A native of Belfast, Dr Brendan Ciarán Browne is an interdisciplinary scholar with degrees in Law (LL.B, LL.M Human Rights) and a PhD in Sociology. He has held academic and research positions at Queen's University Belfast, Al Quds (Bard) University, Palestine and is currently Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution, and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (FTCD). His research interests are focused on transitional justice, settler colonialism and liberal peacebuilding, and conflict and forced displacement.

Dr Browne is an award-winning teacher, having been nominated three times for Trinity College Dublin's prestigious Provost's Teaching Award, winning the accolade in 2019. In addition, he has been nominated twice for the Trinity Civic Engagement Award in recognition of his work on community engagement in the North of Ireland and Palestine (being shortlisted in 2018). In 2023 he was again nominated for an award, the Excellence in Research Supervision at Trinity College Dublin, in recognition of his commitment to his research students.

As a recognised global expert on conflict and resistance in Occupied Palestine, his op-eds can be read in the Irish Times, the Newstatesman, the Globe Post, the Journal.ie, the Middle East Monitor, and he is a frequent political and conflict analyst for global media outlets including: TRT World, Al Qahera News, Al Jazeera, and France 24. He has been an invited guest speaker at a number of renowned global venues, including at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Columbia, Fordham, Cape Town, Birzeit, and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. 

Bana Abu Zuluf is a Palestinian educator and interdisciplinary PhD researcher in International Law in the School of Law and Criminology in Maynooth, Ireland. 

Bana was previously a Research Fellow of the project "Palestinian Bedouin at risk of forced displacement: IHL vulnerabilities, ICC possibilities", from 2021 to 2023 . This project brings together researchers from Queen's University Belfast, Al Quds University / Human Rights Clinic and Community Action Center, Trinity College Dublin and Liverpool John Moores University. It investigates the humanitarian impact of continued forcible transfer of the Bedouin communities living in the Jerusalem periphery in Palestine, and how impunity for violations of international law contributes to the deterioration of humanitarian vulnerabilities of these communities.

Bana received her MA in international relations from SongKongHoe University in South Korea, and her BA in human rights and international law from ALQuds Bard college. She is the Local Coordinator for the 5-year training project in social economy between Hanshin University and Bethlehem University. She is also the research and communication officer at the Good Shepherd Collective organization. She is the youngest member of the Eurasian Peace Council representing West Asia. Her research interests are epistemic oppression, intersectional solidarity, decolonization, and international law vulnerabilities.

Andrew Phelan has been teaching Physical Education for the last 24 years in Dublin, Ireland. He holds a BA Hons in Physical Education and an MSc in Strength and Conditioning. Andrew is a passionate trade unionist and has been a member of the teachers' union, the ASTI, for 20 years, serving a full term on its executive (Standing Committee) from 2015-2021. He played a key role in initiating the establishment of the ASTI’s Global Solidarity Committee and served on its maiden term. Spurred on by his experiences with the Shamrock & Olive Tree Boxing Project in the West Bank in 2022, Andrew, along with colleagues from across all the teachers unions, founded Teachers for Palestine (TFP) in 2023. 

Insofar as TFP's primary goals are to educate and raise awareness about Palestinian history and its brutal military occupation by Israel, our "Let's Talk About Palestine" week empowered and allowed for this through the provision of teaching resources via Padlet on our Instagram page.  TFP also intends to faciliate workshops and speakers for schools and advocate for curricular change, to ensure that the facts about Palestine and its opression are included. TFP envisages establishing links between schools in Ireland and Palestine through a twinning programme, enabling cultural exchanges between students and, of course, teachers. 

In terms of activism in opposing the ongoing occupation and current genocide, TFP have strong links to the various ongoing national protests and events organised by the IPSC and have attended every one. We have also started a campaign amongst teachers with a view to making our schools Apartheid Free Zones by convincing BOMs or relevant authorities to boycott all products and services on the BDS list.

Leigh Brady is IDEA’s Policy & Advocacy Manager. Leigh has 18 years of experience in the international development sector, with a focus on human rights advocacy and citizen participation in development. 

She lived and worked for nine years in the Global South (Occupied Palestinian Territory – OPT - and Colombia) and has 15 years of advocacy experience on international human rights, including in Ireland and at EU level. In OPT, she worked for the child rights organisation, Defence for Children International, as well as for OHCHR and Care International. In Colombia she was a Governance and Human Rights Programme Manager and country representative for Trócaire.

 Before joining IDEA, she worked for eight years as a global Governance and Human Rights Advisor for Trócaire, providing capacity-strengthening and technical support to country teams and local civil society organisations in Africa, Central America and the Middle East.