Jacqui Browne has over 35 years’ experience of working at local, national, European and International levels as a disability equality activist and consultant.   She is secretary of the Board of the Independent Living Movement of Ireland (ILMI).  Jacqui is also a member of the Disability Advisory Committee of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC); the Irish Thalidomide Association and the Irish Platform for Patient Organisations, Science and Industry (IPPOSI). Jacqui is also Chairperson of DESSA – the Disability Equality Specialist Support Agency which is a Community Development Human Rights focussed organisation.

Matt is a retired member of An Garda Siochana based in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. He has served as a member of the National Disability Authority Board for a number of years.

Well known for his successful career in Gaelic Football, Matt has represented Offaly in winning an All-Ireland in 1982 and his role as mentor with the Minor and Senior teams over several years.  He has a passion for inclusion in sport and physical activity.

Rhian has worked in the disability and inclusion sector for 6 years and is passionate about the positive impact physical activity and sport can have on peoples’ lives. Rhian is the Physical Activity Programmes Coordinator at Cara, working in partnership with the HSE and Sport Ireland to support disability services to increase the knowledge and understanding of people with disabilities on the importance and benefits of being physically active and raise awareness of the opportunities that are available to them to participate within their local community.

A sports and activity enthusiast, Rhian captains NI Senior Women’s Volleyball Squad and when not playing volleyball she can be found out and about exploring the outdoors with her dog Margo!

Sinéad White is a senior manager with over 20 years’ experience working in the Finance, Technology and Insurance industries. She is experienced in leading major programmes of change and specialises in project and process management. Sinéad is Head of Central Shared Services in VHI Healthcare.

She is a proud Laois woman and an avid sports fan from the couch to the side lines and in the thick of it. She is a firm believer in the importance of sport from both a social and health perspective. Running and fitness are her interests and she has completed 2 Dublin City Marathons.

Patrick has worked for seven years with disabled persons organisations in both fundraising and employment development roles.

Adapted physical activity has been a part of Patrick’s life for over twenty years. A participant in the early APA programmes in IT Tralee, Patrick played an active role in the development of powerchair football in Ireland and captained the first international side at the 2011 FIPFA World Cup. He currently an athletes’ representative with the Association of Irish Powerchair Football, European Powerchair Football Players Council, and Boccia Ireland. He has also been a contributor to CARA over the years from summer work experience over ten years ago, to involvement in more recent initiatives such as the inclusion awards and I’m In Too.

Aoife is a chartered physiotherapist with a passion for the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of injury in sport. She holds a BSc. (Hons) in Physiotherapy and an MSc. in Sports Medicine from Trinity College Dublin and has over 15 years of clinical experience in sports injury management including a decade as physiotherapist to the Kerry Senior Football team, one of Ireland’s most successful sporting teams.

During her career to date, she has worked alongside many of Ireland’s leading physicians, exercise physiologists, strength and conditioning professionals and sports coaches. She lectures on the Health and Leisure studies programme at the Munster Technological University and was responsible for developing innovative e-learning modules for students, using multimedia and technology.

Eimear Foley is a lecturer in the Dept. of Health and Leisure Studies at the Munster Technological University, Kerry. Having graduated with a BSc. Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Limerick in 2002, she completed a MSc. by research at Dublin City University in 2005.  Her research incorporated the ‘Take PART’ study which focused on adolescent physical activity.

Eimear teaches on a range of modules including Population Health, Behaviour Change, Performance Training and Activity Leadership, Massage and is also coordinating the newly launched Postgraduate in Applied Exercise for Health.  As part of her work, she is involved with Healthy Kerry, REPS and a number of other community initiatives. She is passionate about promoting physical activity for all with a keen interest in Physical Activity for Older Adults, People with Disabilities and ‘Hard to reach’ populations.

Pádraig has worked in the disability sports sector for almost 10 years. Having previously worked as a Social Care Worker with Brothers of Charity, he then worked as a Sports Inclusion Disability Officer with Cork Sports Partnership for four years before taking up the same post with Kildare Sports Partnership in 2018. In November 2020 he took up the role of National Sports Development Manger with Vision Sports Ireland.

Helen McHugh is Sport Ireland’s Diversity, Inclusion and Safeguarding manager. As part of her role in the area of Diversity and Inclusion, Helen leads on the development of inclusive principles, policies and programmes for people with disabilities.