Ruadhan is a CORU registered and professionally qualified Social Worker, with 20 years of experience working with children and families. He has been employed for over 12years in statutory child protection and welfare services both at frontline and management levels.

Throughout Ruadhan’s career to date, he has worked directly with children and adults with autism and intellectual disabilities both in the community and in residential care. He has also worked with children at risk of homelessness, children seeking asylum and with children in state care. Ruadhan has supported children and their families from the initial point of referral to conducting child protection risk assessments, right through to long-term care planning for children that required admission into care. His professional social work experience includes conducting assessments and investigations into allegations of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect.

Ruadhan has managed a complex and mixed caseload of children at risk in the community, conducting risk assessments and completing parenting capacity assessments. He has extensive experience in working on a multi-disciplinary team and carrying out direct work with children in the community, in foster care, residential care, and in mother and baby care settings. This role involved completing comprehensive reports and assessments for the court to ensure safe and effective services, as part of care proceedings. In doing so, Ruadhan has captured the voice of children throughout his work by directly ascertaining their views and wishes and by making professional determinations on what is in their best interests.

Ruadhan has a demonstrated ability and skill to communicate with vulnerable children and adults by adopting a person-centered and rights-based approach to his practice. He engages respectfully and collaboratively with parents, their families, and professionals by working in partnership and by encouraging child participation.

Ruadhan has extensive experience in the area of compliance, regulation, and standards, for children in residential centres, special care and both in statutory and non-statutory foster care services. Ruadhan has a broad and in-depth understanding of how children and young people experience trauma and how early and appropriate intervention is key to ensuring the best possible outcome for children’s health, welfare, and development.

Ruadhan has recently been appointed as a Decision Making Representative (DMR) with the Decision Support Service under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. He will be part of this new dedicated service which has been established for people who face difficulties in exercising decision-making and who require support, or who have been assessed as lacking capacity to make decisions in specific areas of their lives. This may be for a number of reasons, including intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, mental health difficulties, or dementia. Ruadhan believes strongly in working with all relevant stakeholders in an anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive way to protect and uphold the rights and personal welfare of people in this context.

2005 – 2009 | University College Cork – Bachelor of Social Work‍

2001 – 2003 | Cork Institute of Technology – Certificate in Computing

Further Education and Training

2022 | Introduction to Children First – TUSLA

2022 | Assisted Decision Making Capacity – Act 2015

2021 | Human Rights

2018 | Capturing the voice of the Child (DCYA – Hub Na Nog)

2010 | Court Skills

2010 | Motivational Interviewing

2009 | Attached Trauma

2009 | Child Protection Assessment

2022 – Present | Guardian ad Litem – The Independent Guardian Ad Litem Agency

2022 – Present | Decision Making Representative – Decision Support Service

‍2022 – 2022 | Inspector of Social Services, Children’s team, Health Information and Quality Authority(HIQA)

2021 – 2021 | Acting Regional Manager, Children’s team, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)

2015 – 2021 | Inspector of Social Services, Children’s team, Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)

2014 – 2015 | Social Work Team Leader, HSE Review Team, South East

2012 – 2013 | Social Worker, National Fostering Agency, Wales

2010 – 2012 | Social Worker, Court team, Cardiff Council, Wales

2009 – 2010 | Social Worker, Intake and Assessment team, Cardiff Council, Wales

2007 – 2009 | Child care worker Liberty Street House, Aftercare services, Cork

2008 | Student Social Worker, HSE Children's Social Work Services, PortLaoise

2008 | Student Social Worker, Mayfield Neighborhood Youth Project, Cork

2005 | Residential care worker, Brothers of Charity, Cork

2001 – 2003 | Residential care worker, Brothers of Charity, Cork

·       Completing detailed reports and assessments for Court

·       Working with children transitioning into and between a variety of care arrangements, and with children transitioning back to their parents or guardians care.

·       Care planning for children to help them achieve their fullest potential.

·       Advocating for the right service for children, that's aligned to their assessed needs and experience of trauma

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Professional Membership 

Ruadhan is registered with CORU

Member of NAGALRO Professional Association for Children’s Guardians, Family Advisers and Independent Social Workers