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Our People

Plan International Ireland is made up of an experience group of passionate and committed individuals who are determined to make a difference.

Paul O’Brien
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Paul O'Brien is CEO of Plan International Ireland. With a career spanning almost 40 years in development and humanitarian work he has lived and worked in a number of developing countries, including Kenya, Sudan, Liberia, Bangladesh and Tanzania. Paul travels extensively in his work with Plan International Ireland.
Juliane Schmucker
Head of Programmes
Juliane joined Plan Ireland in 2023 as Head of Programmes, through prior to that she worked for over eight years in humanitarian development assistance in Plan International Germany.
Cristian DeLuca
Education Advisor - Programmes
Cristian is a dedicated humanitarian professional with over 20 years of experience in education, mental health & psychosocial support, and child protection.
Deqa Saleh
Senior Desk Officer INTPA Nigeria
Deqa joined Plan Ireland in 2024. She has over 14 years of experience of working on humanitarian and development programmes, particularly fragile contexts.
Ben Davison
Programme Support Officer - EU Unit
Ben has a Master's in Development Practice and began his current role as Programme Support Officer in October 2023.
David Kerley
Individual Giving Officer
David joined Plan International Ireland in 2024 as the Indvidual Giving Officer. Before joining Plan Ireland, he worked as an Analyst for 2into3 for over two years providing grant and business support to the non-profit sector.
Linda Fuhrmann
Senior Compliance Officer
A dedicated humanitarian worker, Linda joined Plan International Ireland in September 2015 after working in West Africa in response to the Ebola crisis.
Jemma Lawlor
Finance Officer
Jemma joined Plan International Ireland in April 2017 as Finance & Operations Administrator and is currently Finance Officer.
Emily Lyon
Desk Officer
Emily joined Plan International Ireland in February 2021 and currently manages the humanitarian and protracted crisis programme grants from Irish Aid.
Deirdre Murray
Programme Team Lead Irish Aid
Deirdre joined Plan International Ireland in July 2017 and has many years’ experience working in the international development sector.
Lorenza Quadrini
Programme Team Lead EU
Lorenza joined Plan International Ireland in 2018 with 15 years’ experience in the Development and Humanitarian sectors.