Judging Panel

Prof. Amanda Phelan, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems UCD

Ms Anne Marie Bennett, Senior Dietitian, Irish Nutrition and Dietetics Institute (INDI)

Ms Miriam Enright, Head of Operations, Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI)

Ms Susan Kent, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health

Ms Marie Lynch, Head of Healthcare Programmes, Irish Hospice Foundation

Mr Justin Moran, Head of Advocacy, Age Action Ireland

Prof. Amanda Phelan
Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems UCD

Professor Phelan holds a number of roles in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems. She the Associate Dean for Global Engagement and Subject Head of Older Person’s Nursing. Amanda co-ordinates the Graduate Diploma and Master’s Degree in Person Centred Care as well as the Professional Certificate in the Management of Elder Abuse.

She also acts as Co-Director in the National Centre for the Protection of Older People, UCD, and has undertaken numerous research studies in the area of elder abuse and Person Centred Co-ordinated Care. Amanda has published widely in the area of older person care, including her book International Perspectives on Elder Abuse and has two further Gerontological books in preparation.  Within her outreach work, Amanda acts on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Older People Nursing and the Journal of the All Ireland Gerontological Nurses’ Association. She sits on the Board of Directors in Third Age, the National Advisory Committee of Sage Advocacy and Support for Older People and the Fitness to Practice Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland.

Miriam Enright
Head of Operations, Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI)

Miriam is currently Head of Operations within Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) overseeing the management and development of over 120 Dementia specific services across Ireland including daycare centres, homecare, respite, national Helpline, Dementia advisers etc. Prior to joining ASI in 2014, she gained extensive  experience in both the Not-For-Profit and Corporate Sectors over the past twenty five years. She has recently completed her second Master’s Degree, in Social Enterprise and Innovation at Dublin City University. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, particularly in the areas of strategic planning and implementation, project management, teambuilding as well as systems, operations and process improvement.

Ms Marie Lynch
Head of Healthcare Programmes, Irish Hospice Foundation

Following her career as an occupational therapist, Marie Lynch worked as Regional Director for 7 years with the Irish Wheelchair Association where she also obtained her MSc. In 2007, Marie commenced employment with the Irish Hospice Foundation and in 2014 was made Head of Healthcare Programmes. Her work has focused on initiating programmes to support the development of palliative care for people with all life limiting diseases in all care settings. As well as having oversight with the IHF Residential Care Programme Journey of Change involving 100 residential care settings across Ireland, Marie has led out on the Palliative Care for All (non-cancer) Programme, the Hospice friendly Hospital programme, and the National Primary Palliative Care Programme.

Mr Justin Moran
Head of Advocacy and Communications , Age Action Ireland

Justin Moran is Head of Advocacy and Communications with Age Action, which is a national organisation representing older people and a leading advocacy voice on ageing issues. Its vision is to make Ireland the best country in the world in which to grow old.

Prior to this he worked as a senior public affairs specialist for EirGrid, the State’s electricity transmission system operator, and as head of communications with Amnesty International, Ireland’s largest human rights organisation.

He is a graduate of Dublin City University, possessing a BA in Journalism and an MA in International Relations.

Ms Susan Kent
Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for Women’s Health & Primary Care Services, Department of Health

Susan has a nursing and midwifery career of 33 years. This has encompassed acute and community areas, primary, secondary and tertiary care settings. Susan also teaches on the Mary Seacole Programme (professional leadership programme) for the NHS. She was awarded the Nurses medal and Midwife of the year. Susan’s PhD studies are on Grandfathers in Ireland and are capturing their view in a snapshot of time. Susan has been described as a ‘Hybrid’ of nursing and midwifery with her extensive practice and academic experience.

Ms Anne Marie Bennett,
Irish Nutrition and Dietetics Institute (INDI)

Anne Marie is currently in clinical practice in St. Mary’s hospital, Phoenix Park, Dublin. She is secretary of the Older Persons and Dementia Interest Group (OPDIG) of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetics Institute (INDI) and in this role is actively involved in producing national nutrition resources relating to the Older Person and Dementia. She completed a Certificate in Management and Leadership in 2014 and has represented her professional body on numerous occasions, including the INDI representative on a HIQA advisory board addressing Nutrition and Hydration in acute hospitals in 2015/2016. Anne Marie’s special interest is research and service development and she is currently project lead on a year-long Food First Campaign in St. Mary’s hospital (2016-2017). She was involved in a multidisciplinary project to develop an algorithm in the effective prevention and management of constipation in older hospital in-patients, due for publication later this year. She is also clinical supervisor for a post graduate project to introduce a dietary intervention for the prevention of constipation for residents in a long stay unit, due to commence September 2017. She also supervises and mentors dietetic students from UCD and Trinity College.

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