The highly anticipated Mary Robinson Climate and Nature Conference is set to return in 2025, bringing together global leaders, scientists, activists, and policymakers to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Scheduled to take place from Monday the 26th to Tuesday the 27th of May 2025. It will be hosted in venues throughout Ballina. 

plenary Speaker biographies*

*​Our speakers are listed in alphabetical order for easy navigation and access.
Name
Bio
Mary Robinson
Former President, Member of The Elders, Dandelion
​Mary Robinson, Member of The Elders, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is a life-long advocate for equal rights for all, gender equality, women’s leadership and climate justice.
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As a member of the Elders, Mary and her fellow Elders use their independence, collective experience and influence for peace, justice and human rights worldwide.  Mary's work with the United Nations, Oxfam International, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the GAVI Alliance, The Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, and others, has advocated for good governance and a voice for the vulnerable in our world.
In partnership with One Young World, the Mary Robinson Climate Justice Award recognises extraordinary youth leadership in challenging the climate crisis. 

Mary is a proud Ballina and Mayo woman. She credits her interest in human rights and equality to her childhood experience of growing up as the middle child between four brothers. ​
Anja Murray
Ecologist, Policy Analyst, Broadcaster and Author
Anja Murray is an ecologist, policy analyst, broadcaster and author, familiar to many from award winning radio documentaries (Nature File; Root & Branch, Feather & Flock on RTÉ lyric fm) and previously from Eco Eye television on RTÉ1.  She has been actively involved in the conservation sector in Ireland for more than 20 years. Anja’ work explores the wonders of Irelands natural world, including challenges and solutions to the current biodiversity and climate crises.  Her creative approaches to nature communications seek to foster a wider societal engagement with Ireland’s environment.
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Anja’s bestselling book, ‘Wild Embrace – connecting to the wonder of Irelands natural world’ (Hachette Ireland) has been sparking enthusiasm from critics and readers alike since its publication in 2023.
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Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin
​Associate Professor in the School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies at DCU
Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin is an Associate Professor in the School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies at DCU. She is Chair of the Independent Advisory Committee on Nature Restoration, whose work will conclude with Ireland's submission of its Nature Restoration Plan in September 2026. In 2022 she was appointed by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) as Chair of Ireland's Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, who returned their report and recommendations to government in 2023. She is an award-winning science communicator and educator and was previously named as a European Young Leader, a group nominated to facilitate and create a more equal, innovative and inclusive Europe.
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Dearbhla Richardson
Youth Climate Justice Activist
Dearbhla is a youth climate justice activist from Cobh, Cork. She holds a BSc in International Development from University College Cork. Since 2019, she has organised local, national, and international climate campaigns with groups such as Fridays for Future, Cobh Zero Waste & UCC’s environmental groups. Dearbhla is a strong advocate for intersectional climate action, human rights, grassroots activism, and social justice.
 
Dearbhla also works as a European Campaigner for The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, which is a global effort to foster international cooperation to accelerate a transition to renewable energy for everyone, end the expansion of coal, oil and gas, and equitably phase out existing production in keeping with what science shows is needed to address the climate crisis. She is currently coordinating the national campaign for Ireland to join the growing bloc of countries seeking to negotiate a Fossil Fuel Treaty.
Dr. Gerard McCarthy
Physical Oceanographer and Climate Scientist
Dr. Gerard McCarthy is a physical oceanographer and climate scientist, currently based at Maynooth University in Ireland, where he works with the ICARUS Climate Research Centre and the Department of Geography. 
 
His research focuses on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and sea level rise. He has been instrumental in studying the AMOC, a system of ocean currents that significantly affects Europe’s climate. His findings have raised awareness of its potential weakening due to climate change, which could lead to significant impacts in parts of Europe, including Ireland.
 
McCarthy has also made significant contributions to sea level research in Ireland, where his team observed a faster-than-expected rate of sea level rise. His expertise has been key in understanding regional fluctuations in sea level trends, crucial for future climate adaptation strategies. 
 
Before joining Maynooth, McCarthy worked at the National Oceanography Centre in the UK, contributing to major projects like the RAPID array, which monitors the AMOC. He has been featured in media outlets like The Irish Times, RTÉ and BBC for his insights into the future impacts of climate change, particularly for Ireland.
 
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Prof. Hannah E. Daly
Professor in Sustainable Energy at University College Cork
Hannah Daly is a Professor in Sustainable Energy at University College Cork. She leads a team of researchers within University College Cork’s Environmental Research Institute whose works examines pathways for achieving rapid, sustainable greenhouse gas reductions. Her work informs policy and the public on climate change, including through her monthly column “At a Time of Climate Crisis” in the Irish Times. She is a winner of the 2021 UCC President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2023 award for UCC Research Communicator of the Year. She previously held roles at the International Energy Agency and University College London. 
John Barry
Political Activist, Recovering Politician and Professor of Green Political Economy in the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens University Belfast
John Barry is a father, a political activist, recovering politician and Professor of Green Political Economy in the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens University Belfast.  He is also co-chair of the Belfast Climate Commission, a member of the Committee on Climate Change’s Economics Advisory Group on Adaptation and Resilience, and member of the Sustainable Future Committee of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
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What keeps him awake at night is the life opportunities and future wellbeing of his and other children in this age of the planetary emergency and intersecting social and economic injustices within and between countries.  What also keeps him awake at night is the following question: why it is easier for most people to believe in the end of the world than the end of capitalism and economic growth? 
His areas of academic-activist research include post-growth and heterodox political economy; decarbonisation, democratisation and decolonisation; the politics, policy and political economy of climate breakdown and climate resilience; socio-technical analyses of low carbon just energy and sustainability transitions; climate injustice-based nonviolent direct action and social mobilisation; and the overlap between conflict transformation and these sustainability and energy transformations.
His last book was The Politics of Actually Existing Unsustainability: Human Flourishing in a Climate-Changed, Carbon-Constrained World (2012, Oxford University Press), and he is currently writing a book provisionally entitled, The Greatest Story never told?: The origins, tyranny and end of ecocidal economic growth (2024, Agenda Publishers).
Dr. Elaine McGoff
Head of Advocacy with
An Taisce
Dr. Elaine McGoff is Head of Advocacy with An Taisce, one of Ireland's oldest and largest environmental organisations. She works on a broad range of topics including land use, climate, biodiversity and water quality, with a particular focus on planning, policy and compliance with environmental legislation. She advocates widely for environmental protection and legal compliance throughout planning and licencing applications, and in Government policy.
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Elaine has a PhD in Freshwater Ecology from Trinity College Dublin, and an Advanced Diploma in Planning and Environmental Law from Kings Inns.  She is Vice Chair of the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) and Steering Committee member of the Environmental Pillar.