As a Dental Protection member in Ireland, it's important we provide you with a dedicated local team committed to protecting you and your career every day.
Our Relationship Management team are here to help.
Ireland Business Lead
Rachel is the Business Lead for Dental Protection in Ireland. Based in County Louth, she has worked for Dental Protection since 2002.
Rachel works closely with members in Ireland, engaging with all our main stakeholders on a range of different issues, including government policies impacting dental professionals and tort reform.
Relationship Manager
Leanne joined Dental Protection in January 2016 as a Business Relationship Manager. She works closely with our stakeholders, including the IDA, IDHA, and RCSI, and attends a range of dental events and conferences in Ireland, along with our own annual Dental Protection conference at the Convention Centre Dublin.
As well as attending conferences, Leanne is the first point of contact for any membership queries, communicating the expertise and support we give our members and building key business relationships with students at Trinity College Dublin and Cork University Dental Hospital.
We have a dedicated team of in-house dentolegal experts - these specialists are qualified dentists who understand the challenges you face, with extensive experience of working in both the dental and legal landscapes.
Dentolegal Consultant
Nuala believes in the value and importance of supporting dental professionals at every stage of their career and through the many challenges that can arise, both in and out of practice. She combines her dental, legal, and local knowledge as part of the Dental Protection team in Ireland
Nuala qualified from Trinity College Dublin in 1988 with honours, and completed the Specialist Fellowship Diploma of the Faculty of Dentistry (FFD RCSI) in 1994. She has experienced many different types of clinics, dental systems, challenges, and approaches to patient care.
Dentolegal Consultant and Service Team Lead
Martin is Dental Protection’s Head of Dental Services for Ireland. As well as providing comprehensive dentolegal support to members in Ireland, he regularly presents on a range of dentolegal topics, with a particular interest in communication, consent, and risk management. After qualifying from Edinburgh Dental School, Martin’s career included general practice, hospital, and specialist referral service posts. Further studies led to a master’s degree, registration as a specialist in paediatric dentistry, qualifications in health service management, and legal scholarship exams in the Faculty of Advocates.
Thomas graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1999. He returned to Northern Ireland to set up his own practice in 2007 and has been a vocational trainer in the Northern Ireland scheme.
With a keen interest in forensic dentistry, he has diplomas in forensic human identification and legal medicine from the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. He is passionate about supporting members with compassion through complaints, inquests, clinical negligence claims, and disciplinary cases.
Elaine qualified as a dentist from Leeds University and was commissioned into the Royal Army Dental Corps on a short service commission, before taking a medium commission as a dental officer in the Royal Air Force. She has extensive experience of primary care within the military, both in peacetime and on operations, and has served in various operational theatres including the first Gulf War.
Elaine is now a senior dental officer in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with 4626 (Aeromedical Evacuation) Squadron based at RAF Brize Norton. She has also gained experience with the NHS, private, prison, and community dental services as a locum dental surgeon while studying for her legal qualifications, and so has a broad knowledge of many areas of dentistry.
Elaine joined Dental Protection in September 2014, initially working two days a week while still serving as a civilian dental practitioner for defence primary care. She joined Dental Protection full-time as a dentolegal consultant in August 2015.
Deputy Dental Director and Dentolegal Consultant
Noel joined Dental Protection as Education and Engagement Lead for Ireland in 2019, with a background in general dental practice. As Deputy Dental Director, Noel works closely with key stakeholders in the dental market to collaborate on initiatives on behalf of our members, such as dentolegal education and tort reform.
He holds a professional certificate in medicolegal aspects of healthcare, a graduate diploma in healthcare (risk management and quality), a diploma in legal medicine, and an advanced diploma in medical law.
It's important you can put faces to the names of the experts working in our Ireland team.
Here are the senior team members working on your behalf and a little more about them.
Deputy Dental Director
Yvonne started working for Dental Protection in 2008 as a Dentolegal Adviser, providing advice and assistance to members and handling dental claims.
During her time at Dental Protection, Yvonne has presented to members in Ireland and around the world on risk mitigation, sharing insights from cases to help the profession reduce their risk of being challenged.
During her time working for Dental Protection, Yvonne has presented to members in the UK and around the world on risk mitigation and shared insights from cases to help the profession reduce their risk of being challenged in their professional life.
She is also a board member for the MPS Foundation, which invests in research, education, and training to support the delivery of safer patient care and improve wellbeing in the dental profession.
George attends conferences on behalf of Dental Protection, and has significant experience in all aspects of clinical negligence claims work, dentolegal law, inquests, and regulatory cases.
George joined Dental Protection in 2016 as an Associate Dentolegal Adviser, sharing his time with working in general practice, where he was appointed Foundation Trainer with the South Yorkshire Deanery.
In 2020, George was appointed as Senior Dental Educator in risk prevention and subsequently, Deputy Dental Director.
In March 2021, George was appointed Chief Examiner to the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and sits as a magistrate in the adult criminal court.
Our expert team is based in-house, in both Ireland and Edinburgh, working solely for our members. The team includes lawyers and case and claims managers, providing full operational support to the division.
Head of Delivery Services Ireland
Based in Ireland, Valerie has been Head of Delivery Services since 2023, responsible for leading our Claims and Cases teams. She is passionate about member experience and operational excellence.
Valerie has over 20 years’ experience working in claims leadership, having previously worked for a large general insurer, where she was responsible for a variety of complex claims. She is also a certified insurance practitioner with the Insurance Institute of Ireland.
Claims Team Lead
Sara is a Solicitor and leads our Claims Team. She and her team support members facing a range of claims, from minor injuries through to the most complex and severe catastrophic injuries. Sara's role involves overseeing the management of claims handled by both our team and Dublin-based solicitors. In addition, she provides valuable insights into emerging trends, offers a comprehensive understanding of the claims landscape, and collaborates with key stakeholders across Ireland.
Sara has been involved in Medical Protection’s tort reform work for many years. She contributed to our submissions to recent Government reviews and attended a consultation session of the Government’s Interdepartmental Working Group on the rising cost of health-related claims last year. Sara regularly presents at conferences and training events, including our flagship member conferences in Dublin, as well as leading online webinars and podcasts.
Conrad joined Medical Protection in October 2020 as a Claims Manager and took up the role of Claims Team Lead in August 2023.
He studied law at Queen’s University, Belfast, and with a wealth of healthcare law experience under his belt has worked exclusively in healthcare defence for the past 15 years. Conrad worked as a solicitor in-house with the NHS in Belfast dealing with clinical negligence actions involving health trusts, and prior to joining Medical Protection was a director in the healthcare department of a large regional law firm, primarily receiving instructions from medical defence organisations.
Coming from a family of medics, Conrad is passionate about defending the careers and reputation of healthcare professionals.
Beth Allen, Claims Manager
Kathrina Bray, Claims Manager
Julia Bryden, Claims Manager
Ciara Burke, Claims Manager
Olivia Furlong, Claims Manager
Alicia Hayes, Claims Manager
Gillian Hunt, Claims Manager
Nicola Innes, Claims Manager
Grace Keegan, Claims Manager
Samile Kizere, Claims Manager
Caitriona O'Brien, Claims Manager
Ann Cassidy, Claims Manager
Chloe Barnett, Case Manager
Kiran Elnady, Case Manager
Karen Kelly, Case Manager
Sinead Lay, Case Manager