President Michael D. Higgins

President Michael D. Higgins is the ninth President of Ireland and a distinguished statesman, poet, academic, and lifelong advocate for human rights, social justice, and global solidarity. A passionate champion of education, equality, and democratic engagement, President Higgins has dedicated his career to advancing the values that underpin Global Citizenship Education. Before assuming the Presidency in 2011, he served with distinction as Ireland’s first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, revitalising cultural life and supporting freedom of expression. He is also a former university lecturer, public intellectual, T.D. and Senator, known for his principled positions on peace, anti-poverty, and international development. Throughout his life, President Higgins has consistently spoken out on behalf of the marginalised, challenging injustice and urging a more compassionate, interconnected world. His leadership continues to inspire individuals and organisations in Ireland and globally to pursue education as a force for dignity, empowerment, and transformative change.

Grace Dyas 

Grace Dyas is an award-winning artist, activist, writer, director, producer and performer from inner-city Dublin. She makes film, theatre and large-scale participation projects, often in collaboration with people processing trauma.  Grace's art has raised provocative questions about power, ethics, morality, class and social justice on issues including Ireland’s history of social housing and the Magdalene laundries. Grace has also been outspoken bullying and harassment in the arts, campaigning for accountability. 

Joe Caslin

Joe Caslin is an Irish street artist art teacher and activist best known for his large-scale street art, that address social issues in Ireland. He gained international attention for his "Claddagh Embrace" mural in Dublin city during the 2015 marriage equality referendum. Joe’s work often tackles themes like mental health, addiction, LGBTQ+ rights, and social injustice, direct provision, institutional power, consent and most recently, the effects of the Covid19 pandemic on young people. 

Dean Oke

Dean Oke is an experienced youth worker, working with young people through education, creativity, and social impact in Ireland and abroad. Dean is also a spoken word artist, using poetry to address social issues, sparking conversation and change through creative expression.  Based in Cork, Dean has recently developed a personal development group for young people from ages 13 and up called the “Candid Group” and uses social media as a platform make sure young voices are heard and valued.

Minister of State, Neale Richmond TD

Neale Richmond is Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for International Development and Diaspora. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, and as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Business, Employment and Retail, and the Department of Social Protection. Born and raised in Ballinteer, Neale graduated from UCD with a BA in History and an MA in Politics and gained experience working in local politics, the European Parliament and the Not-for-Profit sector. Neale served for seven years on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council where he was first elected in 2009.He was elected as a TD for Dublin Rathdown in 2020 having previously served for four years in Seanad Eireann. During is time in Seanad Eireann he was the Fine Gael Spokesperson on European Affairs and chair of the Seanad Special Select Committee on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. Neale holds a BA in History and an MA in politics from UCD. 

Senator Lynn Ruane

Senator Lynn Ruane is an independent Irish politician, who has served as a Senator and the deputy leader of the Civil Engagement Group in Seanad Éireann since 2016. After leaving school at the age of 15, Lynn returned to full-time education as a mature student; graduating from Trinity College Dublin with an honours degree in Political Science, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology in 2016. Before entering politics, Lynn developed community drug services and community initiatives over 15 years in Tallaght and Dublin’s Canal Communities. As a Senator Lynn works to represent communities who have been traditionally excluded and neglected by those in power.  She tables progressive bills which respond to the needs of those on the margins of society; recently yielding a substantive change in Irish employment law, which bans the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in cases of workplace abuse, harassment, and discrimination. 

Seán McCabe

Seán McCabe is the Head of Climate Justice and Sustainability at Bohemian Football Club. As part of this role, he is engaged in local and international projects focused on engaging fans and their communities in the climate transition, such as partnerships with Community Law and Mediation, Friends of the Earth, the UNFCCC and an array of European football clubs including St. Pauli, Sheffield United and Real Betis.  Seán has a background in environmental policy, including the Mary Robinson Foundation, the think-tank TASC and the Environmental Protection Agency in Sierra Leone. 

Donnah Sibanda Vuma

Donnah Sibanda Vuma is a human rights advocate, public speaker, and the coordinator of the National Migrant Victims of Crime Support Project at Doras, where she supports migrant and refugee victims of trafficking, gender-based violence, labour exploitation, and hate crimes. Drawing on her lived experience as a former IPA, Donnah co-founded the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) in 2014 and she is also the founder of Every Child is Your Child Ireland (ECIYC), which provides school support for children living in Direct Provision. Donnah was named Clare Woman of the Year 2017 by Soroptimist International for her contribution to migrant justice. 

Chriszine Backhouse

Chriszine is a lecturer on the “Creativity and Change” special purpose award which promotes the exploration of global citizenship education through the arts. She is a co-founder of “Speak out: Theatre for transformation”, which uses socially engaged forms of theatre to investigate and respond to local and global justice issues. Chriszine received her MA in Creative Arts Therapies with a specialisation in Theatre from Concordia University, Montreal Canada.

Rachel Dempsey

Rachel Dempsey is a song leader, ethnomusicologist and global citizenship educator. She has been leading singing workshops for over 20 years and has learnt about the transformative power of music from grassroots/Indigenous communities in Colombia, Brazil, UK, Bolivia and Australia. Rachel is passionate about the power of singing for regenerative wellbeing, connection, eco-social justice and positive change. Her project, which promotes connection, wisdom and resilience for thriving people & planet is called Full Circle Change. www.fullcirclechange.ie.  

Sofía Arteaga 

Sofía is a French/Uruguayan singer, facilitator, sound engineer, and instrument collector based in Dublin since 2004. Born in Paris and raised in South America, Sofía's multicultural background and love of music have been the driving forces behind her diverse career and she specialises in singing Latin American and French repertoire. Sofía is passionate about musical education and has run workshops in musical initiation and intercultural understanding through music for children of all ages. She has worked in theatre, festivals, private and corporate events, primary and secondary schools, and with children as young as a few months old. 

Niamh McDonald

Niamh McDonald, director of advocacy and community engagement at the Hope and Courage Collective. Niamh has a proven track record in leadership, strategy, stakeholder engagement and crisis management. Has vast experience working with a wide range of stakeholders across society, building trusted relationships and delivering complicated analysis and themes in a way that relates to a number of audiences. Has a strong record for advocating for and with people form marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds. Experience in independent research, publishing peer reviewed work and policy analysis. 

Stephen Farley

Stephen Farley is the Post Primary Development Education officer with Trócaire, based in Maynooth. He has been working for Trócaire for ten years, and is a qualified post primary teacher, and taught in various schools in the UK and Ireland for ten years prior to joining the Development Education team in Trócaire. Stephen has been involved with IDEA for the past six years, firstly through the Formal Education Working Group, and has also served on the board of IDEA

Lizzy Noone 

Lizzy has been working with schools on Global Citizenship Education and campaigning for 24 years. She has worked for WorldWise Global Schools for 9 years working with schools to have a whole school approach to global justice and equality. She worked with Concern for 15 years previous to this, working on three EU funded projects including stop Child Labour. She is a strong believer in degrowth and decolonisation.  

Lizzy and members of the IDEA Development Education on Palestine working group will be facilitating the Meaningful Action for Palestine workshop. This working group was formed by IDEA members in 2024 in response to the continued genocide in Palestine. 

Creativity & Change

Creativity & Change is a broad Global Citizenship Education programme funded by Irish Aid and situated at MTU Crawford, Cork City. Established in 2009, we connect with artists, changemakers, educators, community actors and young people across Ireland and as far as the Global South to create transformative learning experiences, works of visual and performing art and resources centred around addressing the issues affecting our interconnected world. The team running this ‘Pause, Explore, Flourish’ space at the IDEA conference is Helen O’Keeffe, Jessican Carson-Marbe, Eimear McNally and Hazel Hurley. 

You can find more info at creativitychange.substack.com