IPRT Announces Appointment of New Director

5th December 2007

The IPRT is happy to announce the appointment of Liam Herrick as its new Executive Director.  Liam has previously worked with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Law Reform Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs.  For the past four years Liam has worked as the Senior Legislation and Policy Review Officer with the Irish Human Rights Commission. In wishing Liam well in his new position, Dr. Maurice Manning President of the Human Rights Commission paid tribute to, "the immense contribution that Liam made to the early development of the Irish Human Rights Commission".

Liam succeeds Rick Lines, who has made an immense contribution to IPRT over the past four years.  Rick has moved to London to take up the position of Senior Policy Advisor with the International Harm Reduction Association.  Rick will continue to serve as a member of the Board of IPRT and we all wish him the best of luck in his challenging new position.

Dr. Ursula Kilkelly has also taken the position of chair of IPRT.  Ursula is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at University College Cork. She has researched and campaigned on prisoner's rights and youth justice for many years.  Ursula takes over from Claire Hamilton who has led for the past two years and who will continue as a Board member.

"The Board of IPRT would like to warmly welcome Liam as our new Executive Director. Liam comes to us with a wealth of experience working in human rights in Ireland. His dynamic approach and strong vision for IPRT will ensure the continuing development of the organisation into the future, and his appointment brings new impetus and freshness to our work in reducing imprisonment and improving conditions for prisoners in Ireland. This is a challenging time for prisoner's rights in Ireland, but Liam's appointment ensures that IPRT is well placed to meet these challenges."