Dr Cathryn Bogan is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. She completed her specialist training scheme in Ireland working in a number of specialist palliative care services in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. She took up her full time position as a consultant in Palliative Medicine at North West Hospice in 2006.

Nuala is currently Operational Lead with responsibility for overseeing the clinical operations at North West Hospice, having previously worked in a number of management roles in North West Hospice since joining the team in 2008 as Assistant Director of Nursing in Palliative Care / Oncology/ Haematology services. Nuala specialised in Oncology nursing completing her Higher Diploma in UCD, post her nursing training in Sligo University Hospital. Nuala also worked in St. Luke’s Hospital, Dublin and continued her education in most recent years by completing a Masters in Leadership and Management focusing on Public Sector and Voluntary services.

Nuala has demonstrated her experience and skills in leadership and management over a number of years, having set up the Oncology Haematology Unit in Sligo University Hospital and subsequently managing and developing the service. In her current role Nuala has continued to lead on positive change and developments for North West Hospice working very closely with all MDT disciplines.

Dr. Feargal Twomey is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Milford Hospice and the UL Hospitals Group, Limerick, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, UL School of Medicine, and the National Clinical Lead for Palliative Care in Ireland.

Dr Twomey’s interests include the management of complex pain and other symptoms, using outcome measures to drive quality improvement in palliative care, clinical ethics, decision-making capacity, Advance Healthcare Decision-making and DNACPR.

Dr Amy Gadoud is a Senior Lecturer in Palliative Medicine at Lancaster Medical School where she is NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Training Lead. She works with colleagues in the International Observatory on End of Life Care, Lancaster University. Her main research interest is ensuring equality in access to palliative care using a range of research methods from analysing large datasets to qualitative studies.In 2024 she was appointed the first national palliative care lead for the NIHR Research Delivery Network. She works clinically as an Honorary Community Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Trinity Hospice and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Emma completed her Bachelor of Nursing Degree at University of Liverpool in 2000, which incorporated the community specialist practitioner qualification in District Nursing. She began her career in a community hospital in Thirsk North Yorkshire before moving into community nursing in 2002. Apart from a couple of short spells in practice nursing and on a acute stroke ward her career has been based within the community. This is where her heart lies. Working as a community nurse for a number of years she developed an interest for palliative care which prompted her to apply for her first job as a clinical nurse specialist on the community palliative care team at Trinity Hospice in Blackpool in 2008. Over the last 17 years she has worked in all clinical areas of the hospice and completed a Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice in 2023. Her passion for palliative care continues to grow and she has a particular interest in utilising new work streams and concepts to develop patient care within this area.

Dr. Amanda Roberts, PhD  has recently been seconded to a new role within the Irish Hospice Foundation, where she is responsible for project managing the actioning of the bereavement recommendations set out in the new National Policy for Adult Palliative Care.

Previously, Amanda served as Bereavement Development Manager at Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), leading a range of national and local initiatives to strengthen bereavement care capacity. With over 20 years’ experience in the bereavement sector, she holds a PhD in Psychology and has dedicated her career to research, education, and service development in this field.

In her role at IHF, Amanda has managed national collaborative projects, including the development of a national bereavement care framework and a bereavement support core competency framework.

Tina is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner with Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service, her role involves delivering community-based care in residential facilities. She brings 26 years of extensive acute care experience in Intensive Care and Coronary Care. Tina commenced her career in Palliative Care with the Irish Cancer Society as a night nurse, subsequently advancing through roles within Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service, in both, the Inpatient Unit and Community team. She holds a Master of Science degree in Palliative Care and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Practice. Tina is co-presenting with Brid O’ Connor ANP and their presentation will highlight the enhancement of palliative care in residential services in Kerry.

Advanced Nurse Practitioner working with Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service, her role involves delivering community-based care in residential facilities. Her background includes 9 years at Milford Care Centre, Limerick, where she worked in the Specialist Palliative Inpatient Unit and Community team. After her time with Milford Care Centre, Brid worked for 9 years as a Specialist Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Bon Secours Hospital, Tralee.  In 2024, she joined the Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service as a CANP and recently completed a Master’s in Advanced Nurse Practice. Brid is co-presenting with Tina Bolger ANP and their presentation will highlight the enhancement of palliative care in residential services in Kerry.

Winifred Ryan (Wini) works in the National Directorate for Public Involvement, Culture and Risk Management. She trained in Speech and Language Studies in Trinity College Dublin and has worked in acute and community SLT services and in general management in community care services. In 2003, Wini was seconded to the Department of Health to work on the Health Services Change Management Programme. From 2005 to date Wini has worked at national level in the areas of quality & patient safety, standards, clinical guidelines and patient advocacy. In 2018 she developed the National Healthcare Communication Programme in the HSE. Her main areas of interest are Leadership development, Patient Experience, Communication Skills and Coaching

David McGowan, Funeral Director, Embalmer, Entrepreneur and Educator. David comes from Easkey, Co. Sligo. In his formative years, he became curious about ways of caring for the deceased. A young man, hungry for knowledge, he set about finding a route to education in the area of death care. Only one option existed, and having followed this route, he knew he needed to keep searching for better ways of caring for the dead. This took him to Chicago, where he broadened his learning in a College of Mortuary Science, and this was to be the start of an innovative and lifelong education in the whole area of death care. David established his own funeral home in Ballina, Co. Mayo, on his return from the States in 1989. In the years that followed he was a founder member of the Professional Emabalmers’ Association of Ireland. He set up a College for Funeral Directing and Embalming under the umbrella of the Death care Academy, to provide education to a high standard in death care. He has an embalming centre of excellence in Collooney, where the College is now based, and also runs a successful funeral home in Sligo town with his daughter Bríd. He has recently opened the first crematorium in the North West of Ireland. David has spoken on various topics relating to death, funerals and Irish traditions both in Europe and the United States. He has been a leading force in the Irish scene of funeral directing over the past four decades, and is regularly invited to speak on the topic on Television, Radio, and the press. David features on the documentary ‘The Funeral Director’, currently showing on Netflix and published his first book ‘A Life Among The Dead’ in 2024.

Shane is a Community Paramedic with a MSc in Specialist Paramedic Practice (Community Care) from University College Cork. With a strong foundation in emergency response and a growing focus on palliative care, Shane is committed to placing compassion, continuity, and dignity at the heart of every intervention in the community.

Shane is particularly passionate about integrating palliative principles into paramedicine, ensuring that patients with life-limiting conditions receive holistic, person-centred care outside of hospital settings.

Shane brings both clinical expertise and a deep sense of empathy to his practice. He continues to contribute to the evolving role of paramedics in preventative and end-of-life care and advocates for both patient and family.

As HSE National Lead for Palliative Care, Maurice is responsible for the strategic planning for children and adult palliative care services in the Republic of Ireland. Maurice qualified initially as an occupational therapist and has worked in disability, older persons and mental health services as a clinician, clinical tutor and a manager. He spent a year with the  Department of Health on a secondment in 2021 as a project manager for the National Adult Palliative Care Policy prior to returning to the HSE as National Lead for Palliative Care in April 2022.  A key priority in 2025 has been to work collaboratively with the Clinical Programme for Palliative care and the wider palliative care sector to develop an implementation plan for the National Adult Palliative Care Policy and to ensure key early actions are delivered.

Consultant in Palliative Medicine since 2009, working in South Eastern H&SC Trust since 2019. My role in SE trust is with the Specialist Palliative Care team in Ulster Hospital and I have been involved in setting up the Palliative Care Rapid Access Hub in Ards Hospital. This hub provides a multidisciplinary service for patients in the North Down and Ards area and aims to manage symptoms and facilitate investigations as an outpatient alongside facilitating earlier discharge from hospital with rapid follow up post discharge.

Stewart Holdaway is an experienced trainer, with vast experience of working in the health and social care sector, delivering a variety of courses including vocational subjects, rehabilitation skills, and many other subjects.

Stewart has a wealth of experience, most notably having worked in Broadmoor Hospital for over 30 years and currently delivers experiential training courses such as the Virtual Dementia Tour and Autism Reality Experience sessions across the UK and Ireland for Training 2 Care.

As well as a level of knowledge and experience that is matched by few others, Stewart’s main skill is his passion and drive to make the world a better place for people affected by dementia. He has changed the perceptions of dementia of thousands of people since he began delivering the life changing Virtual Dementia Tour, allowing people to live more purposeful and happier across the UK and Ireland and, in turn, improving the lives of untold numbers of family members and friends of those living with dementia.

Dr Michael Lucey is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine in Milford Hospice and University Hospitals Limerick and fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

He has completed and executive MBA in U.C.D Smurfit School of Business and published and presented internationally in the areas of quality improvement, systems analysis and performance, and symptom control.

He has completed a senior fellowship in Palliative Medicine (U.C.D/ T.C.D) and is lead author of the N.C.E.C published guidelines for the pharmacological management of cancer pain in adults.

He is currently the National Clinical Lead for the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration in Ireland. (PCOC Ireland).

Tara Rafter is a Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner and professional coach with advanced certification in Parenting, Relationships, Teams, Business and Addiction and the therapeutic approach of Compassionate Inquiry by Dr Gabor Maté

She also recently graduated in The Silva Life and Intuition Systems by José Silva and she has been lucky enough to train with global leaders like Adrian Mitchell, Director of The Irish Lifecoach Institute, Brian Colbert, Director of The Neuro Linguistic Programming Institute of Ireland, Marisa Peer, Founder of Rapid Transformation Therapy and she has just graduated in her training with Dr Gabor Maté, global trauma therapist and best selling author, in his therapeutic approach of compassionate inquiry.

Throughout her work since 2017 she has learnt a vast amount from her training but essentially she learnt the most from the thousands of people she has been lucky enough to work with. The patterns that occur in how we “do life” based off the way we see the world is the differentiator in the type of experience we have while we are on this planet.

Today Tara is so excited to share her learnings and her experience with you all. We would like to extend a massive thank you to Tara for her wonderful facilitation of our recently released Podcast and we are delighted she could be a part of that part of the NWH Story.