Webinar featuring:

• Prof Siri Håvås Haugland (University of Agder, Norway)
• David and Elisabeth Carney-Haworth (Operation Encompass)
• Aine Costello (Barnardos)
• Detective Superintendent Kerry Brennan (PSNI)
• Catriona O’Toole (Maynooth University)
• Chaired by Ailbhe Smyth

About the speakers:

Siri Håvås Haugland is a professor of psychosocial health at the University of Agder in Norway. She is a trained social worker with a PhD in community medicine. Her research focuses on how parental alcohol use affects children’s psychosocial health, including risks of social marginalization, adverse childhood experiences, and intergenerational patterns of alcohol use. She is currently the head of Department of psychosocial health, and the deputy leader of the research group Substance Use, Family and Close Relations (RUFA). https://www.uia.no/english/about-uia/employees/sirihh/index.html

Info for Siri’s webinar: “Growing up with alcohol harm at home: the difference a trusted adult can make”

Growing up with parents who have alcohol problems can increase the risk of difficult and immediate childhood experiences directly linked to parental drinking episodes. However, adverse childhood experiences can also lead to more subtle limitations in life opportunities that, over time, leave lasting marks well into adulthood. This webinar will highlight some of the challenges faced by children who grow up with parental alcohol problems, and the importance of having support from a trusted adult.

Elisabeth Carney-Haworth is a retired headteacher. David Carney-Haworth is a retired police officer. In 2010 they created Operation Encompass and in 2015 they created Silver Stories, www.silverstories.co.uk. Both are full time volunteers in both schemes. They are the national leads for both charities.

Aine Costello, from Barnardos, will contribute to the panel discussion by highlighting the organisation’s work in the area of children and domestic violence. She will place particular emphasis on the voices of children and young people involved in the Empower Kids Project, sharing insights into their everyday experiences—especially within school settings. The Empower Kids Project is a national advocacy initiative that supports children and young people who have lived with domestic violence and abuse (CDVA) to speak out, influence practice, and drive policy change.

Catriona O’Toole is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology in Education at Maynooth University. Her work focuses on whole-school wellbeing, trauma-informed practice, educational inclusion, and school attendance. An experienced educator, practitioner, and internationally award-winning author, she is widely recognised for bridging research and practice to create meaningful change in education.

Catriona has secured research funding from the Irish Research Council, Tusla, the Drug and Alcohol Task Force, and the WHO Schools for Health in Europe (SHE) Network Foundation. Her research has shaped international policy and practice, including contributions to UNESCO’s Future of Education report (2021) through her collaboration with the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP). She is committed to applied and participatory research that delivers real-world impact, exemplified by her development of the EMBRACE Framework for Trauma-Informed Care in Schools, which provides practical guidance for creating healthier, more supportive learning environments.

Catriona plays an active leadership role in both national and international initiatives. She serves on the Executive Committee of the International Network for School Attendance (INSA), where she chairs the Education and Policy Committee, and is the Link Convenor for the Health and Wellbeing Education Network within the European Educational Research Association (EERA). In Ireland, she contributes her expertise to the Kildare Children and Young People’s Services Committee (CYPSC) and the Trauma and Adversity Special Interest Group (TASIG) within the Psychological Society of Ireland.

Detective Superintendent Kerry Brennan serves with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) within the Public Protection Branch, where she leads teams responsible for domestic abuse, rape crime, and adult safeguarding investigations. With over two decades of policing experience, Kerry has dedicated much of her career to protecting the most vulnerable in society. Her background spans the Criminal Investigation Department, specialist child protection and online exploitation units, and multi-agency safeguarding partnerships across Northern Ireland.

Kerry has been a leading voice in promoting child safeguarding, online safety, and responsible information sharing between statutory agencies and community partners. She has overseen numerous initiatives aimed at improving how police and partners identify, assess, and respond to risk — particularly where children and adults are affected by exploitation, coercive control, or abuse. Her work places strong emphasis on collaboration, prevention, and early intervention, and she is a passionate advocate for empowering professionals to share information confidently and lawfully in the best interests of a child.

Kerry regularly contributes to national and cross-border safeguarding discussions, helping to shape a collective approach that ensures children’s rights, dignity, and safety remain at the centre of every decision.

Ailbhe Smyth (Chair) is Silent Voices patron, long-time activist on feminist, LGBTQ and other social issues and was the founding head of Women’s Studies at UCD where she lectured for many years. She played a leading role in the Marriage Equality referendum campaign, and was co-director of the Together for Yes national campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment.

Currently, she is Chair of Women’s Aid and also of Ballyfermot STAR Addiction services. A board member of Age Action and of the Women’s Global Health Network Ireland, she is Patron of the Women’s Collective Ireland. In 2019 she was on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People. She was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Laws by the University of Galway and is a Freewoman of the City of Dublin.