Sherie de Burgh Commemorative Events Series
About Sherie de Burgh
Our former colleague, Sherie de Burgh, was instrumental in establishing countrywide access to non-directive crisis pregnancy counselling in Ireland. When abortion was not legally available in Ireland, Sherie de Burgh pioneered ‘Open Line Counselling’ along with other committed counsellors and volunteers to negotiate the grey areas in legislation and support women in the darkest of years. At this time not only was abortion unavailable in Ireland, but information on abortion care providers in Britain was censored.
Many years later, building out of the infrastructure of pregnancy counselling put in place by Sherie and colleagues , Repeal of the 8th Amendment and legalisation of abortion in Ireland changed the landscape of services and prompts consideration of how counselling can now be best situated in the expanded model of care relating to unintended pregnancy and abortion care.
As policy evolved to place counselling centrally in crisis pregnancy support services, Sherie worked as a pregnancy counsellor and service manager in One Family and played a leadership role representing the sector to inform policy and practice developments. She joined One Family in 2004, where she was Director of Counselling Services until her retirement in 2016.
Sherie de Burgh Memorial Fund
In 2020, One Family launched a fund in memory of our friend and former colleague Sherie de Burgh, who worked with some of the most vulnerable children and families in our society. The fund focuses on two areas of Sherie’s work that she was particularly passionate about.
Perinatal therapy, a specialist therapeutic support for mothers and their babies immediately before and after birth which strengthens lifelong attachment. This may be particularly beneficial for mothers who have experienced an unplanned or crisis pregnancy, domestic violence or homelessness.
Financial support for vulnerable families who experience homelessness, live in direct provision, or are in situations of addiction and abuse.The Sherie de Burgh Fund is used to continue her work, and may be used for the purchase of school uniforms, fees for education courses or for baby equipment. It is administered by One Family and overseen by our Board of Directors.
Click below to donate to the charitable fund in memory of Sherie.
PREVIOUS EVENTS
Seminar Theme: ‘Contact with Children Following Separation: Practice to Policy NGO–TCD Research Collaborations’
Researchers:
Dr Simone McCaughren, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin
Dr Aisling Parkes, Senior Lecturer in Law, School of law, University College Cork
Stephanie Holt, PhD, Professor in Social Work, FTCD in the School of Social Work & Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin
Soma Gregory, School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin, the joint research by Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and One Family
The research, which provides an in-depth international literature review on the issue of contact for children aged 0-6 year olds in separated families in Ireland and reflects on a cross-disciplinary perspective spanning social work and policy, law and psychology of the considerations for very young children in family law proceedings in Ireland, can be accessed here.
Panel
Dr Catherine Conlon – Assistant Professor, Social Policy School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin.
Andrew Munro – Head of Policy and Legislation for Civil Justice, Assistant Secretary General in the Department of Justice overseeing the development of the Family Justice Reform.
His Honour Judge Geoffrey Shannon – Former Law Society director and current Circuit Court judge, Dr Shannon was Special Rapporteur on Child Protection for the Irish Government 2006-19 and is the author independent report into historical child sex-abuse allegations in St John Ambulance 2023.
Geraldine Kelly – One Family’s Director of Parenting and Professional Development Services. Geraldine has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Care & Education and a Master’s degree in Child, Family and Community Studies. She is a qualified Parent Mentor, a practicing mediator specialising in parenting and family transitions.
Dr Simone McCaughren – Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin. Simone has a well-established record in academia and her research encompasses adoption practice and law, contact with children post-adoption, foster care to adoption and contact with children post-separation.
Programme
Researchers’ Perspectives – Dr Simone McCaughren, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College Dublin
A practice-to-policy approach – Geraldine Kelly, One Family’s Director of Parenting. Read Ms Kelly’s presentation here.
Family Justice Reform – Andrew Munro, Department of Justice. Read Mr Munro’s remarks here.
Q&A – led by Stephanie Holt, PhD, Professor in Social Work, School of Social Work & Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin
Closing – Karen Kiernan, One Family CEO
