Research Study Day 2020 – Speaker bios

Emily Logan

Emily Logan served as Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission from October 2014, completing her five year term in October 2019. She is Adjunct Professor (Human Rights Practice) at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUIG. She was formerly Ireland’s first Ombudsman for Children for eleven years prior to this. During this time she served as Chair of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions and as President of the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children.

Áine Flynn
Director of the Decision Support Service – Mental Health Commission

Áine Flynn graduated in law from Trinity College Dublin and completed a research Masters in criminology and 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 public interest law, including disability and equality 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 also represented detained Wards of Court instructed by the General Solicitor.

She has written and lectured on human rights and have 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.

On 2nd October 2017, she took up Office as the first Director of the Decision Support Service.

Associate Professor Brian O’Donoghue

Brian is a Consultant Psychiatrist with the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) at Orygen Youth Health and a Principal Research Fellow with the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. Brian graduated from medicine from University College Dublin, obtained a Masters degree in Epidemiology and Public Health from the University of London and a PhD from UCD in 2015. Brian was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship for 2018 – 2021 and he is an associate editor of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine.

Brian’s areas of interest in research include youth mental health, the physical and sexual health of young people affected by mental health disorders, epidemiology and the reduction of coercive/ restrictive interventions. Brian is currently an investigator on four RCTs in the area of early psychosis and he was a contributor to the recently published Lancet Commission on the physical health of people affected by severe mental health disorders.

Joseph Duffy

Chief Executive Officer

At Jigsaw, Joseph leads the Senior Management Team to bring together the three main areas of our work – influencing change, strengthening communities and delivering services. He also works closely with our Board to evolve and implement the strategic plan for Jigsaw.

Originally from Sligo, Joseph’s interest in working with young people began with his local youth club. There he saw first-hand how dealing with small issues locally, before they became bigger issues, really seemed to work for young people. He holds an MBA in Health Services Management from the Smurfit Graduate Business School, University College Dublin (UCD), a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and is a Fellow of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI).

Joseph has more than twenty years of experience in managing and delivering mental health services. Joseph has previously held senior positions with the Irish Prison Service, the Psychological Society of Ireland and the Granada Institute. He held the post of Director of Clinical Support with Jigsaw from August 2011 to June 2012 and until November 2016 he held the post of Chief Operating Officer.

Mick Keating

Mick Keating has been working with HIQA since the commencement of the regulation of disability services in November 2013. He is currently a regional manager within the disability pillar covering the counties of Dublin, Kildare and Meath. He completed a MA in Health Care & Public Management with the Institute of Public Administration in 2012. Mick was a member of the Restrictive Practice Expert Advisory Group which was tasked with developing the thematic programme. Mick has taken the lead role in the role out of the thematic inspections and has overseen all of the inspections to date.

Previously Mick has worked as a Course Director of an Honours Degree in Applied Social Care (disability) for the Open Training College and as a lecturer in the Institute of Technology Carlow. Prior to this he worked within a large disability service provider for 15 years culminating in role of ‘person in charge’ of a residential service in North Dublin.

Mick can be contacted at mkeating@hiqa.ie

Brendan Kelly 
Professor of Psychiatry
Trinity College Dublin

New Book: India’s Mental Healthcare Act, 2017: Building Laws, Protecting Rights

Brendan Kelly Amazon Author Page

Trinity Centre for Health Sciences,
Tallaght University Hospital,
Dublin 24, D24 NR0A, Ireland
Telephone + 353 1 896 3799

Brendan Kelly is Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, Consultant Psychiatrist at Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, and Visiting Full Professor at University College Dublin. In addition to his medical degree (MB BCh BAO), he holds masters degrees in epidemiology (MSc), healthcare management (MA) and Buddhist studies (MA), and an MA (jure officii) from Trinity College Dublin; and doctorates in medicine (MD), history (PhD), governance (DGov) and law (PhD). He has authored and co-authored over 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals, over 500 non-peer-reviewed publications, 14 book chapters and contributions, and 11 books (eight as sole author). His recent books include ‘Hearing Voices: The History of Psychiatry in Ireland’ (2016), ‘Mental Illness, Human Rights and the Law’ (2016) and ‘The Doctor Who Sat For A Year’ (2019). He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and Trinity College Dublin. In 2017, he became Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry.

Dr Ruth Loane, Saint John of God Hospital, Psychiatry of Later Life

Dr Ruth Loane is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. She completed her basic specialist training in psychiatry in both the Western Health Board and the Eastern Health Board. She undertook higher specialist training in Old Age and General Adult Psychiatry in London. She was appointed consultant in Old Age Psychiatry in Limerick in 1998, where she set up and developed the first Old Age Psychiatry service outside Dublin. She was subsequently appointed as consultant in the Mater Hospital and North Dublin Psychiatry of Old Age service in 2006. She was appointed to St John of God Hospital in 2012 as consultant in Old Age Psychiatry. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and College of Psychiatrists of Ireland.  She is a past President of the College of Psychiatrists in Ireland. Her research and special interests are in service development, liaison in Old Age Psychiatry and management of challenging behaviour in older people with dementia.