People

Sage is the National Advocacy Service for Older People. It also supports vulnerable adults and healthcare patients in certain situations where no other service is available. It responds according to a person’s needs with Information – Support – Advocacy – Safeguarding and often a combination of all these approaches. It also identifies, analyses and highlights issues which require systems changes through Systemic Advocacy.

Sage Advocacy staff are expected to:

Be approachable, friendly and easy to talk to; non- judgemental; sensitive to others; involving and inclusive

Be respectful of people, their privacy and of their relationships with family members/social networks

Be self-aware and assured without being arrogant or egotistic

Value individual autonomy, self-determination and personal empowerment

Be proactive and willing to take initiative regarding raising advocacy awareness among health and social care services personnel

Be vigilant, attentive to instances of poor quality and standards and the status of vulnerable adults, older people and healthcare patients

Be open to self-review, to receiving feedback and accepting support, supervision and mentoring

Be independent and free from any conflicts of interest

Be compassionate as well as passionate about enabling vulnerable adults, older people and healthcare patients to have their voice heard

Be curious, creative and innovative and flexible, open to exploring different ways of doing things and problem solving while understanding the wider context and possible implications of different approaches

Be resilient and able to handle challenging people and situations including those involving people who have experienced considerable trauma in early life, have been suddenly bereaved or are experiencing complex grieving and people who are survivors of institutional abuse.

Sage Advocacy has a core of paid staff who are supported by trained volunteers. Our key task is to develop regional teams of people capable of tackling everything from the most simple support tasks to the most complex advocacy challenges in every care setting.

We collaborate where possible and challenge where necessary.

All of our email addresses are formatted as follows: firstname.lastname@sageadvocacy.ie

Management Team

Mervyn Taylor

CEO

01 536 7330

Mervyn Taylor is providing management support to Sage Advocacy.  He has been centrally involved in the development of a range of innovative projects, programmes and organisations in the voluntary, public and private sectors over many decades.  One such programme won the Taoiseach’s award for Public Service Innovation.

He has at various times been Director of MS Ireland, CEO of the MS Care Foundation, Manager of Planning & Organisation with the National Social Service Board (now Citizens Information Board), Director of Pathfinder Projects, Programme Manager of Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme and Executive Director of Sage Advocacy.  He is currently a director of Safeguarding Ireland.  He has studied at Trinity College Dublin, the Open University & Cranfield School of Management.

Bibiana Savin

Case Management & Support
(Asst. CEO)

01 536 7330 / 086 027 0012

Bibiana has social work, sociology, business studies, and advocacy qualifications and holds a Master of Social Science (Human Rights & Social Policy) from Maynooth University. She completed additional training in Leading Strategic Projects Programme with Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and DIPEx International Accreditation with Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.
 
Bibiana is a Patient & Public Interest (PPI) Representative on a number of national forums such as the HSE Patient & Service User Forum, HSE Assisted Decision Making Transitional Oversight Group and the Emergency Department Taskforce. She is a member of the National Safeguarding Advisory Committee, the Irish Gerontological Society Executive Committee, and she has been collaborating for a number of years with the Irish Hip Fracture Governance Committee in the National Office for Clinical Audit, the UCD PPI Ignite Executive Committee and the HSE Mental Health Engagement & Recovery Subgroup for Sharing the Vision Recommendation 65 Project.

Main areas of interest are Advocacy, Human Rights Sociology of Health and Illness, Social Gerontology and Qualitative Research.

Mary Warren

Operations & Governance
(Asst. CEO)

01 536 7330 / 086 174 5130

As service administrator Mary is responsible for overseeing administrative systems for Sage. Prior to joining the organisation, Mary worked for Lisney in Property Management and Fixed Charge Receivership. She was also the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director.

Mary previously worked in financial services and has several years’ customer service and administration experience. She has participated in a number of mentor programmes and in research of the use of precision teaching in schools.

Thérèse McKenna

Planning & Projects Manager

01 536 7330 / 086 183 1428

Thérèse McKenna has a professional background in visual communications; in copywriting for non-profit campaigning, positioning, outreach and fundraising; and in newspaper journalism. Her primary degree is in Law. She has voluntary experience in an advice and advocacy role with the NI Refugee Support Service in Barnardos and the Marsh Trust awarded her as NI Volunteer of the Year 2022 for this work.

Mary Condell

Senior Legal Advisor

01 536 7330

Mary Condell BCL, Solicitor, MA (Mediation and Conflict Intervention), is a practicing solicitor and mediator. Before becoming legal advisor to Sage Advocacy, a support an advocacy service for vulnerable adults older people and healthcare patients she spent many years in private practice advising vulnerable adults. She is co-founder and former chair of Solicitors for the Elderly in Ireland and a member of the NDA expert group preparing draft Codes for the Decision Support Service. She is also a member of Disability Lawyers Rights Network.  She teaches at MA level in NUI Maynooth, and for Sage and the Law Society on, inter alia, the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015 and its practical application for professionals and others dealing with vulnerable adults.

Sorcha McCauley

Legal Adviser

01 536 7330 / 085 257 2430

TBA

Paula Bruen

Financial Controller

01 536 7330

TBA

Lara Gallagher

Information Systems Officer

01 536 7330 / 086 142 7897

Lara has worked in the voluntary and community sector for almost 20 years as a Project Worker with Tallaght Intercultural Action, Dublin AIDS Alliance and then the SAOL Project.  Her work focused on social inclusion, improving access to services, advocacy and support, and community development. 

Becoming an accredited psychotherapist in 2013, Lara held a Clinical Coordinator position in Living Life Counselling Centre where she carried out initial assessments with clients and managed volunteer counsellors. 

Lara holds a BA (Hons) Psychology from UCD, HDip Community & Youth Work from NUI Maynooth and MSc Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy from DCU.

Paula Dempsey

Administrator

01-536 7331 / 086 191 8708

TBA

Patrick Taylor

Administrative Assistant

01 536 7340 / 087 365 4997

TBA

Michael Daly

Project Manager, SIA

01 536 7330 / 086 191 8638

TBA

Information & Support Service

Helen Fitzgerald

Information & Support Service Manager

01 536 7335 / 086 130 2712

Helen Fitzgerald is Service Manager – Information and Support with Sage Advocacy. Helen’s role involves ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of Sage Advocacy’s provision of information and support to callers and clients, and contributes to the effectiveness of decision-making on casework within the organisation through monitoring and reporting on case activity at a national level. Helen holds an MSc in Applied Psychology from Dublin Business School, a BA in Psychology from NUI Maynooth, and has qualifications in Information, Advice and Advocacy Practice, Community & Health Services, Data Protection, and Genealogical Studies

Fergal Graham

Information, Support & Advocacy Coordinator

01 536 7333 / 086 607 2864

Fergal graduated with a B.A (Hons) in Social Care from Waterford Institute of Technology in 2006 and has worked in different areas of social care since then.

Fergal has worked for a variety of organisations including Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Focus Ireland and Caranua in the areas of residential childcare, supporting family carers, adult disability, housing support and institutional abuse.

Jennifer Connolly

Information, Support & Advocacy Coordinator

01 536 7330 / 086 191 8707

TBA

Karolyn Ward

Information, Support & Advocacy Coordinator

01 536 7339 / 086 191 8633

Karolyn graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Social Studies in Social Care and later from the European Institute of Communications with a Postgraduate Diploma in Communications and Public Relations. With over two decades of experience in the community and voluntary sector, she has undertaken various roles focused on supporting vulnerable adults with learning disabilities and mental health challenges.

Karolyn has held a number of roles in the area of Communications, including Head of Advocacy and Communications with a national mental health charity, developing and collaborating on numerous advocacy projects and campaigns championing the rights of those affected by mental health difficulties.

She is passionate about empowering people to have their voice heard in decisions that affect them and raise their voice for change

Dublin North & North-East + West & North-West

Jamie Sherlock

Regional Manager

01 536 7330 / 087 273 5772

Jamie worked with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland for sixteen years holding a number of roles within Operations and Learning and Development.

Jamie began her career here as a frontline worker providing dementia specific care in the home to people living with dementia enabling them to live at home within their communities for as long as possible. 

Following on from this Jamie managed the daily operations of a number of services including Home Care, Day Care, Alzheimer Cafes and Social Clubs across Dublin, Meath and Westmeath. 

Alongside her service manager roles Jamie also worked as an in house Tutor with the Learning and Development team delivering dementia specific training to staff across the country from frontline to senior management. 

Just prior to commencing with Sage, Jamie was the National Community Engagement Manager with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland responsible for driving the new community Engagement strategy within Ireland through education and awareness. This involved working with schools, government bodies, non profits and other organisations to deepen our communities understanding of dementia. 

Jamie holds a Business Finance degree from University College Cork and The Irish Management Institute, and is a qualified Tutor.

Rebecca Carolan

Regional Advocate, North-East (Cavan, Monaghan & Louth)

01 536 7330 / 086 169 5598

Prior to joining Sage, Rebecca worked as the Director of Nursing of a private nursing home for 18 years, caring for Older Persons and vulnerable adults. A large part of her role involved working with clients and their families along their dementia journey, ensuring a holistic and high level quality of care. She has vast experience in dealing with the many issues that can arise for clients who are moving in to a nursing home and supporting them with the Fair Deal process and other needs.  She holds a Higher Diploma in Adult Nursing, a level 6 with distinction in Gerontology and is a certified brain injury specialist with ACBIS. Rebecca has also worked in the acute hospital setting as a Clinical Nurse Manager, specialising in Orthopaedics and General Surgery. She is a board member of the Louth Volunteer Centre and volunteers with the Irish Cancer Society. 

Ciara Gallagher

Regional Advocate, Dublin North

01 536 7330 / 087 055 3254

Ciara has worked in the area of care provision services for over 30 years.

Prior to joining Sage, Ciara worked for the Irish Advocacy Network providing advocacy services in Acute Psychiatric Units in the Dublin, Meath and Louth area.

Ciara has worked as a social care worker for Three Steps Assessment and Therapeutic Residential Services for Children and Adolescents.  

Ciara has also worked as an assistant programme coordinator on the Special Care Programme, a 48-week training programme providing theoretical training and work placement in the field of Intellectual Disability within in The Daughters of Charity – Disability Support Services.

Ciara holds a BA in Applied Social Studies (Disabilities) from the Open Training College.

Marisa Sousa

Regional Advocate, Dublin North

01 536 7330 / 086 176 5832

Marisa Sousa, the Regional Advocate for Dublin North, has dedicated her career to cultivating inclusive communities and championing individual rights. With over six years in Dublin’s disability sector, Marisa safeguarded vulnerable adults, skilfully navigating complex cases and effectively communicating with diverse stakeholders. Her international roles across Portugal, Latvia, Italy, and Mozambique underscore a commitment to inclusion, spanning youth welfare, counselling, domestic violence awareness, and human rights initiatives. Holding a BA (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Coimbra, she pursued advanced studies in Neuropsychology and Violence Against Women. Marisa’s journey exemplifies her dedication to advocacy, community enhancement, and quality care across varied settings.

Maureen Finlay

Regional Advocate, North-East (Meath & Louth)

01 536 7330 / 086 183 1427

Prior to joining Sage, Maureen was a Development Officer with Age Action in Meath. She was responsible for implementing the National Advocacy Programme (later to become the Third Age National Advocacy Programme). Maureen was responsible for managing and providing supervision and support to advocates placed in nursing homes across Meath and Louth. In addition, she developed the first befriending programme for Meath nursing homes, recruiting and training a new team of befrienders.

Prior to this, Maureen worked for nine years for the Citizen’s Information Service, initially as an Information Officer and later as an Advocacy Resource Officer for the North East.

As a trained advocate, Maureen represented clients at Employment Appeals Tribunals, the Labour Court, HSE/Social Welfare and Equality Appeals and the Family Law Court.

Maureen has recently completed Conflict Positive Training, attaining a Certificate in Conflict Facilitation Skills & Practice

Derek Meates

Regional Advocate, Dublin North

01-536 7330 / 086 191 9353

Derek spent many years working in the construction industry before becoming employed as a Youth Advocate with YAP Ireland.  From there he secured various positions with Northside Partnership supporting new communities and developing pathways to services and integration for families and individuals within the area.

Derek has trained in Information, Advice and Advocacy and is a qualified mediator, which supports his new role with Sage Advocacy as Regional Advocate for Dublin and North-East.

Ann Griffin

Regional Advocate, North-West (Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim & Donegal)

01 536 7330 / 087 054 5005

Prior to joining Sage, Ann was actively engaged with the Third Age National Advocacy Programme since 2010. Ann was responsible for hands-on delivery of advocacy services and the management of a team of volunteer advocates in Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon, and Sligo. Ann was office manager of a Care in the Community facility which involved assessing the needs of clients in their own homes to develop and provide appropriate care packages.

Anne also held the post of Welfare Director of a sheltered employment facility providing advocacy and support services to thirty clients with intellectual and physical disability.

Ann has completed a Certificate in Advocacy with the National College of Ireland, Volunteer Management Training Certificate with Volunteer Centres Ireland and a certificate in Management Skills for Managers of Advocacy Services, I.T. Blanchardstown.

Geraldine Jolley

Regional Advocate, North-West (Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim & Donegal)

01 5367330 / 087 359 6142

Prior to being appointed as the Regional Coordinator for the Midlands, Geraldine Jolley worked with the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) for more than 10 years as an inspector of social services with responsibility for the regulation of designated centres for older people.

Before this role she was the area development officer for Mental Health Ireland. This role involved the development of positive mental health promotion programmes, suicide prevention initiatives and interagency working relationships with statutory, community, voluntary and social partners to ensure the effective delivery of services and the optimum management of resources.

Geraldine also spent more than 20 years working in the UK and held varied roles in regulation with the Care Quality Commission and as a nurse manager for mental health services that included acute, rehabilitation and dementia care services.

Geraldine is a mental health nurse with a specialist qualification in community mental health nursing. She also has a Masters degree in Interprofessional Health and Welfare Studies.

Stephanie Monahan

Regional Advocate, West (Galway & Mayo)

01 536 7330 / 087 784 8062

TBA

Trish Martyn

Regional Advocate, West (Galway & Mayo)

01 536 7330 / 086 183 1429

Prior to joining Sage, Trish worked with a community project in inner city Galway until 2014. Trish was responsible for the provision of support services to all sections of the local population. Trish previously spent 15 years working with the Lifestart Foundation, a parent-directed child-centred learning programme; supporting parents in home, community and centre based settings.

Trish holds a BA in Community and Family Studies.

Sheila Hunt

Regional Advocate, North-West (Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim & Donegal)

01-536 7330 / 086 191 9352

Prior to joining Sage, Sheila was a Manager of a Voluntary Housing Body and Community Centre in East Mayo for over 9 years. She was responsible for the management and provision of support services to all sectors in the community, and for identifying and implementing new services. As part of her work, she set up a Meals on Wheels service that provides hot meals to older vulnerable people in a 30mile radius and she acquired planning permission for 10 new supported living houses and a group home for older people to extend the VHB’s social housing provision.

Sheila holds qualifications in Business, Community Development and Leadership in Community Social Enterprises.

She is currently a Secretariat member on the social inclusion pillar of the Mayo Public Participation Network (Mayo PPN)

Dublin South-West & Midlands +
Dublin South-East & South-East

Lisa O'Connor

Regional Manager

01 536 7330 / 087 351 1421

Lisa has been with Sage Advocacy since 2020. During her time with Sage she has held the positions of Information and Support Assistant, Regional Advocate for Dublin South East and Wicklow, Greater Dublin Area Regional Manager and now Regional Manager Dublin South East and the South East and Dublin South West and the Midlands.

As Regional Manager, Lisa is responsible for supporting Regional Advocates to operate effectively and efficiently in their casework and local development work, through the direct provision of ongoing support and supervision, and through ensuring proper safeguarding and good case management regionally and nationally.

Prior to joining Sage, Lisa worked for a number of years in the non-profit sector in Dublin. Lisa is a qualified Occupational Therapist, having graduated with an MSc in Occupational Therapy from Queen Margaret University Edinburgh. She also holds a BA in History and Human Development from Dublin City University.

John Kerrigan

Regional Advocate, Midlands (Laois, Offaly, Longford & Westmeath)

01 536 7330 / 086 169 3336

Prior to joining Sage Advocacy, John was Development Officer with Age Action Ireland where he empowered older persons to participate in society and to overcome barriers. This included the development and delivery of Age Action’s Care & Repair and Getting Started programmes.

As a qualified trainer John has created and delivered QQI Level 5 to 9 education programmes; working on Local Training Initiative (LTI) programmes, and for ten years lecturing part-time with the Centre for Lifelong Learning, St Angela’s College, Sligo.

TBA

Regional Advocate, Dublin & Midlands (Recruiting)

01 536 7330

TBA

Breda Stanley Pickford

Regional Advocate, Dublin South-East & Wicklow

01 536 7330 / 086 169 5596

Breda Stanley Pickford has a professional background in Marketing Management and Public Relations.  Breda also holds qualifications in Information and Advocacy Practice, Intercultural Understanding and Diversity and Employment Law from the Kings Inns.

Prior to working for Sage Advocacy, Breda volunteered and held the role as Information and Advocate Officer with Citizens Information Service. 

Caroline Hanley

Regional Advocate, South-East (Carlow, Kilkenny & Wexford)

01 536 7330 / 086 172 4444

Caroline began working with Sage in June 2016.

Caroline worked for over 10 years in Boston for an Employee Assistance Program where she coordinated drug testing, mental health and substance abuse services for employees of large construction unions and their families. She also has many years’ experience as a home care worker for the elderly, both in private residences and assisted living facilities.

Since returning from Boston in 2014, Caroline worked as a Family Carer Support Officer for Family Carers Ireland in Wexford. While there she established a Volunteer Befriending program, coordinated respite care for the elderly and developed support groups and training for family carers.

Caroline completed a BA in Public and Social Policy and a Higher Diploma in Health Promotion both at NUIG and a Graduate Certificate in Forensic Services at the University of Massachusetts. Caroline became a volunteer Sage Representative in 2015.

Elaine Howley

Regional Advocate, Dublin South-East & Wicklow

01 536 7330 / 086 818 2405

TBA

Emer Meighan

Regional Advocate, Dublin South-West & Kildare

01 536 7330 / 086 183 6208

Prior to joining Sage, Emer worked with The Irish Hospice Foundation. Emer worked on ‘A Journey of Change’ programme which was designed to improve end-of-life care in nursing homes and residential settings, she worked on the ‘Hospice Friendly Hospitals’ programme which seeks to ensure that end of life, palliative and bereavement care is central to the everyday business of hospitals and the ‘Design & Dignity’ programme which transforms the way hospital spaces are designed for people at the end of life and their families.

Before joining The Irish Hospice Foundation Emer worked for a number of years with adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. She worked as independent creative arts psychotherapist for a number of organisations and was responsible in supporting people to reflect on their own lives and support them self-advocate.

Emer holds a Diploma in Mediation and Restorative Practice from NUI Maynooth, a Diploma in Project Management from the Institute of Project Management, a Masters of Drama-psychotherapy from NUI Maynooth, along with a Post Graduate Diploma in Arts in Healthcare Settings, from NUI Maynooth.

Martina Durkan

Regional Advocate, South-East (Waterford & South Tipperary)

01 536 7330 / 085 862 3585

TBA

TBA

Regional Advocate, Dublin & South-East (Recruiting)

01 536 7330

TBA

South-West & Mid-West

Anne O'Shea Clarke

Regional Manager

01 536 7330 / 087 627 5677

Anne joined Sage in October 2018 and is currently undertaking an Advanced Social Studies Course at Sallynoggin College, QQI Level 6 Information, Advice and Advocacy.

Anne has been an advocate in a personal capacity with Huntington’s Disease Association of Ireland (A neurological, hereditary, debilitating condition) for a number of years, being involved at community level, along with in hospital and Hospice settings. Anne has also worked together with the Neurological Alliance of Ireland and Mental Heath Ireland on an ongoing basis.  She also worked as a Healthcare support worker in a Nursing Home in Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex in England and more recently on a voluntary basis in St Mary’s Hospital in the Phoenix Park working with vulnerable and older people.

Lorraine Dolan

Regional Advocate, Mid-West (Limerick & North Tipperary)

01 536 7330 / 087 988 6738

Lorraine graduated from Carlow College in 2001 having completed Applied Social Studies in Social Care. Lorraine commenced employment in the disability sector and following this spent many years in the area of High Support Residential Care in the Carlow/Kilkenny area.

Following this, Lorraine established the childcare service of the Amber Women’s Refuge in Kilkenny for Women and children affected by Domestic Violence. Lorraine completed training in a number of areas; Addiction Studies, Parenting facilitation, Auricular Acupuncture, which led to the implementation of alternative therapies in a number of settings within which Lorraine worked.

In 2008 Lorraine went on to establish a Family Support Project in Templemore for Tipperary Regional Youth Services. In 2015 Lorraine established the Youth Justice Project in Southill, Limerick, which still continues to enhance the lives of young people who have come to the attention of the law.

Following this Lorraine worked for a time on a consultancy basis with North Tipperary Community Services in developing and delivering a variety of programmes for both teenagers and parents around challenging issues that were impacting on their lives. Prior to commencing employment with Sage as Regional Coordinator for the Midwest, Lorraine was Family Carer Support Officer for Family Carers Ireland covering North Tipperary and Clare.

Ann Roddy

Regional Advocate, Mid-West (Limerick & Clare)

01 536 7330/ 086 191 9362

Prior to joining Sage as a Regional Advocate, Ann worked for many years in a US financial services organisation as a project/product manager and led global technology teams. This work leveraged Ann’s original technology degree from UL.  Ann has always been interested in politics, community and social justice issues and in recent years returned to education part time to pursue an MSc in Ageing and Public Policy from the University of Galway. This course gave Ann the foundation to switch careers into the NGO sector and to further her interest in improving services for Ireland’s older people. In a voluntary capacity, Ann sits on the board of a national migrant support charity and is involved in several local initiatives in her community that focus on health and community connection.

A believer in life-long learning, Ann also has qualifications in Change Management, Community Development and Sociology & Politics. Her research interests include Public and Patient Involvement (PPI), Digital Healthcare and Social Inclusion policy.

 

Michael Cahillane

Regional Advocate, South-West (Kerry)

01 536 7330 / 087 747 9512

Prior to joining Sage, Michael was an Advocate in West Kerry Community Hospital and the Development Officer for the Third Age National Advocacy Programme in Kerry. He was responsible for the planning, development and delivery of the advocacy service to those living in residential care. Michael worked with Nursing Homes, Health Service Executive (HSE), Health Information Authority (HIQA), and other relevant agencies to ensure the successful provision of the service.

Michael has a strong background in the voluntary sector, working with volunteers in a variety of projects. Michael studied Advocacy at the National College of Ireland and at The Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Dublin.

Patricia O'Dwyer

Regional Advocate, South-West (Cork City)

01 536 7330 / 087 997 4399

Prior to joining Sage Patricia was an independent Public Health Nursing Consultant and managed a number of projects ranging from a national review of the public health nursing service to the preparation of fitness to practise reports for the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and medico legal expert reports for the Courts. Patricia previously worked as a lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery University College Cork and spent 20 years working as a nurse in a variety of settings in a number of countries overseas.  

Patricia is a registered general nurse, midwife, public health nurse and holds MSc Nurse Education (UCC) and a BCL (UCC).

Regina McCormack

Regional Advocate, South (Cork East & North)

01 536 7330 / 087 766 6352

Regina is a graduate of University College Cork and has past experience of working in both statutory and non-statutory settings.  This includes working in the Disability Services, Family Support Services, and also the Social Work Department in a Medical Setting. Over the last 8yrs Regina has supported Survivors of Institutional Abuse & Trauma.  This experience along with a passion to support the individual in a person-centered approach supports Regina’s overall approach to her work.

Research Interests: Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice: Understanding the concept of trauma and its effects on the individual throughout the lifespan.

Clare O'Callaghan

Regional Advocate, South (Cork West & North)

01 536 7330/ 086 191 8636

TBA.

TBA

Regional Advocate, South-West

01 536 7330

TBA.