About Sadaka - The Board
The following members comprise the Board of Sadaka:Marie Crawley (Chair) email: marie@sadaka.ie
Marie Crawley currently manages a pilot multi-agency programme for Children and Families within the Health Service Executive. She formerly worked as a consultant specialising in the areas of gender equality, cross-community dialogue, development work with socially excluded groups, former political prisoners and organisational effectiveness. She is the co-author of a number of publications on gender equality commissioned by the Irish government and has delivered training on this subject to Government Departments in Ireland, North and South, and with the Government of the Republic of Armenia. A former Vice-Chair of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, she contested elections for that party following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. She is the author of numerous reports on minority experiences in the North of Ireland. Currently chair of the NW Regional Advisory Committee on Violence against Women, she also sits on the National Steering Committee on Violence against Women. Over the past 18 years she has served on numerous NGO / statutory partnerships throughout Ireland, mainly in the areas of rural development, gender equality and the implementation of peace and reconciliation programmes. A former Chair of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Marie has a long standing involvement in Palestinian solidarity work and visits the West Bank annually. She is co- founder and current Chair of Sadaka. For more information, see: www.mariecrawley.com
Alan Lonergan email: alan@sadaka.ie
Alan Lonergan was one of the crew members of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) boat Dignity which broke the siege of Gaza in 2008. Alan has coordinated events for the FGM in Ireland and has delivered numerous talks highlighting the affects of the siege on the people of Gaza. A former Churches Officer with the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Alan has successfully engaged leading figures in the Catholic Church with the cause of Palestine – securing commitments for the forthcoming publication of a position paper on Palestine and the development of a policy statement in the Catholic churches policy making forum. Highly skilled in relationship building, Alan has made unprecedented inroads in the engagement of the Churches in Ireland. Alan visits Palestine on a regular basis and has written documents highlighting similarities in Irish history and the current situation in Palestine. Alan works with an agricultural consultancy and is a co-founder of Sadaka. In 2008, Alan was awarded Palestinian citizenship for his solidarity activities.
Dr. David Morrison email: david@sadaka.ie
David Morrison was born in Northern Ireland and studied physics at Queens University, Belfast, being awarded a doctorate in 1968. While a student he became active in the Civil Rights movement and he has been involved in politics ever since.
Since 9/11, he has produced critiques of the propaganda by which the US and the UK, under Bush and Blair, and their successors, have sought to justify their aggressions in the Muslim world. He has exposed the double-standards which they apply to countries which they are seeking to demonise as enemies, on the one hand, and the allies of the West, such as Israel, on the other hand.
He has produced a plethora of articles and pamphlets on this subject, all of which are available on his website www.david-morrison.org.uk. A number have been published in the mainstream media in Ireland – The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner and The Village Magazine. He is now a contributor on Middle East affairs to the Irish current affairs website, Politico.ie.
On Iraq, he has published a number of highly regarded pamphlets on the deception perpetrated by Prime Minister Blair in an attempt to win popular and parliamentary support in Britain for military action against Iraq. For example: Iraq: Lies, half-truths & omissions and Iraq: How regime change was dressed up as disarmament
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Commenting on the latter, George Galloway MP has said of David Morrison:
“In my opinion, he’s the best researcher working in Britain today, unsung largely. This document in any just world would be enough to impeach and imprison Tony Blair for entering into a conspiracy with a foreign power to wage an illegal war and to lie to his own people and parliament in order to do so”.
Today, his political work is largely concerned with achieving justice for Palestinians. To that end, he has been actively engaged in lobbying the Irish Government and other political parties in the Oireachtas and writing reports for that purpose. For example: The European Union's Blind Eye: How the EU ignores Israel's failure to fulfil its obligations under EU agreements for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Is a “two-state solution” still possible? and other briefing documents for Sadaka Electronic Intifada has published a number of his articles, most recently, The elephant in the room: Israel's nuclear weapons.
Dr. Elaine Murtagh email: elaine@sadaka.ie
Elaine Murtagh is a lecturer at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. She formerly worked as a teacher and coordinator of education programmes for non-governmental and statutory bodies. Elaine holds a PhD from the University of Ulster and has many scholarly publications on the links between physical activity and public health. Elaine lived in Ramallah from 2004 – 2006 while working as Regional Training Officer for the NGO ‘Right To Play’; a humanitarian organisation which uses sport and play as tools for community development. She was responsible for staff- and curriculum- development for projects in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan. Upon returning to Ireland Elaine became involved in Palestinian solidarity work and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Philip O’Connor email: philip@sadaka.ie
Philip O’Connor has for ten years been director of a social partnership organisation, Dublin Employment Pact. This has developed and implemented a wide range of pilot employment and training programmes, as well as providing proposals for governments across a wide range of social and employment policy areas. Philip is also chairperson of the European Anti-Poverty Network (Ireland) and of the EAPN (Europe) Employment Policy Group and represents Dublin on the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum. He is a trained historian and has published on historical and political issues, including several books and pamphlets and also through articles in journals such as Dublin Review of Books, Irish Political Review, The Irish Times, Labour and Trade Union Review and others. Philip was Media Officer of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) in 2007-9 and achieved a high media profile for the issues involved, particularly during Israel’s onslaught on Gaza. He is also an active member of Trade Union Friends of Palestine and campaigns on the issue in his own union, IMPACT.
Dr. Des McGuinness email: des@sadaka.ie
Dr Des McGuinness is a lecturer in the School of Communication, Dublin City University (DCU). He has played an active part in campaigns for civil and democratic rights in support of workers and political prisoners. Des’s interest in Palestine began in the early 1970s when he made two visits to the Middle East. Since then he has been active in organising pro-Palestinian solidarity events in Ireland. He lectures on Palestine and has established institutional relationships between DCU and Palestinian universities.
Hilary Minch email: hilary@sadaka.ie
Hilary Minch is an international development worker with a 1st class MSc in Development Studies from University College Dublin (UCD). Hilary has lived and worked overseas in a variety of development contexts, including Darfur and South Sudan with Irish humanitarian agency GOAL. In Ireland, Hilary worked as the Reintegration Officer with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and was the acting Regional Liaison Officer for the Middle East, Central and South Asia with the Irish Catholic Development agency Trócaire. Most recently she was the programme officer for Aidlink, an Irish based overseas development NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) with partners and programmes in Uganda, Kenya and Ghana.
Prior to embarking on a career in international development, Hilary spent three years living in Japan on the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Programme and travelled extensively in the region. Following this, she returned to education and received a Higher Diploma in Business Studies from UCD before working as a marketing executive for a number of Irish companies, including business advisers and accountants FGS.
Hilary has visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories on a number of occasions and participated in the Gaza Freedom March which attempted to break the siege of Gaza in December 2009. She is a former National Committee member of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC). She is particularly interested in the effective implementation of the Palestinian led call for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) until such time that Israel upholds international law and human rights.
Caitlín Ní Chonaill email: caitlin@sadaka.ie
Caitlín Ní Chonaill holds a Master's Degree in Modern Languages and European History and is a retired schoolteacher. She first became involved with solidarity work while at university in Britain where she joined the campaign to end the Vietnam war. She went on to participate in other campaigns, particularly those in solidarity with colonised peoples. It was through this involvement that she first came to learn about the fate of the Palestinians, from the many accounts given by Palestinian refugees residing in Britain, who were being prevented by Israel from returning to their homeland. Following the failure of the Camp David Summit in 2000 and the outbreak of the Second Intifada she has concentrated on helping to build an effective Palestinian solidarity movement in Ireland where she now lives. She was for a number of years a member of the National Committee of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and also Spokesperson and Secretary of its Belfast branch
Stella Carroll email: stella@sadaka.ie
Stella Carroll is the Administrator of a Family Support Project and a freelance journalist. She worked with R.T.E., in both radio and television, for many years and is an active Trade Union Member. She is involved in Community and Voluntary organisations, particularly in relation to the arts and social inclusion in Sligo. Stella has been to Palestine as a journalist, a volunteer and as a Human Rights witness with the World Council of Churches, EAPPI programme.