Board of Directors

Margaret worked closely with the late Dr Michael Kelleher in having suicide decriminalised in 1993. On the death of Dr Michael Kelleher in 1998, Margaret became the Director with overall responsibility for the foundation. She continues as the medical director of National Suicide Research Foundation, is a general practitioner in Cork and has had a lifelong interest in suicide prevention. She is a fellow of the International Association of Suicide Research (IASR) and brings extensive clinical experience and insights to the Board.

Karen is currently taking a career break from her role as a senior lecturer in mental health at Queen’s University, Belfast. She has worked across public, voluntary and academic sectors in the fields of psychology, public health, epidemiology, nursing and mental health. Karen has taught and supervised over 1500 undergraduate nursing students and has been involved in research funding totalling £1.6m. She has published over 50 peer reviewed papers and reports featuring suicide prevention and postvention. During her career break, Karen is establishing a cat cafe in Belfast, to explore the potential for feline therapy in mental health promotion.

Daniel is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland and Regional Director of Psychology Services in the Health Service Executive (HSE) South West Region). He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Applied Psychology at UCC, Ireland. He has accumulated over 25 years’ experience of working in mental health services. His clinical interests are in working with individuals who struggle to regulate emotions and engage in high-risk self-harm behaviours and considering the impact of these behaviours on families and systems. In recent years he has focused on considering, not only intervention, but prevention of mental health distress, looking at both mental health and school-based populations. He is the originator of the PSYCHED Initiative working with Cork Healthy Cities and partner agencies to promote mental health and well-being in workplaces and communities across the city and county.

John has been working in the Community and Public Health arena since 2013. John’s experience has seen him work on community led interventions in child and adult obesity, men’s health, mental health and suicide prevention. His work has predominantly been in the field of health inequalities working with communities from marginalised and lower socio-economic backgrounds.  Since 2017, John has been working with the Traveller community. John currently manages the National Traveller Mental Health Service at Exchange House Ireland National Traveller Service.

Barry McGale was a Registered Mental Health Nurse and Cognitive Behavioural Therapist until his retirement as Suicide Liaison Officer in the Western Health and Social Care Trust Northern Ireland (NI). Barry was responsible for setting up the first NHS postvention service in the UK and NI and this model is currently being replicated throughout the UK. He is recognised as an international leader in this field and has received several national and international awards. He has been a member of National Suicide Research Foundation’s Board since 2013; Patron and Consultant with Suicide Bereavement UK; and Patron with the Support After Suicide Partnership. In 2023, Barry was the first person in the UK to be awarded The International Association for Suicide Prevention Norman Farberow Award. In 2016 he was the recipient of the American Association of Suicidology, Roger J Tierney Award for services to suicide prevention, the first non-American to receive it. Barry is one of the authors of the ‘Postvention: Assisting those Bereaved By Suicide(PABBS)’ training, which was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). He is also a member of the research team who conducted the national suicide bereavement survey. He was formerly a Director of the Irish Association of Suicidology, Member of the Advisory Board for ‘Cycle Against Suicide’, International Representative on the Board of the American Association of Suicidology(AAS) and Senior Coaching Trainer with Living Works, Canada. He has a wide experience of delivering training nationally and internationally.

Mark has been a Solicitor for 28 years and has been practising in Dublin since 2005. He is also qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser and an Accountant. Mark acted as Company Solicitor to the National Suicide Research Foundation from 2001 until his appointment to the Board in 2019. Mark brings his extensive legal and financial experience and expertise to the Board. He is, and has been, a charity trustee of several other charities.

James is a Chartered Accountant and Chief Investment and Strategy Officer at Tirlán. He joined the National Suicide Research Foundation’s Board as a Director in 2016, and served as chairperson to the Board from 2018-2025. James brings more than 20 years of financial services experience to his role on the Board.

Eric is a consultant liaison psychiatrist at Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital. He is a clinical lead of the self-harm service at these sites. He is also a member of the Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) of the National Clinical Care Programme for Self-Harm and Suicide-related Ideation. He has conducted and participated in a number of studies on suicide behaviour with the NSRF.  He is an honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer with the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral science in UCC.