindfulness mediation, reflective conversation, and use of sensory elements to focus on self-care and compassion. These mornings have been consistently well attended by a variety of staff and students and have been a particularly good way to include and introduce non-clinical and administrative staff to mindfulness. In doing so, this has enhanced team working across all areas of the inpatient unit and has focused on self-care, compassion and stress management for all staff and students within the unit.

Michael O’Reilly

Michael O’Reillyis a lawyer (Solicitor and Barrister) with an extensive background in legal practice, arts and culture, policy development, political consultancy, governance and strategic planning in the private and public spheres.

He was centrally involved in the conceptualisation, design and articulation of the Creative Ireland Programme – a five-year (2017-2022) cross-government, culture-based initiative that promotes creativity as an essential contributor to individual and collective wellbeing.

Ann Walsh

Ann lectures Marketing in the JE Carines School of Business & Economics at NUI Galway, where she is also Associate Head of Teaching & Learning. As Programme Director for the award-winning MSc Marketing Practice she works closely with recent graduates as they transition to the workplace. Witnessing first-hand the mental-health challenges students and graduates experience, particularly anxiety and depression, she incorporates Mindful practice into the MSc Marketing Practice programme. Innovations include awarding credit for assignments based on diet, exercise, rest, meditation, reflective practice, listening and sharing as key elements of building the emotional intelligence and resilience necessary for a successful career in Marketing and Sales. With the introduction of a new module, “Mindful Leadership in Marketing & Sales” and playing a key role in Mindful Way @ NUI Galway, Ann is committed to creating a culture of Mindfulness at NUI Galway.