Lara Groves is a Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, the London and Brussels-based research institute with a mission to make data & AI work for people and society. Lara has led research for Ada on AI ethics & accountability in practice, including research exploring impacts of generative AI transcription tools in social work & social care and how they might be meaningfully evaluated. Before joining Ada, she worked as a tech policy consultant, and has experience in research, public affairs and campaigns for think-tanks, political parties and advocacy groups. Lara has an MSc in Democracy from University College London.

Deirdre Hyland is a Health Information Programme Manager at HIQA, leading work on the development of National Guidance for the Responsible and Safe Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health and Social Care and a wider programme of work focused on the development and implementation of health information standards to support the delivery of high quality, safe, integrated, person-centred care.

Caroline McGregor is Professor of Social Work at the University of Galway and Senior Researcher at the UNECSO Child and Family Research Centre. Caroline worked at Queen’s University as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Social Work from 1999-2012, worked and studied at Trinity College and practiced as a child protection and welfare social worker in Dublin, Ireland. Her work has focused on areas including child protection, welfare and family support, safeguarding across the lifecourse, history of the present approaches and socio legal practice. In her current role as Director of the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS), she is engaged in leading the Institute focused on an integrative approach to research, teaching, policy and practice to enable equity across the lifecourse. Increasingly, her work focuses on participatory research methodologies, public engagement, promotion of knowledge equity approaches and policy and societal impact. https://research.universityofgalway.ie/en/persons/caroline-mc-gregor/publications/

Fergus Ó Cuanacháin is Chief Information Officer of Tusla, Child and Family Agency. He has over 30 years’ experience in digital and data management in both the public service and the tech sector. Prior to joining Tusla in 2017 he held a range of roles including Head of Data Infrastructure for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Head of ICT for Pobal. Fergus is also a member of peer review groups for large scale public service digitisation projects. In 2019, Fergus authored and led the implementation of the first Data Strategy for child and family services in Ireland. This was followed by Tusla’s current Data Management and Digital Transformation strategy 2024-2026. Tusla’s data and digital journey over this time has seen the agency progress from mostly paper-based systems to now a position where Ireland is unique in the EU with having a national digital system that provides a single view of the child across child protection and welfare, educational support, therapeutic, fostering and residential care services.

Jane Suiter is Professor of Political Communication at Dublin City University School of Communications, her research focus is on the information environment in the public sphere and in particular on scaling up deliberation and tackling disinformation. Jane is director of DCU’s Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society and a Research Ireland Laureate.  She was the joint winner of the Brown Democracy Medal in 2019 and the President’s Award for Research. She was awarded the prestigious title of the Irish Research Council’s Researcher of the Year in 2020.

Calvin Swords is a Lecturer in Social Work in the School of Applied Social Studies at University College Cork, where he is the Deputy Director on the Master/Postgraduate programme of Social Work. He previously lectured in social work at Maynooth University (2021–2024) and, before moving into academia, practised as a CORU-registered social worker across a range of Irish settings, most recently in a hospital. His PhD, funded by an Irish Research Council scholarship, explored how recovery is understood in Irish mental health services. His research focuses on mental health, lived experience, co-production and the social work role in health settings

Sinéad Whiting is a qualified social worker and Lecturer in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. Prior to joining Trinity, she worked in child protection and welfare, fostering, and adoption services. She teaches undergraduate and master’s level students in the areas of practice education, social work skills, and adoption. Her teaching and research interests include care leaving, youth transitions, adoption, foster care, and innovations in social work practice and practice education. Drawing on both practice and research experience, Sinéad is interested in how social workers can respond to emerging opportunities and challenges while remaining grounded in the profession’s core values.

Workshop 1 AI and Social work: What do we know? What should we know? What should we question? (Sinéad Whiting)

This interactive workshop invites participants to critically explore the emerging role of AI in social work practice. Rather than focusing solely on technology itself the workshop will enable participants to consider and examine AI through a social work lens encouraging participants to consider both its opportunities and limitations. Drawing on current research, policy developments and practice examples, the session will explore what social workers currently know about AI, what they need to know and what they should question.
Designed to stimulate discussion, reflection debate rather than provide definitive answers, the workshop will encourage participants to critically examine the implications of AI for relationship-based practice, decision making, professional accountability and service user rights. Particular attention will be given to what it means to use AI critically and ethically while remaining grounded in core social work values.

Workshop 2 AI Is Already in the Room: What Now for Social Work? (Calvin Swords)

AI Is Already in the Room: What Now for Social Work?
AI is already part of social work, both through agreed tools and quieter “shadow” use. Yet as a profession we have had few conversations about what this means for our ethics, our practice, and the people we work with. This interactive workshop creates space for that conversation. Drawing on national public service AI guidelines, the EU AI Act, GDPR and CORU’s Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics, it will explain generative AI in plain language, explore where it can add real value, and highlight where caution is needed. Through some live demonstrations and discussion of Irish practice scenarios, participants will apply a simple ethical screen and consider what good governance looks like. No prior experience of AI is needed. Participants will leave more confident to lead responsible conversations about AI in their own teams.

There is limited paid parking at the rear of the Carmelite Community Centre in Whitefriar Street Carpark.