Nasc Staff

 

CEO: Fiona Finn

Fiona holds a Bachelor of Law degree (BCL) and a Master of Law (LLM) from University College Cork. She has a particular interest in International Human Rights Law and Public International Law.

Fiona has over eighteen years of experience in the fields of social justice, human rights, asylum and immigration. Fiona joined Nasc in 2008 and became CEO in 2010. Prior to that she worked for fifteen years in London, initially with a homeless charity and latterly as a senior officer with in the London Borough of Camden. During her time with the Borough, Fiona worked at a senior level across a number of departments including the Welfare Rights Section and at an Independent Law Centre, dealing with access to social protection for asylum-seekers and refugees. She also headed up a policy unit working to promote social inclusion policies for Irish emigrants in the Borough. Fiona also holds a Diploma in Business Studies and Marketing and is a graduate of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Senior Legal Officer: Claire Cumiskey

Claire Cumiskey holds a BCL (Law and German) and LLM (Criminal Justice) from University College Cork.

She previously undertook an internship with the Irish Refugee Council and has volunteered with the Cork Stop Sex Trafficking Campaign.

She has a particular research interest in the area of asylum and immigration law and has contributed to a number of legal research projects on a national and EU level in the area of asylum and immigration law.

Claire is committed to effecting positive changes in the immigration process through strategic casework and litigation.

Legal Officer: Fiona Hurley

Fiona Hurley holds a Bachelor of Law degree (BCL) and a Master of Law (LLM) from University College Cork. Having completed her thesis on Judicial Deference and the Protection of Minority Rights, Fiona has a particular interest in international law and especially in the protection of minority rights.

She completed an internship in the Nasc Legal Information Clinics in 2010 and was subsequently appointed Legal Information and Capacity-Building Officer.

Fiona also has special responsibility for capacity building.  In that role, Fiona provides training on immigration law to Citizens Information Centres, NGOs and other relevant bodies nationwide.

Campaigns and Communications Officer: Jennifer DeWan

Jennifer has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University in the City of New York. Her doctoral thesis was on political activism and social change in Ireland, based on research conducted primarily with women’s and community groups in Cork.

As a research consultant, Jennifer has worked for a wide variety of advocacy and non-profit organisations. She recently completed research on African witchcraft in the Irish context for the book Open Secrets: An Irish Perspective on Trafficking and Witchcraft published by Cois Tine and Oak Tree Press in 2012.

A a co-founder of Cork Feminista, Jennifer has considerable experience in advocacy and campaigning on human rights, social justice and immigration issues. As a migrant to Ireland herself, Jennifer is committed to raising awareness about and promoting positive changes in relation to immigration and integration.

Communications Intern:  Kate O’Sullivan

Kate holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway. She has researched and worked on a wide range of human rights issues but her specific focus is on conflict and post-conflict zones, including refugees and asylum seekers, arbitrary detention and civilian protection. Her LLM thesis focused on Palestinian Statehood and self-determination.

Kate has also been a long-standing organiser and communications officer with various Irish human rights organisations, for both national and international causes. She has a particular interest and experience in the Middle East and has contributed regularly to local radio and newspapers on this region.

Operations Manager: Moawia Eldjack 

Moawia is a graduate of Moscow State Academy of Instrumental Engineering with both a Bachelor’s Degree and Masters degree in Manufacturing Engineering as well as a Higher Certificate in IT. He has previously worked as Manufacturing Engineer and Operations Manager in the Pharmaceutical and Aviation Industries in Sudan. He relocated to Ireland in 2007and joined Nasc in 2009, when he began teaching computer classes for beginners. Moawia was employed by Nasc as an Administrative Assistant for the Legal Clinics in 2009, and he also became a part-time employee of the Vocational Education Committee Cork as an ECDL tutor. Moawia has been teaching ECDL modules in this capacity ever since. He is particularly interested in Project Management and successfully completed a Project Management Technique Course in the Cork Institute of Technology in 2010 and a Project Management Professional course with Asircon in 2011. Moawia speaks Arabic, English and Russian fluently, and regularly assists the Legal Clinics with interpretation and translation in these languages. He completed a Business English course with TOEIC at the Cork English College in 2010.

Roma Rights Officer: Claire Larkin

Claire Larkin is a graduate of National University of Ireland Galway and University College Cork, with a Bachelor of Corporate Law and a Masters of Law comprising of International Humanitarian Law and Immigration Law. She has also completed the Law Society of Ireland examinations. Claire has interned in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York which is responsible for the promotion of sustainable development. She has also worked with the Galway Traveller Support Group where she facilitated travellers involved in legal proceedings.

In addition to her work in the Drop-in Clinic, Claire represents Nasc in the Capacity Building and Social Inclusion Working Group as part of the Roma Research Project. Her role within this group is to provide specialist legal information regarding Roma Rights which will go towards the formulation of Cork City Partnership policy in relation to inclusion of communities.

Legal Intern: Anna Błuś 

Anna holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway. Her areas of interest include migrants’ rights, refugee law and minority rights and her Masters thesis concerned the rights of migrants with an irregular status.

Anna also holds an MA in English Language and Literature from University of Warsaw, where she majored in Translation Studies, and has worked as a translator, interpreter and translation Project Manager prior to joining Nasc. She also completed a 1-year volunteering programme with an international NGO in France and was a volunteer PR Officer with a Polish migrant organisation in Galway.

Development Officer: Marguerite McQuaid

For the past 25 years, Marguerite has worked in advocacy and development in the UK and Ireland, gaining experience in fields ranging from education, elderly rights advocacy and debt advice to women’s health issues. From working in education and advocacy, it was a natural progression to working in media. She worked for seven years with the BBC, forging links between listeners and programme makers.

Coming to Ireland, she worked for five years in the corporate sector – an experience that has greatly informed her current work. Prior to joining Nasc, she worked with national and regional charities and local organisations. Her motivation is in providing the opportunity for the corporate sector to support the work of charities in their community.

Project Administrator for the European Integration Fund: Mollie Pereira

Mollie Pereira is originally from South Africa. She has been living in Ireland for the past ten years.

She started working with Nasc as a volunteer administrative assistant. Since then, she has worked  in areas such as the Jobs Club, Reception and as a computers and reception trainer.

Since the beginning of 2011, she has been responsible for project administration of the Pobal Project (European Integration Fund), working closely with Emer McCarthy to facilitate the smooth running of the project.

Administrator: Susan Mackey

Susan Mackey holds a BSc Earth Science (Zoology) and HDip Social Policy from University College Cork. She also holds additional qualifications in Business Practice (ICM), ECDL and teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). She previously worked as an English language teacher at Nasc delivering FETAC levels 4 and 5.

Throughout Susan’s time at Nasc she has worked closely with our team of accountants and received continual training and support.

She is currently undertaking an MSW in Social Work at University College Cork and has a particular interest in the area of immigration and mental health.

Racist Reporting: Simon Prim

Simon graduated from University College Cork in December 2011 with a BA in History and Sociology and an MA in Politics.

He completed his thesis on Torture during the Algerian War of Independence and his particular areas of interest include Democracy, Human Rights and International Relations.

Simon joined Nasc in June 2012, working on the organisation’s racist reporting mechanism. He is the first point of contact for individuals who come to Nasc to make a racist incident report and for recording and cataloguing these statements. Simon works in close cooperation with other stakeholders, including representatives An Garda Síochána to identify appropriate and effective responses to individual experiences.

Cleaning and Maintenance Officer: John Usunobun

John Usunobun is originally from Edo State, Benin City, Nigeria. He first came to Ireland in 2003 and became a member of the team at Nasc in 2007. Since arriving in Ireland, he has studied computing and tourism (FETAC Level 6).

He is currently pursuing a FETAC Level 5 course in social care at St John’s College in Cork City and hopes to work with the elderly upon completion.

John lives in Cork with his wife, Martina and their four children.

Receptionist: Lena Pilate

Jelena Pilate is originally from Latvia. She has been living in Ireland since 2004 and joined Nasc as part-time receptionist in April 2012.

Lena is currently undertaking ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) training at Nasc. She hopes to continue to improve her English and computer skills and go on to work as a full-time receptionist in the future.

Receptionist: Raymond Looney

Raymond Looney graduated from University College Cork with a BSc (Microbiology/Biochemistry) and a HDip Applied Science (Biotechnology). He worked as an abstract writer/indexer and assistant editor for the H. W. Wilson Company for 15 years.

He currently works at Nasc as a part-time receptionist as part of the Tús/Cork City Partnership work-placement scheme.