The RCNI is governed by its Board of Directors. The RCNI is member-owned – our Board of Directors is comprised of representatives nominated from member Rape Crisis Centres (RCCs). Staff and volunteers from member RCCs also take up membership of relevant sub-groups or working committees of the Board.
The Board oversee the implementation of our Strategic Plan which is developed through high levels of consultation with our members, as well as other stakeholders. In recognition of the organisational complexities specific to member-owned Networks the RCNI contracts expert consultancy to support and ensure good governance.
We confirm that our organisation complies with The Governance Code for the Community, Voluntary and Charitable Sector in Ireland.
We prepare our accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)
| Clíona Saidléar | Executive Director |
| Miriam Duffy | Director, Rape Crisis Midwest |
| Loretta McDonagh | Director, Mayo Rape Crisis Centre |
| Vera O’Leary nee Cronin | Director, Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre |
| Grace McArdle | Director, Rape Crisis North East and RCNI Chairperson |
| Anne Scully | Director, Waterford Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre |
| Lorraine Quigely | RCNI Company Secretary |
RCNI Members
RCNI members are independent and autonomous front line RCCs. Each RCC has its’ own legal structure, including its own Board of Directors or Board of Management.
RCCs provide a safe environment where survivors of sexual violence can experience safety, empowerment, restoration of positive regard for self, reconnection with the world and increased capacities for intimacy. Centres provide expert information, support, counselling and advocacy for those who have been affected by sexual violence. RCC services are delivered utilising a Survivor/Recovery model. Expertise is ensured through training of all staff and volunteers in the reality, nature and extent of sexual violence, the systems and structures which perpetuate sexual violence, along with all other training appropriate to each RCC role.
As an integral part of drawing on the experience, wisdom and power of survivors and as community based NGOs RCCs engage in and deliver awareness raising, training, education and campaigning towards social change and ending all forms of sexual violence.
RCNI Members:
Carlow & South Leinster Rape Crisis & Counselling Centre
Donegal Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre
Kerry Rape & Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre
Mayo Rape Crisis Centre
Rape Crisis Midwest
Rape Crisis North East
Waterford Rape & Sexual Abuse Service
RCNI Staff
Clíona Saidléar, PhD – Executive Director
Dr. Clíona Saidlear is the Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI). Her role includes national policy and change initiatives across a range of Government Departments and inter-agency fora to improve the responses to survivors and to work towards the prevention of sexual violence. A key focus of Clíona’s work since 2004, when she first joined the RCNI as policy and communications director, has been on prevention. Clíona has presented widely from the UN and EU, to academic and issue based conferences and seminars as well as regularly acting as a spokesperson and providing lectures and training. She was previously employed with a political party in Wales, Plaid Cymru, and the Royal College of Nursing after she completed her doctoral thesis with the Department of International Politics in Aberystwyth. She has also worked for over ten years in the disability sector.
Caroline Counihan, BL – Legal Director
Caroline brings her insight into the need to improve the system for all survivors of sexual violence to bear on RCNI policy. Caroline works directly with survivors and is continually engaging across the justice system to improve access to justice for survivors and accountability for perpetrators. Caroline was called to the Bar in England and Wales in 1992 and has since practiced in mainly criminal work for both the defence and prosecution. She has also represented abused women in the family courts and dealt with immigrant cases. Caroline has been a practicing Barrister in Ireland since 1997. She has a background in languages and the social sciences with a first degree in French and German (1978, NUI Galway) and a second in Psychology (University of London, 1989).
Lorraine Quigley – Network Administrator and Financial Officer
Elaine Mears, LLM – Privacy and Data Support Coordinator
Elaine returns to the RCNI as our new Privacy and Data Support Coordinator in 2020 supporting best practice remote working and data coordination. Elaine started with the RCNI in 2007 and the Data Manager, providing ongoing support to all frontline services using the RCNI Database. Elaine coordinated national data cleaning; data analysis using SPSS and producing the RCNI Statistics reports. She holds a BA in English, Media and Cultural Studies and an LL.M in International Human Rights Law.
Other Staff
The RCNI also benefits from the skilled and highly qualified services of interns, student placements and volunteers on various projects.
Annual Reports
