Who We Are
Development Perspectives is an independent Global Citizenship Education non-governmental organisation (NGO) and registered charity (CHY18555). Development Perspectives is based in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland but works with partners all over both Ireland and the world.
Vision:
To live in an equitable, just and sustainable world.
Staff
Bobby McCormack - bobby@developmentperspectives.ie
Bobby Mc Cormack is the co-founder and CEO of Development Perspectives. Bobby worked as a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Humanities in Dundalk Institute of Technology from 2006 - 2019 and has an MA in Development Studies and is a qualified mediator. Bobby is a board member of Dóchas and in 2017 was the recipient of the Dóchas, “Global Citizen of the Year“. Bobby has produced 5 documentaries, is an avid Man United fan and loves Dogs.
Margaret Downey - mog@developmentperspectives.ie
As one of the co-founders of Development Perspectives, Margaret has been involved in the organisation since 2006. Her academic background is in Health and Development. Margaret is currently the co-ordinator of the SDG Advocate Training which is part of the Saolta Programme. She is a qualified yoga teacher and massage therapist with a passion for the great outdoors, chess and canal barges.
Deborah Conlon - deborah@developmentperspectives.ie
Deborah Conlon manages Development Perspectives and Saolta's Public Engagement. Deborah has BA in Design from DIT and a post-graduate certificate from DKIT in Digital Marketing and Digital Media Management. She's passionate about encouraging conversation on social justice issues and learning from others. Outside of her work in Development Perspectives she is chairperson of the Dundalk BIDs. She loves being creative, hot chocolate, reading and board games.
Nick Doran - nick@developmentperspectives.ie
Nick Doran is Saolta's Programme Manager. His background is in Media and Critical Linguistics which he has taught at youth groups and universities. He’s passionate about equality and sustainability, has published numerous pieces on unequal power distribution in society, and is predisposed to spontaneous debate! Nick kayaks, is an adventure fanatic, a board games aficionado, and kimchi lover!
Paul Crewe - paul@developmentperspectives.ie
Paul Crewe has been involved with Development Perspectives since 2013 and currently works as the EU and Special Projects Officer. Paul holds BA (Honours) in Community Sports Leadership. Paul has been heavily involved in coordinating projects in the area of Migration and Integration. Paul also coordinates EU-funded projects which explore global citizenship education. He has over 5 years experience facilitating within the Adult and Community sector. Paul is particularly interested in the topic of income inequality and how it links to many other issues. He has a passion for sport (every sport), travel and retro gaming.
Annamaria Balazs - annamaria@developmentperspectives.ie
Annamaria Balazs has joined the team in 2019 as a Financial Officer.
She is a qualified accountant from Hungary and currently converting her
qualification into Irish ACCA. Annamaria is looking after the company
financial operations, finance reports, budgets and accounting records.
Annamaria also holds a BA (Hons) degree in PR, Marketing and Media management
and BA (Hons) IT, Librarian and Broker Information.
Annamaria has lived in Ireland since 2006 and moved to Drogheda area in 2013,
she loves the beaches near by and the beautiful countryside scenery. She is big
into meditation and pranic healing, loves reading history books and traveling
around the world.
Katie Martin - katie@developmentperspectives.ie
Katie Martin has been involved with Development Perspectives since 2018. As Project Coordinator of the SDGchallenge Schools, a project funded by WorldWise Global Schools, she gets to share her passion for Global Citizenship with students and teachers. Katie holds a BA in International Relations from DCU and an MA in International Peacebuilding, Security and Development Practice from Maynooth University. She is a member of Comhlámh Justice for Palestine and believes in the power of active citizenship and decolonisation for imagining and creating more sustainable futures. Lover of sea-swimming, running, reading, writing, and travelling.
Hanna Oberdorfer - hanna@developmentperspectives.ie
Hanna Oberdorfer has joined Development Perspectives in October 2019 in the position of trainer for 'Saolta’, DP’s new strategic partnership project. Her background is in Education, Diversity, and Conflict Studies, and she has spent the last years providing training in various settings and countries, with people from a variety of backgrounds. Hanna is very passionate about social justice, equity and sustainability, and follows these ideas and values in her professional and personal life. She also loves travelling, languages, music, going for walks along the coast, and has recently discovered the joys of baking her own bread.
Sara Hurley - sara@developmentperspectives.ie
Sara has been involved with Development Perspectives and the SDG Advocate Training Programme since 2020, recently joining the team as Saolta Programme Officer. Her background is in Gender Studies and Psychology with a special interest in language, behaviour and intersectional stratification in society (both nationally and globally). Her main areas of research lie in Gender Equality and Climate Action. She looks forward to collaborating and communicating for meaningful, equitable and sustainable change. Sara has taken to indoor/small space gardening and joined a community garden in Fernhill that has a robust biodiversity and sustainability plan to protect and restore the heritage kitchen garden of the old estate. She’s a dog lover, foodie and can drink an unending supply of tea.
Melanie O'Driscoll - melanie@developmentperspectives.ie
Mel has been involved with Development Perspectives since 2020 with the SDG Advocate. She now works as a trainer on our United for Social Transformation Erasmus+ project. She holds a BA in Zoology from UCC and was ordinated as in Interfaith Minister with the OneSpirit Foundation in 2022. Mel has 10 years of facilitation and leadership experience working with adults and young people in environmental education and active citizenship. She is passionate about conflict resolution, emotional literacy and peace building to create a culture of nurturance. She loves to spend time with animals, crafting and re-reading Harry Potter books.
Alice Robinson - alice@developmentperspectives.ie
Alice works as a trainer for Saolta. She holds a BA in Youth Work and an MA in International Development and has extensive experience working in the youth and community sector in Ireland. She enjoys using participatory arts based approaches as a tool to critically explore and highlight local and global equality issues. She is a musician with a keen interest in permaculture design and loves climbing mountains and being in nature.
Quynh Thuy Do - quynh@developmentperspectives.ie
Quynh works as a Saolta's Programme Officer. She acquired a BA degree in Business English in Viet Nam and an MA degree in International Development at Maynooth University. Her great interests in youth empowerment, youth development, and civic engagement for social changes have been reflected in her diverse interaction with young people and local communities in Viet Nam, ASEAN and other regions. Besides, Quynh also accumulated several years of working experience in Human Resources Management and Recruitment Consultancy. She is a foodie and loves travelling, wandering around, and exchanging cultures.
Thao Tu Le - thao@developmentperspectives.ie
Thao Tu Le has joined the team for the summer of 2023 as an intern. She has a BA in International Economics in Vietnam, her home country and is currently enrolled in an MA International Development program in UCD. Her previous work in a Vietnamese NGO largely engages with young people in international volunteering exchange programs and local youth empowerment programs, hence, her enthusiasm for working with youth, non-formal education, and facilitation for youth development and youth contribution to communities. She loves dogs, has a sweet tooth and enjoys nature, travelling and trekking.
Mark Soller - marksoller@developmentperspectives.ie
Mark Soller joined Development Perspectives in 2023 as an Intern over the summer. He is studying a BA in Philosophy with Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. Mark volunteers as an English Language teacher to those seeking international protection in Dublin city centre. He also holds positions in Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union representing students in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy. He is passionate about social justice, active citizenship, and solidarity. In his spare time, you’ll find Mark with his friends, watching Star Trek shows (again), or doing whatever random hobby he picked up for the next few weeks.
Tulip
Soe Nandar Htun (aka) Tulip- Graduate with English and History in Myanmar. Currently enrolled in TV and Film Production Course in DIFE. Recently finished Creative Media, digital video and photography course at DIFE. Previous work is broadcast journalist and working for youth program called “Youth Voice” and believe that young people deserve to know what’s happening around the world and informing young people from a young age help them to become an active citizen. Passionate to create video content, design, photography and love travelling.
Board of Management
Maeve McArdle (Chair, Governance and Risk Committee)
Maeve McArdle B.Comm, MBS, PH.D
Lecturer in the School of Business and Humanities at Dundalk Institute of Technology
and Visiting Professor at Heilbronn University, Germany. An experienced lecturer and
fundraiser with previous involvement in community volunteering. Current research
interests lie in social marketing, sustainable consumption and the Sustainable
Development Goals.
Stephanie Kirwan (Company Secretary,Governance and Risk Committee)
Stephanie is the Senior Education and Training Manager in Meath Partnership responsible for the management and coordination of their EU funded Adult Education programmes and their QQI training centre. Stephanie has over 10 years’ experience working in the Development Education sector in Ireland and holds an MA in International Development, a BA in Public Health and Health Promotion and various other certificates in areas of Programme Design and Validation for FET.
Jen Murphy (Governance and Risk Committee)
Jen Murphy is an Anthropologist, Educator and Innovator. She has worked in the INGO sector in Ireland for 15 years, 13 of which she spent in Trócaire, most recently as Development Education Manager and Innovation Team Lead. Jen’s passion for Development Education and global justice is rooted in her bones. She is also committed to the holistic arts as a Feminine Embodiment Coach and Kundalini Yoga & Meditation Teacher. Her current passion project focuses on Irish Mythology and indigenous ancestral wisdom, and how this might be weaved into feminine embodiment practices as an exploration of personal power for women.
Aideen O'Dochartaigh
Dr O’Dochartaigh is Assistant Professor in Accounting at the Dublin City University Business School, Dublin, Ireland, specialising in sustainability accounting and responsible business. Her research includes ongoing interdisciplinary work on supply chain sustainability accounting, carbon budgeting and sustainability networks. She completed her PhD on sustainability accounting at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She is a chartered accountant with extensive experience in industry and practice. Aideen is also an experienced environmental campaigner who is an active member of several grassroots campaigns including Not Here Not Anywhere and the Dublin Ecofeminists.
Emma McEvoy
Dr Emma McEvoy is an Assistant Professor in Law at Dublin City University, School of Law and Government. Emma specialises in socio-economic law and, in particular, focuses on assessing how EU and private law facilitates small business operations, social inclusion and sustainable economic growth in the Internal Market. She is a recognised expert on public procurement law and socially responsible contracting practices. Her research has been published in reputed journals, which is well received and highly cited. Emma is engaged in policy oriented and engaged partnership research with the aim of promoting the use of law to advance social change in Ireland. Previously she contributed to the Irish Office of Government Procurement’s annual surveys of public procurement practice and co-authored the Cambers of Ireland’s report ‘A Strategic Procurement Policy for Ireland’. She continually presents her research at national public procurement events in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Since she began her academic career as a research assistant at Dublin City University (DCU) in 2012, she has continuously received funding to pursue socio-legal research assessing the social and environmental impact of European legislation. Notably, in 2019, she was appointed as a national expert on an 18-month European research project on ‘Promoting Social Considerations into Public Procurement Procedures for Social Economy Enterprises’ in a consortium with five European partners. As part of this project, she hosted a national conference on sustainable public procurement in partnership with the European Commission and the Irish Social Enterprise Network. Separately, her Ph.D. research was funded by Maynooth University and the Irish Research Council. She was previously employed as an Assistant Lecturer in Law at Maynooth University, National University of Ireland. Prior to her move to DCU, she was employed Postdoctoral Researcher in EU Law on the H2020 funded project “Supporting Independence and enhanced quality of life for Europe’s ageing population (SHAPES)” led by Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning Institute (ALL) in Ireland and supervised by Prof. Delia Ferri. Emma is a co-author of a forthcoming textbook summarising the lessons learnt from the SHAPES project.
Emmet Sheerin
Emmet has been working for over a decade in the international development sector with a number of INGOs. He has extensive experience leading public campaigns on various global justice issues, and has a particular interest in the areas of Business and Human Rights, as well as Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Emmet is also an award winning independent documentary filmmaker. He has an MA in Public Advocacy and Activism - NUIG, an MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management (UCD) and a BA in Media Studies - Maynooth University.
Michael Kenny
I am an Adult and Community Educator with a particular interest in engaged participation. My Co. Meath upbringing is rural within a West of Ireland migrant family. My higher education is an Agricultural Science degree (BAgrSc 1980), Rural Development masters (MAgrSc 1990), a Higher Diploma in Higher Education (HDHE1998), and a level-10 Post-Graduate Diploma in Educational Management (Bristol University. 2021). My experience is Further Education (FE) teacher education, community work in Ireland and Africa, and extensive engagement with formal, non-formal, and voluntary rural and urban organisations. I am the principal investigator of Erasmus+ European programmes, a member of the SAOLTA steering project committee, active in Tidy-Towns, a voluntary secretary to the Irish Rural Link board, a regional council twinning officer with the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, and a recent past member of the board of Concern Worldwide in Ireland and Concern UK.
Cathal Kearney (Finance and Audit Committee)
Cathal is a Mayo man who now lives in Louth. He worked in the multinational business sector before working in the education sector. He has worked in higher education management for more than twenty years and also in consultancy roles for almost ten years. As a proud Mayo man, he is fanatical about his GAA roots and is an eternal optimist. He has given many years of service to local sporting organisations, credit unions and church bodies. He is a passionate gardener and has a keen interest in horse racing and cycling.