Educate Together, Ireland’s equality-based school patron, is pleased to announce the appointment of two new staff members in its national office. These new staff members will contribute to Educate Together’s work to support quality and build capacity across the growing school network, to lead on important system reforms, and to increase access to equality-based education so that this model is available to more children and young people.
Edward Platt – School Development Officer
Edward’s interest in equality-based education began during his teacher training at Marino Institute, where he wrote a dissertation on how effectively colleges of education were preparing newly qualified teachers to work in Educate Together schools. After graduating, he taught at Griffeen Valley ETNS for almost 8 years.
In 2022, he earned an M.Sc. in Education and Training Management from DCU, focusing on eLearning and educational technology. He then became a Digital Education Officer at Kinia, an Irish educational non-profit, traveling nationwide to deliver CPD in STEM education.
As Schools Development Officer, Edward will work to improve access to equality-based school places nationwide, at both primary and secondary level. He will work with stakeholders in education and communities around Ireland to establish new Educate Together schools and support the transfer of existing schools to Educate Together patronage.
Head of Education and Network Development – Lydia McCarthy 
Originally a primary school teacher, Lydia has spent the last 14 years working in various NGOs, including Trócaire, Financial Justice Ireland and Suas. She has also lectured in Global Citizenship and Human Rights Education in DCU. Most recently, she led the scaling up of Unicef Ireland’s Child Rights Education programme and managed multiple EU funded education projects. Lydia has a Masters in Anthropology and Development and has a particular interest in outdoor education.
As a member of the senior management team in the national office, Lydia will lead the support and development of Ethical Education and Educate Together ethos at primary, post-primary and third-level and play a central role in supporting and promoting innovation in the sector, as well as supporting the continued growth of the school network.
