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Our team help make recovery possible.

CEO

Pauline McKeown

Pauline has over 20 years experience of working in social care settings, namely homeless and alcohol & drug treatment/rehabilitation services, in the UK and Ireland.

Pauline has over 20 years experience of working in social care settings, namely homeless and alcohol & drug treatment/rehabilitation services, in the UK and Ireland. Since joining Coolmine in June 2004 Pauline has held several management positions within the organisation. Pauline was appointed Chief Executive in 2013 and reports directly to the Chair of Board. Quarterly board meetings are held to ensure the strategic development of the organisation is achieved. Pauline’s qualifications include an MSc in Drugs and Alcohol Policy from Trinity College Dublin. Pauline is currently the voluntary sector representative on the Standing Sub Committee (SSc), Department of Health, Chair of the National Voluntary Drug & Alcohol Sector (NVDAS) steering committee and board member European Federation of Therapeutic Communities (EFTC). Pauline has contributed to various expert groups, sectoral and local forums throughout her career. Pauline’s key skills and areas of interest include change management, evidence based practice, treatment and rehabilitation longitudinal research, best practice quality standards, inter-agency working and service user participation strategies.
Head of Finance and Support Services

Jarlath McIntyre

Jarlath is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience in senior Finance roles in Ireland and overseas

Jarlath is a Chartered Accountant with over has over 30 years of experience in senior Finance roles in Ireland and overseas
Julie Walsh
Nurse Team Leader

Julie Walsh

Julie is the nursing manager in Coolmine TC, responsible for overseeing the acute and chronic physical and mental health support needs of the clients in Coolmine.

Julie is the nursing manager in Coolmine TC, responsible for overseeing the acute and chronic physical and mental health support needs of the clients in Coolmine. In addition, Julie is responsible for overseeing complex admissions including maternity transfers, clients with dual diagnosis and methadone detoxes. Julie oversees all training to staff in relation to physical and mental health support needs including naloxone training, medication dispensing and health promotion workshops. Julie is also responsible for overseeing Quality standards , health and safety and alignment of evolving and changing practices are in line with Good Practice standards and National Guidelines.
With a background in general nursing, Julies expertise lies in oncology, haematology, HIV, sexual Health and infectious disease. Julie is also accredited in addiction studies and with a background in both nursing and addiction, Julies expertise lies in managing clients with complex addiction and health needs access and attain treatment. Julies passions lies with assisting clients with multiple physical and/ or mental health access treatment and creating pathways for these clients.
Acting Head of Services

Anita Harris

Anita is a TC practitioner whom strongly believes in the Therapeutic Community Model as an effective drug and alcohol treatment approach that can work with all populations.

Anita is the Coolmine Residential Services manager. Anita is a TC practitioner whom strongly believes in the Therapeutic Community Model as an effective drug and alcohol treatment approach that can work with all populations. Anita’s passion lies in ongoing learning of evidence- based models of treatment and reducing barriers, stigma and challenges for men, women and families both accessing and exiting treatment. Anita is both a Parenting Under Pressure therapist and supervisor and is currently overseeing the first PuP training hub in Ireland.
With a background in social research, Anita co-authored the Coolmine Longitudinal Outcomes study ‘Pathways Through Treatment’. Anita has also published research on the Introduction of Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention into a Therapeutic Community. Anita is a regular attendant and speaker at both National and International conferences.
Javier
Community & Day Services Manager

Javier de las Heras

As a manager with over fifteen years of experience in the Irish Social Sector, he is committed to social inclusion.

As a manager with over fifteen years of experience in the Irish Social Sector, he is committed to social inclusion. He has led many different projects for the homeless sector over the past ten years in what have been challenging times. He believes wholeheartedly in team work. His formal education and training include a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and a Master’s Degree in Education. He has gained additional, complementary qualifications through management positions in various non-profit organizations
Residential Services Manager

Tom Kearns

Tom has over 18 years working in the addiction field with a background in a variety of different roles. In his current role, he manages both residential services in the East region and Coolmine’s reintegration programme.

Tom has over 18 years working in the addiction field with a background in a variety of different roles. In his current role, he manages both residential services in the East region and Coolmine’s reintegration programme.
His approach is grounded in a theoretical framework, which was gained primarily through third level qualifications in Applied Addiction, Counselling, Cognitive behavioural therapy and leadership skills.
He is a strong advocate of the therapeutic “community as method” approach and trauma informed care as models of treatment.
Tom believes everyone has the ability to break the cycle of addiction.
Head of Services

Lisa Larkin

Lisa is a Head of Services and has been working with Coolmine since 2009

With more than 14 years of experience working in social care settings, Lisa has worked in family support environments, with young people and in addiction treatment services. Lisa’s passion lies in the Therapeutic Community (TC) model and she is an accredited Therapeutic Community Lead reviewer with the Communities of Communities (Royal College of Psychiatrists, London). Lisa has three TC practices published on the Ecett E- Learning Platform and she is a Board member on the ECEtt Networks, a European training by travel exchange initiative. Lisa’s degree lies in Social Studies and she has also studied Leadership and Management in the non-profit sector. Lisa is trained in Servant leadership and she is passionate about developing Coolmine staff to reach their potential as Leaders through a shared approach.
Mid-West Services Manager

David McPhillips

Having worked in the community for over 14 years, David believes strongly in supporting people to achieve their potential through a mix of evidence based practices, relationships and empowerment.

Having worked in the community for over 14 years, David worked initially as a trainer with long term unemployed and then coordinating training in a disadvantaged community. He then went on to manage a community based adolescent service delivering evidence based practices to the Mid-West of Ireland. David believes strongly in supporting people to achieve their potential through a mix of evidence based practices, relationships and empowerment.
Head of Human Resources

Maurice Dowling

Maurice is a Senior HR professional with management and consultancy experience in Ireland and overseas.

Maurice is a Senior HR professional with management and consultancy experience in Ireland and overseas.
Continuing Care Manager

Paul Hatton

Paul Hatton has been working for Coolmine since 1983 he is currently working as the continuing care manager for the organization overseeing the client case management for the Drug free day program, Coolmine Lodge and Ashleigh House clients.

Paul Hatton has been working for Coolmine since 1983 he is currently working as the continuing care manager for the organization overseeing the client case management for the Drug free day program, Coolmine Lodge and Ashleigh House clients. He manages the family support group in Coolmine House which has been supporting family members who have been affected by addiction since 1980. Paul is a member of ACI as an Addiction Counsellor and Clinical Supervisor. Paul oversees the counselling service that's provided for residents in the residential services. Paul also manages the integration program in the residential services for clients whom have completed the residential phase of their program. Paul’s passion is the therapeutic community model Community as method over the years he has attended European and World Federation therapeutic community conferences. While studying in Trinity College Paul completed a three-month placement in WHOS a therapeutic community in Australia which was established in 1973 and alongside community as method the model has introduced AA/NA fellowship model into their program.

Coolmine is a drug and alcohol treatment centre providing community, day and residential services to men and women with problematic substance use and their families in Ireland. Established in 1973, CTC was founded upon the philosophies of the Therapeutic Community (TC) approach to addiction treatment. The TC is primarily a self-help approach in which residents are responsible for their own recovery with peers and staff acting as facilitators of change. Hence there is deep commitment to ‘community as method’ where the primary therapy and the main agent for change is the community itself. The most common features of TCs include that they are operated by residents, are based on a hierarchical structure according to seniority (length of time in the programme) and abstinence is the ultimate goal. Participants are expected to contribute to the general running of the community and to their own recovery by actively participating in educational activities, group and individual therapy.