HUMAN RIGHTS PANEL

Facilitator: Dr. Ebun Joseph

Venue: Red Room

2:00pm - 3:00pm

Dr. Ebun Joseph (She/Her)

Dr Ebun Joseph is a leading Inclusion and race relations consultant, and the founder and CEO of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies (IABS). She serves as Ireland’s Special Rapporteur on Racial Equality and Racism and is the module coordinator and lecturer for Black Studies at University College Dublin (UCD)—a pioneering course she established in 2018 as Ireland’s first.

Dr Joseph is also the founder of the African Scholars Association Ireland (AfSAI), which she chaired from 2018 to 2022. Her previous roles include Career Development Consultant at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Teaching Fellow at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and Training and Employment Officer with the EPIC programme.

An accomplished author, TV panellist, and equality activist, Dr Joseph’s research focuses on race, labour markets, and structural inequality. Her publications include Critical Race Theory and Inequality in the Labour Market (Manchester University Press, 2020), Equity in the Workplace: Stories of Black Irish Women in Ireland (2024; 2025), and Challenging Perceptions of Africa in Schools (Routledge, 2020). She is also the producer of the Equity in the Workplace documentary and host of the DEeP Table Dialogues.

Adrienne Murphy

I'm an AuDHD writer, editor, and Spell to Communicate (S2C) Practitioner (www.S2CwithAdrienne). S2C is a revolutionary, new-to-Ireland, research-backed communication method, certified through the International Association for Spelling as Communication (www.i-asc.org). I teach nonspeaking, minimally-speaking, and unreliably-speaking dyspraxic neurodivergent adults and children the motor skill of accurately pointing at letter boards and keyboards. 

My young adult son, Caoimh Connolly Murphy, is one Ireland’s first autistic nonspeakers to be liberated into full expression of his thoughts through spelling to communicate. I taught Caoimh the motor skill of accurate intentional letter-pointing through daily practice over an 18-month period when he was 11-12 years old. 

Andrew Murnaghan

Andrew is a former barrister with nine years’ experience advocating for clients in the courts.

In 2018 Andrew was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors. KM Solicitors LLP was founded by Andrew Murnaghan and Patrick Kevans (former barrister) in 2022.

Andrew has specialist knowledge of administrative law with a particular interest in Child Law, Disability law and Social Welfare Law. KM Solicitors have been successful in multiple test cases in respect of vindicating their clients’ rights under the Disability Act 2005.

Andrew has assisted  numerous families in securing appropriate school placements for children with additional needs. Andrew has brought numerous cases in the High Court to review decisions refusing parents Domiciliary Care Allowance.

Laragh Smith

My name is Laragh Smith. I am part of the neurodiverse community, having been diagnosed with Autism when I was 9. I’m really proud to be bringing my life experience to Neuroconvergence. I feel very strongly about Human Rights and about support in schooland bullying, especially due to my personal experience.

I have been a part of the AsIAm organisation since it began in 2014. I was a part of AsIAm’s first Youth Leadership Team. I spoke at AsIAm’s first conference in Dublin Castle in 2016. I am now an AsIAm Ambassador! I have been involved in lots of other AsIAm events.

I am also one of the judges on the judging panel for the Autism Friendly Town Awards for the third year in a row. I was thrilled to be selected as one of the interviewers, all of whom were neurodivergent, in a TV programme called The Assembly! It was on Virgin Media One, and we recorded 4episodes, interviewing different celebrities. It was an incredible experience, and it’s something that I will never forget!

Emer O’Neill

Emer O’Neill is a Global Citizenship Education Coordinator with GOAL and a teacher with 15 years’ experience in education. A former Irish international basketball player, she now works with schools and communities delivering workshops on inclusion, belonging and equality. Emer is autistic and ADHD and brings her lived experience into her work, supporting more awareness, understanding and inclusive environments. She is a broadcaster and the author of the children’s book The Same But Different, which explores belonging and the power of uniqueness.