Ailís McSweeney appointed as new ‘Ireland Lead’ for the Sanctuary Runners

The Sanctuary Runners are delighted to announce that Ailís McSweeney is the organisation’s new ‘Ireland Lead’ taking up her role from Monday, July 18th.

Overseeing the growth and development of the Sanctuary Runners across the island of Ireland Ailís will work directly with groups and organise events and partnerships which bring even more people to the exciting movement – which earlier this summer was named as the best initiative to use sport to impact societal inclusion at the Irish Sports Industry Awards.

Ailís joins the Sanctuary Runners from PepTalk, where she was the first employee in that disruptive technology start-up in the employee engagement space.

In her six-years at PepTalk, she worked across the business helping shape the product, manage Customer Success and grow the team of employees. Ailís brings a standard of professional excellence to any role from her time as a solicitor in one of Ireland’s top law firms.

As a former Irish international athlete and 100m record holder, Ailís is also keenly aware of the power of sport to bring people together and to have a transformative impact on wellbeing.

“I’m incredibly excited, and energised, to join the Sanctuary Runners as the new Ireland lead. I’ve been hugely impressed by the Sanctuary Runners, their message of solidarity and the positive impact the group has through promoting sport and friendship.  The past number of years has seen the organisation grow from an idea into a nationwide network that has captured the imagination of all communities living in Ireland. I’m looking forward to the challenge of building on that success and developing the organisation further across the island of Ireland,” said Ailís.

And Graham Clifford, CEO and Founder of the Sanctuary Runners, believes this appointment will help to further strengthen the organisation’s structures in Ireland and ensure even more people get to join a local Sanctuary Runner group.

He said: “It’s just superb for us to have Ailís on board. Over the coming years it will be so important to build Sanctuary Runner groups in more communities across Ireland as we continue to use running, jogging and walking to bring together all in the community – including those who have come to Ireland seeking sanctuary, safety and support. Ailís is the perfect fit for us and her love of, and experience, in sport means she really understands its power to unify and why it can be such a vital tool for community integration.”

This latest appointment comes just weeks after the Sanctuary Runners appointed Ellen O’Connor to the position of Head of Operations.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*