Friends of the Earth Staff Team

Oisín Coghlan has been the chief executive of Friends of the Earth since 2005.

Oisín co-founded the Stop Climate Chaos coalition in 2007 and led the 8 year campaign for a climate change law which culminated in the passing of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act in December 2015.

Oisín was one of the co-founders of the Environmental Pillar in 2009, the advocacy coalition of national environmental NGOs in Ireland, and was recently re-elected to the Pillar's steering committee.

Before joining Friends of the Earth, Oisín worked for 10 years in the areas of overseas aid and human rights. He was the founding coordinator of the Latin America Solidary Centre in 1996, moved to Belize as a community organizer among immigrant banana workers and went on to become the Fresh Fruit Manager for Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International in Bonn. Oisín returned to Ireland in 2002 to become head of policy for Christian Aid, working on trade justice, aid policy and Israel/Palestine.

Oisín's primary degree was Sociology and Political Science in Trinity College Dublin and he has a Masters in International Relations from Dublin City University.

My mission at Friends of the Earth is to support best practice in governance and management. Aside from managing admin and finance with transparency and accuracy to remain compliant at all times, I look for, and create, ways to make the team's work easier so that they can focus on what they do best.

That's what I'm passionate about: helping others do what they do best, and their hardwork and success are what inspires me. What better place to witness the passion, the struggle, the hope, the persistence and the achievement than being at the core of the action?

My role at Friends of the Earth is to engage our supporters in the work that we do and to find ways to give back to those who keep us going.

I’m passionate about community, and that’s what I get when I come to work at work at Friends of the Earth. I want our wider network of supporters to know that they are important members of our community too. A strong community is essential for building and driving a strong and lasting movement for change.

Emma Jayne Geraghty is a trainer, facilitator and a youth and community development worker with strong climate justice & feminist analysis. She is passionate about creating the necessary conditions that center and support young people and communities that have been marginalised by systemic injustices and or are facing the frontlines of climate change impacts to play a central role in the just transition. She has led and implemented innovative projects for climate justice, youth education and empowerment, human rights and Traveller rights in Ireland, at an EU level and internationally.

I lead Friends of the Earth’s Communications circle. I’m responsible for our communication with the public, our supporters and the media. I work closely with our Policy Change, Movement Building and Supporter Care & Fundraising circles - making sure that our campaigning, advocacy, movement building, supporter care and fundraising activities have the communications support they need to achieve their goals.

Before joining Friends of the Earth Ireland I worked for one of our sister organisations - Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland - as a fuel divestment campaigner and community organiser. Also in the UK, I worked for the global health charity Medact, leading its Fossil Free Health and climate campaigns.

I first got involved in activism as a student, catching the campaigning bug thanks to the fossil fuel divestment movement. I was very active with People and Planet as a postgrad and spent some time as a People and Planet Regional Organiser where I enjoyed facilitating student workshops and actions in both Ireland and the UK. I was also involved in setting up the All Ireland Student Activist Network.

My primary degree is in biochemistry and I have a PhD in cancer research. Outside of work and activism I love hiking, cycling and spending time outdoors.

My role at Friends of the Earth is to keep the administrative wheels turning smoothly between the different management circles and campaigns. I keep the tech on spec, the policies polished, and the governance good. 
I am also the person you will meet when you reach out to our CEO, as I assist him with his workload in keeping the whole ship on course. My duties are varied and interesting, and I so much enjoy playing my part in fair and just climate action. 

I love putting our Friends of the Earth community and supporters at the heart of my work! Building and maintaining resilient communities is what makes me tick and I’m always looking for opportunities to share and make those connections. Friends of the Earth is a vibrant community of people and it is my job to make sure our supporters are engaged, sustained and appreciated.

‘Without community, there is no liberation’ - Audre Lorde

Rosi Leonard is the Network Development Coordinator with Friends of the Earth Ireland. She works as part of the Movement Building Team to support local grassroots groups in their struggle for fairer and faster climate action across Ireland - in particular supporting One Future groups. This includes supporting groups with training requests, co-operation between groups, and generally building up capacity. Her work is rooted in the aim to build power at local level and to deepen solidarity between different groups who are fighting climate change and its effects on lives and livelihoods. She has a background in youth arts and environmental design, and has worked in play and youth settings across Dublin, Glasgow and London. Outside of work she has been involved the struggle for tenants rights and public housing in Dublin, and outside of all these things she likes woodwork, history, and the radio.

My work at Friends of the Earth involves climate policy research and analysis in support of faster and fairer climate action, as well as coordinating the policy and advocacy work of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition. I have a background in renewable energy planning and climate science, and my PhD focused on the role and function of citizen and community engagement in wind energy development.  I believe that citizens and communities, especially those that are vulnerable, should be supported to take action so that they are at the heart of the energy transition. Over the past years, I’ve been involved in research projects that explored community renewables as a vehicle for rural development, the transition away from fossil gas in the Netherlands, and sustainable food consumption.

Clare O'Connor is Friends of the Earth's Energy Policy Officer. She works within the Policy Team to drive an energy transition that prioritises climate and social justice. She coordinates Friends of the Earth's research on energy efficiency, decarbonisation of heat, and energy poverty. Clare holds a BSc in Neuroscience from UCD and a MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media & Society from DCU, where her dissertation focused on the energy modelling-policy interface in Irish climate policy. Prior to joining Friends of the Earth, she held roles across the environmental and cultural sector. Clare was a member of the Citizens' Assembly from 2016-18 and is a former Welfare Officer of UCD Students' Union. Outside of climate policy she loves sea swimming, yoga & her daughter Ré.

My name is Laragh and I’m the Communications Officer - my role is to communicate the abundance of work that Friends of the Earth carry out day to day in a vibrant, engaging and inspiring way. As a multidisciplinary artist the goal is to weave my background in film, writing and photography to share the FOE story in the best way we can. In my voluntary work, I started volunteering in 2019 by starting my own environmental, grassroots community ‘Climate Love Ireland’ where I developed my abilities in social media strategy, campaigns and community building. It’s been a pleasure to evolve these experiences by working part-time with the incredible Friends of the Earth team.