International Children's Aid Network

Board of Directors

Founder & Chief Operations Officer:

Ciaran Gerard Gearty

Ciaran Gerard Gearty was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1973. He studied Archaeology and English at University College Dublin (BA) graduating in 1997. He continued his studies at UCD studying for a Diploma in Philosophy in 2001.

In 2005 he obtained a Diploma in Special Events Management from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. He is currently studying for a Diploma in ‘Effective Management of Non-Profit Organizations’ also at Ryerson University.

In 1995 Ciaran began his career in the non-profit sector working as Fundraising Manager for the Irish charity Health Action Overseas (HAO), who fund and manage orphanages throughout Romania and China. In the same year he was appointed to the Fundraising Committee of the St. Vincent de Paul, Dublin.

In 1997 he joined the 'International Community for the Relief of Starvation & Suffering' as Fundraising Manager and Board Director where he spent four years staging extremely successful, high - profile events.

Ciaran is one of Ireland’s foremost fundraising professionals and has implemented major fundraising campaigns such as the original ‘Annual Celebrity Art Auction’, the ‘Subaru Dry Run-Around Ireland’, and the Phoenix Park AIDS Benefit Concert.

Now based in Toronto, he is the Founder of the International Children’s Aid Network (ICAN) and is its Chief Operations Officer.
cgearty@icanaid.org

President:

Dr. Gerard Francis Gearty

MB MSc (NUI) DCH (London) SC D hc (TCD) FRCPI

Dr. Gearty was born in Longford, Ireland. He was educated at St. Mel’s College, Longford. Ireland.

He studied medicine at N.U.I. (Dublin) graduating in 1953 with honours and an M.Sc. He obtained a D.C.H. in London and SC. D hc from T.C.D. In 1963 he was elected F.R.C.P.I.

He obtained his clinical experience at the Mater Hospital, Dublin; Royal City of Liverpool Children’s Hospital and Sefton General Hospital, Liverpool.

In 1963 he was appointed as a Consultant Cardiologist to the Royal City of Dublin Hospital, Baggot Street where he pioneered new diagnostic techniques. He was the first Consultant in Ireland to establish a Coronary Care Unit.

In 1988 RCDH’s Coronary Care Unit was transferred to St. James’s Hospital, Dublin 8.

He is a founder member and former president of the Irish Heart Foundation. He is a member and past secretary/president of the Irish Cardiac Society and a member of the British Cardiac Society.

He is a Lecturer in Cardiology at Trinity College Dublin where he has trained many generations of Trinity students in a tutorial clinic of outstanding quality.

Mr. Donal Carroll

Mr. Carroll has founded and developed several finance and wholesale merchandising companies in North America and Europe over the past thirty years.

As President of Redbrook Properties, a real estate investment company with International holdings, he spearheaded that group’s redevelopment of a commercial district in Dublin’s inner city, successfully quadrupling its property value. Known for his prudent management, strong negotiating skills, and enterprising spirit, Mr. Carroll recently brought a rapid-diagnostics firm through a period of transition.

A graduate of law from University College, Dublin, he established the largest civil rights defense practice in Ireland and has held directorships with Redbrook Holdings,Redbrook Management, and Fortius Capital.

PhD, CASAC

Dr. Tom Kwasnik

Clinical Psychologist in Private Practice, New York

Tom’s concern for the welfare of children crystallized while studying child psychology at the University of Toronto. After completing his BA Degree there, he acquired a teaching certificate, taught secondary school and continued his studies in psychology at McMaster University. He then attended the University of Waterloo, earning a Master of Applied Science Degree in psychology with a research thesis on self-esteem and aggression in children. After a year of teaching at Brock University, he returned to the University of Waterloo for his PhD Degree in psychology, completing a dissertation on what young clients remember from psychotherapy sessions. While teaching psychology at Elmira College, Tom supervised the efforts of students to improve the lives of children in the local community. As a New York State licensed clinical psychologist, he took a clinical position with the Department of Veterans Affairs Canandaigua Medical Center. There, among other responsibilities, he directed the substance abuse programs, supervised students and provided diagnostic and therapeutic services to Veterans and their families.

His interest in local and world communities brought Tom to the Canandaigua Club of Rotary International where he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for his contribution to projects such as Rotary’s effort to eradicate polio world-wide. His interest in children brought him to the Canandaigua YMCA where he served on the Board of Directors as secretary, vice president and president. As a member of the Board of Directors of ICAN, Tom will be able to continue to contribute to the improvement of children’s welfare.

Mrs. Barbara McMorrow

Professional Development Officer, The Catholic School Principals’ Council of Ontario, Canada

Mr. Michael McMorrow

Superintendant, Toronto Catholic District School Board

International Advisor:

Professor Conor Gearty

Professor Conor Gearty was born in Ireland and graduated in law from University College Dublin before moving to Wolfson College, Cambridge in 1980 to study for a Master’s Degree and then for a PhD. He became a fellow of Emmanuel College Cambridge in 1983 and in 1990 he moved to the school of law at King’s College London where he was first a senior lecturer, then a reader and finally (from 1995) a professor. On 1 October 2002, he took up a new appointment as Rausing Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights and professor of human rights law at LSE.

Professor Gearty has published widely on terrorism, civil liberties and human rights. His books include Terror (Faber, 1990) and two books with K D Ewing, Freedom under Thatcher (1989) and The Struggle for Civil Liberties (2000). One of his more recent books, Principles of Human Rights Adjudication, is a study of the place of the Human Rights Act in Britain’s constitutional order. It locates the measure in its political and historical context and analyses the case law from the perspective not only of principle but also of practical experience. In his latest book, Can Human Rights Survive?, Conor analyses the problems facing human rights today and the challenges that need to be overcome if the subject is to continue to thrive. The book is based on the Hamlyn lectures that Conor gave in 2005.

Professor Gearty is also a barrister and was a founder member of Matrix chambers from where he continues to practice. He has been a frequent adviser to judges, practitioners and public authorities on the implications of the UK Human Rights Act, and has frequently lectured at home and abroad on the topic of human rights. He has appeared in human rights cases in the House of Lords, the Court of Appeal and the High Court.

www.matrixlaw.co.uk/WhoWeAre_Members_ConorGearty