Biography: Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC is a human rights lawyer. Caoilfhionn is the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection.  

Caoilfhionn has acted in many of the leading human rights cases in the UK in recent years, including acting for bereaved families and survivors of the 7/7 London bombings and the Hillsborough disaster, and acting in a series of cases which have established that the UK Government’s welfare changes are discriminatory. Caoilfhionn undertakes many ‘test cases’ which secure results for her clients but also achieve wider change in the law.  For example, her recent cases include acting in a number of successful challenges to the Department of Work and Pensions’ benefit changes.

Caoilfhionn has particular expertise in freedom of expression and open justice. She regularly advises and acts for newspapers and broadcasters in the UK concerning journalistic access to the courts and public interest reporting. She has acted, for example, for media organisations in the inquests into the deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and Gareth Williams (the GCHQ employee found dead in a holdall), ensuring that these hearings were open to public scrutiny and could be freely reported. She worked with the Media Lawyers’ Association and the Chief Coroner in the development of new guidelines on open justice in the coroners’ courts. She also regularly acts for journalists worldwide who are imprisoned, prosecuted, sued or subjected to travel bans due to their journalism.

Women’s rights is another area of particular interest for Caoilfhionn. Much of her work in relation to austerity and welfare cuts concerns the disproportionate impact of those cuts upon women, particularly BAME women and victims and survivors of domestic violence. She has also acted in a series of cases concerning the almost total ban on abortion in Northern Ireland. Click here for a more comprehensive biography. 

Acknowledgement: Abridged version of biography text from Caoilfhionn's Doughty Street Chamber's website. 

Abstract:  

Bio:  Dr. Goldkind is a professor at Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service and the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Technology in Human Services. Dr. Goldkind’s current research has two strands: artificial intelligence and data ecosystems in nonprofits and social justice and civic engagement in organizational life. She has a robust network of community partners in New York City and internationally, including the International Federation of Settlement Houses, United Neighborhood Houses and Caritas Macau.

Dr. Goldkind holds an M.S.W. from SUNY Stony Brook with a concentration in planning, administration, and research and a PhD from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. Dr. Goldkind was in residence at the United Nations University Institute, located in Macau, SAR from June to August 2017 and will return in the Spring of 2020 as a visiting research fellow.

Acknowledgement: Text from Lauri's Fordham's Graduate School of Social Service website. 

1. The morning parallel sessions and the symposium will take place on Friday 24th October, 2025 from 11-12.50 for delegates registered for the Friday main conference.
2. Eight rooms to choose from, all in person at UCC (no streaming).  
3. Click here for the full list of papers (will be updated closer to the conference date). If the file doesn't open in a browser window, check your downloads folder.  
4. Papers and room allocation are subject to change based on speaker availability.

Abstract: To follow.

Biography: Dr Ciarán Murphy is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Edge Hill University's Department of Social Work and Wellbeing. He is a qualified and registered social worker, having specialised in child care/protection. Ciarán is Board member, Trustee and Research Lead for the Association of Child Protection Professionals (AoCPP) (UK registered charity no. 1190441); Associate Editor of Child Abuse Review (ISSN: 1099-0852); and sits on the Editorial Board for both Child Protection and Practice (ISSN: 2950-1938) and Child Abuse & Neglect (ISSN: 1873-7757).

Before working in academia, Ciarán practised for 10 years in the areas of child protection, substance misuse, and education welfare. He formerly sat on the Greater Manchester Family Justice Board sub-group for improving outcomes for children in the Family Court. In his last practice position as a consultant social worker, Ciarán was instrumental in developing and implementing new assessment models for children and families social work.

Acknowledgement: Text from Ciarán's Edge Hill University biography.

1. The afternoon parallel sessions will take place on Friday 24th October, 2025 from 2.25-3.55 for delegates registered for the Friday main conference. The AI symposium is not repeated in the afternoon.
2. Seven rooms to choose from, all in person at UCC (no streaming).  
3. Click here for the full list of papers (will be posted closer to the conference). If the file doesn't open in a browser window, check your downloads folder.  
4. Papers and room allocation are subject to change based on speaker availability.