Hilkka is a fully qualified lawyer in both Ireland and Germany.  She is a graduate of law of the University of Hamburg, has a post graduate diploma in employment law from UCD and a Certificate in Judicial Review from the Law Society of Ireland.  She was admitted to the roll of solicitors by the Law Society of Ireland in 2003.  Hilkka is a member of the European Immigration Lawyers’ Network and the Immigration Law Practitioners Association and continues to work as a trainer and international legal consultant with the IOM and Council of Europe. Hilkka is also a member of the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association Civil Litigation Committee.

 

 

Denise Charlton has 20 years' experience in the field of equality, human rights and anti-discrimination and integration issues, with 15 years at senior management level.

 

Denise became Chief Executive Officer of the ICI in 2003. The ICI is an Independent Law Centre which advocates for migrants and their families and is a catalyst for public debate. Prior to that, she was the Director of Women's Aid, Dublin, an organisation working on issues related to gender-based violence. In both roles, she has been involved in representation at local, national and international levels on social justice issues. She has been involved in several European Commission projects specifically in the area of integration, immigration and human trafficking. At EU level, the ICI is the national focal point for the EU's European Web Site on Integration, with Denise as Country Co-ordinator. The organisation is also involved in an Irish consortium which acts as the focal point for RAXEN (the European Information Network on Racism and Xenophobia), set up by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

 

Denise has overseen research projects nationally and internationally on immigration, integration, gender and migration, gender-based violence, access to justice and human trafficking.

 

Denise works with different anti-discrimination bodies and has worked on various governmental and NGO committees and commissions, including: National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism; Irish Expert to the European Women's Lobby Observatory on Violence against Women; Irish Government working group on Trafficking of Human Beings; National Women's Council of Ireland; Irish Government's Steering Committee on Violence against Women; National Crime Council; Women's Health Council. Denise is also Co-Chair of MarriagEquality, an initiative working for marriage rights for the LBGT community.

 

Denise is an experienced public speaker and is author of several articles on issues pertaining to discrimination, gender equality, immigration and integration. 

A graduate of University College Dublin, the University of Edinburgh and the Honourable Society of the Kings Inns, Catherine first qualified as a barrister and was called to the Irish Bar in 2000. Following graduation, Catherine lectured in European Law at the University of Limerick and she currently co-teaches Refugee, Immigration and Citizenship Law at the Dublin Institute of Technology.  Prior to joining ICI in 2004, Catherine headed the immigration department of Terence Lyons & Co., Solicitors, in Dublin. In 2008, Catherine transferred her qualifications to solicitor and is a member of the Law Society of Ireland. Catherine is a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA), the Board of Women's Aid and the Public Interest Law Alliance Advisory Board.  In 2010, Catherine was selected as a member of the British Council's Transatlantic Network, also known as TN2020.

 

Geraldine joined the ICI in 2001. Geraldine was previously the Director of the Marian English Language College in Dublin for many years, welcoming over 22,000 foreign students to Ireland to learn English and managing a large staff. During this time, Geraldine served on various committees such as ACELS with the Department of Education. Her educational background includes Commerce & Business Studies in UCD and Paris.

Brian studied at NUI Galway, where he read a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Sociology and Politics.  He attained his Master of Arts in Globalisation from DCU.  Brian was a facilitator on a programme for educators from the Middle East and North Africa at the Irish Institute in Boston College, Massachusetts.  While there, he also worked as a facilitator on the Wider Horizons programme which brought together disadvantaged young people from Northern Ireland.  Brian worked as a volunteer information worker with a community development NGO working to address health inequalities among ethnic minorities in Dublin's north inner city, before joining the ICI in 2004.  Brian is responsible for the coordination of all aspects of the ICI's Information and Referral Services, as well as providing training sessions, managing specific projects and funding streams and representing the ICI on several partnerships and forums.

 

Mado joined the ICI in 2007.  She works three days a week as housekeeper.  Before joining the ICI, Mado trained as an airline cabin crew member.  She is currently studying childcare at Blanchardstown IT, as well as continuing her English language studies.

Fidèle is originally from Rwanda and has been living in Ireland for since 1995. Before joining the ICI in 2002, Fidèle worked in community development with Canal Communities Partnership and was a researcher with the African Cultural Project.  He is currently the ICI's Integration Manager and a member of the Middle Management Team. Fidèle is a founding member of the Africa Centre. He sits on advisory committees of a number of public and civil society organisations and is a regular public speaker on issues pertaining to immigration and integration in Ireland, Europe and further afield. Fidèle is a fellow with the Transatlantic Forum on Migration and Integration, an international learning community on migration and integration established by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Robert Bosch Stiftung in 2008. He recently successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled, "(New) Migrant Political Entrepreneurs: Overcoming Isolation and Exclusion through Creative Resistance in Ireland", at University College Dublin.

 

 

 

 

Gwen joined the Immigrant Council of Ireland in 2007 as a part-time Accounts Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer.  Before joining the ICI, Gwen worked in the Pfizer Treasury Centre in Dublin for three years and the financial sector in London for eight years prior to that.  Gwen graduated from UCD with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1995.

Nusha was appointed Anti-Trafficking Project Coordinator in 2007.  She joined the ICI in 2004, firstly in the Communications Department, then as an Information Officer consulting and supporting migrants. In addition to her present work as the Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, Nusha participates in the European Women's Lobby, developing a Migrant Women Network in Europe. Nusha was the first migrant woman elected to the Executive Board of the National Women's Council of Ireland in June 2008, where she served two years.  She is a member of the Irish Observatory for Violence Against Women. Nusha qualified as an engineer in Bulgaria and holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Intercultural Studies from Dublin City University.