Our Team

Graham Clifford

CEO

Graham is the founder and CEO of the Sanctuary Runners. He previously worked as a feature writer and broadcaster in Ireland, the UK and Australia. A passionate advocate for community integration he is also the founder of the 'One Town One Voice' Community Singing initiative and in 2020 established the award-winning 'Translate Ireland' multilingual video messaging service with his wife Catherine.

Ailís McSweeney

Ireland Lead

Ailis coordinates the Sanctuary Runners groups' across Ireland. She works with our RDOs to support and develop our community integration approach and manages our National Event calendar. 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.

Ellen O'Connor

Head of Operations

Prior to joining the Sanctuary Runners Ellen worked with Rethink Ireland, developing and facilitating capacity building programmes for non-profit organisations. She has worked for over 15 years in the international education sector where she managed strategic partnership development and international programmes. Ellen is passionate about social innovation, and is a runner with Sanctuary Runners Limerick.

Annemarie Sheehan

Community Development Lead

Annemarie supports communities across the country in the creation and setup of new Sanctuary Runners groups. She has been working and volunteering in the charity sector for over 16 years supporting organisations with operations, digital marketing and IT and has been a Sanctuary Runner since 2018.

Geraldine Clements

Administrator

Geraldine is an experienced administrator and provides part-time support to the Sanctuary Runners team. She is a runner with Fairview Sanctuary Runners and also coaches our Dublin Couch to 5k group.

Noel Adabblah

Liaison Officer

Noel's work as Liaison Officer supports our groups and RDOs in reaching out to those in direct provision. As a dedicated Sanctuary Runner and talented athlete, Noel articulates the physical and mental health and social benefits of being part of a group to those who are seeking international protection and works to ensure the entire community is represented at Sanctuary Runners.

Naima Forde

Regional Development Officer

As Regional Development Officer for Dublin and Meath, Naima helps support running groups in that region as well as identifying areas of demand for new Sanctuary Runner groups. Naima has a wealth of connections and experience in migrant support and has been a member of Sanctuary Runners since 2018.