Caitriona Mullan

An independent specialist and facilitator of governance and corporate leadership for collaborative and transboundary working, Caitriona’s work ranges across the EU and beyond its external borders. Her current portfolio includes the role of ICLRD facilitator for the North West Strategic Growth Partnership, a unique interjurisdictional partnership for cross-border territorial co-operation in the North West of Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Caitriona also holds expert roles with the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance (including capacity building for cross-border co-operation in the Western Balkans) and with the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR). Her recent work with AEBR includes ongoing work  with regional and national authorities across EU Member States, in brokering implementation of case study recommendations from the DG REGIO B-Solutions initiative, which focuses on solving legal and administrative barriers to cross-border co-operation across the EU; the 2022 DG SANTE Study on Cross-Border Patient Mobility published as part of the evaluation of the EU Directive on the Rights of Patients in Cross-Border Healthcare; and ongoing liaison with AEBR’s Ukrainian stakeholders.

Caitriona’s current policy, research and advisory work is also informed by more than two decades’ hands-on public sector collaborative working and change management experience in Ireland and Northern Ireland and on a cross-border basis, gained variously in executive and non-executive roles the local government, health and social care, and higher education sectors. Her early career as a graduate of University of Dublin, Trinity College, included a policy advisor role with the Government of Ireland during the mid-1990s, followed by social and economic development consultancy in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and planning and delivering EU cross-border programmes in the Central Border Region.

Caitriona’s postgraduate research focused on the diplomatic role of the Irish Government in the early stages of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Publications in 2022 include the AEBR/DG SANTE Study on Cross Border Patient Mobility in Selected EU Regions, NESC Research Paper no. 25 ‘Exploring Shared Opportunities in the North West’, contributions to the Journal of European Planning Studies and a range of policy position papers in the public domain. Caitriona is a native of Derry/Londonderry, and a mother.