Our Board Members

Our Board Members

Our Board of Directors plays an important role in supporting and advising the direction of the organisation. The dedicated group of experts in areas such as leadership, communication, policy, and finance volunteer their time to set the strategic direction of the organisation and oversee its implementation and governance.

The Board of BeLonG To won the prestigious ‘Board of the Year Award 2020’ at the Charities Excellences Awards.

Dominic Hannigan, Chairperson (he/him)

Dominic, National Transport Authority, is Chairperson of the Board.

For over a decade, Dominic has been a dedicated and diligent member of the BeLonG To Board and was one of the first two openly gay TDs elected to Dáil Éireann in 2011. Prior to that, he served as Senator in Seanad Éireann and as a Councillor at Meath County Council. A civil engineer by profession, Dominic works in the National Transport Authority and has 30 years of experience in the business planning sector.

Ciaran McKinney, Deputy Chairperson (he/him)

Ciarán is Manager of the Engage programme, promoting Lifelong Learning and Active Citizenship at Age & Opportunity.

Ciarán’s career has focused on influencing policy development and/or delivering services to meet the needs of groups often distinguished by the experience of social exclusion. Many of these roles involved challenging public misconceptions about these groups of service users including people living with HIV, sex workers, lesbian, gay and bisexual people and IV drug users. Communication and dialogue with service users and promoting participation and empowerment have been key elements in most roles.

Maria Afontsenko, Treasurer (she/her)

Maria is a Senior Manager in the Financial Services Assurance department at Ernst & Young Chartered Accountants and Statutory Audit Firm. Maria is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and has extensive financial services experience and expertise, particularly around risk management, corporate governance and internal financial controls. Maria is a proud member of the LGBTI+ community and has been a longstanding supporter of BeLonG To through various CSR initiatives at EY.

Liz Harper (she/her)

Liz has over 30 years of experience working with young people and youth services. She managed youth training projects in Tallaght for over 10 years and subsequently has supported many locally based management groups and provided external supervision for youth workers in a number of settings. Liz holds an MSc in Equality Studies from UCD.

Kery Mulally (he/him)

Kery is a well-known antique dealer and is also Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Events Management Company Fundfest, which works with a variety of festivals, charities, and not-for-profit organisations. A long-time advocate for LGBTI+ rights, he has been pivotally involved in the delivery of the Cork LGBT Pride Festival for the past eight years.

Lucy Ní Raghaill (she/her)

Lucy is a tenured Human Resouces/ Recruiting professional, with experience across start-ups, small to medium and multinational enterprises. She is currently working as EMEA Head of Recruiting for a Multinational SaaS company.

Dermot Ryan (he/him)

Dermot has over 25 years of experience working in key advisory roles with political and campaigning organisations. Dermot returned to Ireland in 2017 after seven years in Australia, where he served as Head of External Affairs Earlier with Amnesty International and as Chief of Staff at the Transport Workers’ Union. As Principal of Dermot Ryan Advisory, Dermot now offers a range of services to organisations, helping them to implement their vision. He is also an Associate Director with the award-winning Agency Alice PR & Events.

Aisling Gannon (she/her)

Aisling is a Partner and Head of Healthcare in Ireland with global law firm Eversheds Sutherland. She is a proud mum of 2 teens aged 15 and 13. Her younger is Steve and he is transgender. Steve wisely says that ‘adults listen to adults’, so she is happy to share some of her learnings in the hope that such might give support to even one other family.

Patricia Carey (she/her)

Patricia has over 30 years experience in the public service and not for profit sector. Most recently as CEO of the Adoption Authority of Ireland , previously Patricia was Director of the St Vincent De Paul charity for 13 years. She is a founding board member of Outhouse. Patricia has worked with many not for profit organisations both as a volunteer and in senior staff roles since the 1990’s.