Treoir Council Members – Elected at the May 2024 AGM

Louise Bayliss: SPARK  *Chairperson of the Board*

Louise Bayliss holds an MSc in Equality Studies. She is the campaign coordinator with Focus Ireland, co-founder and spokesperson of S.P.A.R.K. and special appointee to the social justice committee of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul on lone parent issues.

Q & A with Louise Bayliss

Passions: Louise is interested in children’s rights, poverty among lone parent households and housing.

Council Role: Chair of the Policy subcommittee.

Caitríona Nic Mhuiris: Kinship Care 

Caitríona is a parent of two and kinship Carer to her 4 orphaned nieces. As a kinship carer, she has insight into the challenges many kinship families face. She is dedicated to advocating for increased support so no kinship family should have to care for vulnerable children alone.With skills and experience in community development, family support, and child bereavement she is keen to develop trauma-informed approaches to supporting kinship families. Through a supportive partnership with Treoir and the kinship steering group, she focused on developing a clear vision for kinship care and has taken concrete steps towards realising it.

Passions: Caitríona is committed to ensuring that the invisible nature of kinship care is made visible and the quality of life of kinship families is improved

Council Role: Council member

Bernard Joyce: Irish Traveller Movement

Bernard Joyce has been the Director of the Irish Traveller Movement since 2016 and a Traveller rights activist for over 30 years in various roles locally and nationally and brings a wealth of knowledge and insight. He is a graduate of the National University of Ireland Maynooth in Social Science, Youth and Community Development. He represents ITM on many oversight and advisory groups involving Traveller rights in Ireland, he is a representative member of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, the Expert Review Programme Board, and the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy and Civil Legal Aid review that is currently underway.

Council Role: HR Sub-committee.

Norma Fitzgerald

Norma is currently the senior service manager with Anew. Norma has a wealth of knowledge and experience having worked extensively with women, teenage girls, and babies throughout her working career.

Norma initially trained as a children’s Nurse in Temple St but soon moved to social care, working with Teenage Girls in Lefroy House on Eden Quay.

She then moved to Oberstown Girls School where she remained for over 20 years. Her career in Oberstown had many twists and turns where she eventually became a manager for 10 years. The highlight of her career in Oberstown was opening the Stepdown and Outreach Service for the Girls School better known as Lilac House.

This programme offered wraparound support for the girls leaving the detention center. Norma played a huge role in teaching the young girls life skills, sourcing education or employment, and linking them with all the support available to them within their community.

Norma was involved in the training of staff in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention and the initial implementation of this program within Oberstown Girls School. She also ran a successful Teenage Health Programme.

Norma has always been an advocate for young girls and women, having worked with vulnerable teenage Girls and their families for many years. During the course of this work, it

became evident that many mothers needed different supports at various times to give them the tools, knowledge, and confidence to grow and become the best mother they can be. This led Norma into the field of pregnancy, motherhood, and homelessness.

Norma joined Anew as a Social care worker in 2017 working closely with the women in CBC (Cherry Blossom Cottage). A cottage housing pregnant women experiencing homelessness. Norma became Team leader in 2018 and moved into the role of Manager in 2023 where she currently leads a busy team in developing the service.

The team are currently developing the Anew programme. The aim of this program is to support and educate as many women experiencing homelessness in relation to Pregnancy care and motherhood. Norma has spearheaded the development of the Peer Support programme, Nurture programme, LifeSkills and Women’s empowerment programme. These programs have served to be invaluable to the women accessing the service.

Passions: Norma is passionate about working with and supporting vulnerable women in particular new mothers. Norma believes if you support, educate, and empower a woman you empower a family.

Council Role: Chair of the HR Subcommittee and part of the communications subcommittee. 

Tanya Franciosa: The Coombe Hospital

Tanya Franciosa is the Principal Medical Social Worker at The Coombe Hospital, where she has worked since 2009. For the first 10 years, she specialised in the area of addiction in pregnancy, before moving into a Principal role in 2019. Tanya has a Bachelor’s in Social Studies with TCD and an MSc in Leadership with RCSI. She is also involved with the national Head Medical Social Workers Forum.

Passion: Tanya is passionate about the role Medical Social Workers play in supporting and advocating for women and their families during pregnancy and in the immediate postnatal period, particularly in relation to the inequalities faced by one-parent families.

Council Role: Communications subcommittee.

Dr Brian Tobin:

Dr Brian Tobin is the Deputy Head of the School of Law and a Lecturer in Law at NUI Galway, and I hold LL.B, LL.M and PhD degrees from Trinity College Dublin. he has contributed to policy development in the U.K., Ireland and internationally. He is a regular media contributor and often writes opinion pieces on Child and Family law matters for the Irish Examiner. He recently co-authored a Review of the Law on Guardianship in the context of Children born outside of Marriage or Civil Partnership for the Department of Justice.

Passions: Brian’s primary research interests are in the areas of Child and Family Law, with a particular focus on the legal recognition of contemporary family forms and the position of children born via assisted human reproduction, including surrogacy. His  book, ‘The Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships: Emerging Families in Ireland and Beyond’ will be published in 2022.

Rosemary Grant

Rosemary trained as a social worker at Trinity College, Dublin. Having been a student in the Rotunda Hospital during my training, all of her work experience has been in the area of medical social work in maternity, neonatal and gynaecology settings. She worked for two years in the maternity unit of St James Hospital and in the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital until her retirement in 2019.

Lorraine Barry:  Ringsend & Irishtown Family Resource Centre

Lorraine Barry is a results-oriented manager within the private/public sector and has a proven track record of demonstrating excellent leadership by managing, motivating and influencing a diverse number of teams within the changing landscapes of these organisations over the last thirty years. Since 2006 she has been the manager of Ringsend & Irishtown Community Centre she has managed a large number of diverse people in the Community Sector. She has gained invaluable experience, especially her financial management skills, and has built up very positive relationships with the Government and statutory agencies. She has a brilliant knowledge of the services on the ground.

Passions: Lorraine has developed a real interest in the challenges facing the Government going forward and need for positive reform.

Council Role: Chair of the Finance and Audit subcommittee. 

Anthony Mc Cashin: 

Anthony Mc Cashin was on the academic staff of the School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin from 1992 to 2014 and prior to that had been a policy analyst with the NESC and the Commission on Social Welfare.

He is author of a book on social security in Ireland, Continuity and Change in the Welfare State. Social Security in the Republic of Ireland (2019), and has published research on housing, social welfare and lone parent families. 

Passions: Anthony is passionate about using research as a tool for policy development and social welfare reform in Ireland. 

Deirdre McCarthy:

Deirdre McCarthy has a Bachelor of Social Work Honors Degree from University College Cork. Deirdre also has a Masters in Social Science (Social Policy) and has completed a level 9 CPD special purpose award in Trauma informed Theory and Practice.  

Deirdre was a Child Protection and Welfare Social Worker with Tusla for five years. She then became a high support foster carer for two years. Deirdre started her own business, Family 3: Social Work and Family Consultancy, completing ‘Voice of the Child’ assessments for court and supporting families experiencing crisis, challenge and change.  

During these roles she developed an interest in Trauma and the impact on children whose parents are breaking up. She self-published a children’s book and companion workbook called ‘It’s not Fair: Bród’s Journey through their parents break up’. 

Deirdre is currently a Lecturer in University College Cork and is involved in two research projects. In this role she is pursuing a post graduate certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.  

Deirdre became a parent at the age of 17 in her Leaving Certificate year, she understands first hand the challenges this brings as well as the supports that are needed for both the parent and the child/children.  

Passions: Deirdre is passionate about Trauma-informed Practice, Children’s Rights and participation in particular within the Family Law arena. 

Council Role: Communications Sub–Committee and HR Sub-Committee.