Our Team - Heroes Aid

Board of Trustees

Mary Leahy. MSc (Hons) Healthcare Leadership, a Registered Nurse, Midwife and Public Health Nurse, has a long established career in a variety of healthcare settings, from Acute Care to Primary Healthcare settings, both in Ireland and abroad. Mary also works as a workplace mediator within the healthcare services. Mary believes passionately that healthcare staff are the most valuable resource within our Healthcare settings, and should be valued and treated with compassion, care and dignity, will in turn be better equipped to provide a higher standard of quality care. Mary has 3 children, Alan, Katie & Darragh is interested in politics, personal development and advocacy.

David and other concerned citizens established the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO) to help consumers tackle the increasing burden of personal debt. In addition to IMHO, David owns and runs Lifeline Ambulance Service, David founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 1992 and was its voluntary CEO for 10 years. David was president of the international organisation of Make-A-Wish from 1999 to 2001. David also chaired the Board of the Marie Keating Foundation from 2001 to 2011 .David is a former Board member of the Beaumont Hospital Foundation.

Over the past 10 years David has been to the forefront on a National basis in advocating on behalf of those in mortgage, personal debt and with a housing need. David founded iCare Housing in 2018, a charity and approved housing body to help prevent people becoming homeless. They have bought 204 houses and have 600 tenants.

David is the chairman of Inner City Helping Homeless, a frontline homeless charity advocating and providing services including outreach every night to those sleeping on the streets in Dublin.

David was appointed interim CEO of Console to assist protect its charitable purpose during a recent crisis. David was appointed as Chairperson of Animal Heaven Animal Rescue following governance concerns. Both services were successfully transferred to another relevant charity with a similar charitable purpose

Vicky Phelan, BA, M.Ed, is best known in recent years as a national voice for women’s health. Vicky suffered her own personal tragedy in 2017, when, upon finding out that her cervical cancer was incurable, she received false negative cervical cytology results from a smear test taken in 2011 which she had been told at the time, was normal. Vicky was unaware that cancer was growing in her body and did not discover that she had cancer until symptoms appeared in 2014. Information regarding her body had been withheld from her. As a result, Vicky has channelled her energy to championing a desire to realise a legacy of patient empowerment. She serves on the Board of Heroes Aid as a patient representative.

Vicky’s professional achievements are many and she holds a BA in European Studies from UL and a Masters in Management in Education from WIT. Vicky is credited with managing the Erasmus programmes in UL, developing them to become the largest Erasmus programme in Ireland and with managing the national Literacy Development Centre at WIT, a leading provider of accredited programmes for adult educators including one of only five recognised.

Teaching qualifications for Further Education teachers.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Dublin based GP with experience in medical industrial relations and communications, and an interest in healthcare reform MB, Bch, BAO, Msc (Hons) Healthcare Management, MRCPI, MFSEM, MICGP. Matt is currently a GP working part time in Ranelagh, Dublin city and part time with Safetynet Primary care a charity which provides medical care to the homeless, to asylum seekers and those suffering from addiction. Matt currently works in Safetynet’s Covid testing and assessment hub which provides Covid testing and assessment to the most marginalized in society. He is a regular contributor to various media programs such as RTE’s Drivetime, Newstalk’s Hard Shoulder as well as TV programs such as Ireland AM, The Tonight show, Prime Time and Claire Byrne live.

Our Board

Mary Leahy. MSc (Hons) Healthcare Leadership, a Registered Nurse, MIdwife and Public Health Nurse, has a long established career in a variety of healthcare settings, from Acute Care to Primary Healthcare settings, both in Ireland and abroad.Mary also works as a workplace mediator within the healthcare services. Mary believes passionately that healthcare staff are the most valuable resource within our Healthcare settings, and when value, treated with compassion, care and dignity, will in turn be better equipped to provide a higher standard of quality care. Mary has 3 children, Alan, Katie & Darragh is interested in politics, personal development and advocacy.

David is the chairman of Inner City Helping Homeless, a frontline homeless charity advocating and providing services including outreach every night to those sleeping on the streets in Dublin.

Teaching qualifications for Further Education teachers.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

National Advisory Board

Rynagh Gilligan, RGN, RPN, Masters Leadership in Healthcare, Degree Nurse Management, Post Graduate Diploma Clinical Practice, former vice president IACCN. Extensive national and international experience in general and intensive care nursing, working in a range of clinical, educational and managerial roles. Currently Assistant Director of Nursing, Critical Care, in a large Dublin academic teaching hospital. Passionate advocate for education and staff development. Married and a proud mum of a nine year old!

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Experience working across the private, not-for-profit and public sectors. In the NGO sector experience in community and target group services in Ireland and overseas. Last held position in Ireland was as Services Manager at SafetyNet. Prior to that held various positions within the Rural Transport Programme. Additionally held senior positions overseas in Ethiopia, Kosova/Serbia, Zimbabwe and North Korea. Short term assignments in East Timor, North Macedonia, Liberia, Uganda and Bangladesh. Roles included Country Director, Logistics and Operations Management and Humanitarian Response.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Micheál brings a wealth of experience as a senior manager in the Irish public and private sectors, with a strong interest in the environment and sustainable development.

He served as a Director with the Environmental Protection Agency and as Director with the Marine Institute, Galway. He was a policy adviser in the Department of Marine and was Marketing Director with the Irish Seafood Producers Group Ltd in Connemara. He served as a diplomat in Cairo and New York. Micheal has an MBA from Harvard and a Doctorate in Business Administration from Waterford IT .

He was a co-founder of Corrib Beo Partnership, a voluntary group which promotes th sustainable development of the Corrib and a co-founder/Director, Fondúireacht an Bhlascaoid (Blasket Island Foundation), a group which is dedicated to the creation of a

National Historic Park on the Blasket Islands, Co. Kerry.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Charley Swords is an internationally recognised leadership consultant and mentor with an enviable reputation and extensive track record in developed, emerging and transition economies. She is passionate about empowering people. She has led and engaged in social initiatives involving children and adults for decades.

Charley specialises in bringing a deeper awareness and consciousness to how people think and behave, and the impact this has on their ultimate success. Charley helps professionals in all sectors, including the Irish healthcare sector, to transform their mindset and behaviours to operate more fully and successfully, both personally and professionally. She has worked across c.30 countries, and works with individuals and leadership teams providing mentoring, coaching, training and consultancy services to help them achieve peak performance.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Dr Finian Fallon is Dean of City Colleges, Dublin. He also works as a consultant psychologist with bariatric teams in a number of Irish hospitals. Additionally, he provides psychological interventions for therapy clients at his clinic in Kildare Street, Dublin

David is the chairman of Inner City Helping Homeless, a frontline homeless charity advocating and providing services including outreach every night to those sleeping on the streets in Dublin.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Non-Executive Director at the charities Vita RTI and Social Finance Foundation both to expire mid-2021. Qualified to MSc in Development Management.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Sandra qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1995 in the Adelaide Hospital Dublin. She has 25 years of diverse Perioperative experience in public and private hospitals in Ireland, Australia and the United Arab Emirates where she was Chair of the Centre of Excellence in Joint replacement.

She returned to Ireland to undertake her Post graduate Diploma in Nursing (Peri-operative) in 2003 at Trinity College Dublin Completed a MSc Health Service Management in TCD with distinction saving 3% of a hospital budget through effective supply chain management in theatre. Passionate patient safety advocate.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.

Micheál brings a wealth of experience as a senior manager in the Irish public and private sectors, with a strong interest in the environment and sustainable development.

Trustee – Pending approval by the Charities Regulator and CRO.