About us

We are a charitable organisation providing information and support to people who stammer in Ireland. Stuttering, as it is also known, affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds. Parents, partners, friends and family can also be affected by stammering.

Please take some time to explore our website. Feel free to contact us if you would like further information on our activities.

Our Vision

Irish Stammering Association is the focus and voice of the stammering community, and is both inclusive and supportive. The ISA promotes the understanding of stammering and values stammering in society.

Our Mission

Irish Stammering Association is the nationally recognised organisation committed to building, developing and supporting the stammering community, raising awareness of stammering and being the trusted source of accurate, trusted and reliable information in Ireland.

Our Values

Inclusive

Irish Stammering Association welcomes everybody and fosters a spirit of mutual respect and understanding of stammering.

Person-centred

Irish Stammering Association places the needs and potential of the person at the centre of our services, in a caring and supportive manner.

Integrity

Irish Stammering Association operates to the highest standards and best practice. ISA is accountable and trust-worthy to its stakeholders and the stammering community.

Board members

David Heney

Chair

David has been on the Board of the ISA since its incorporation and was previously a member of the committee. He has been involved in the ISA Dublin Support Group for over ten years and has co-facilitated it for much of this time.

David is a strong proponent of the development of a stammering community, and believes that this can both help the person who stammers as well as building a greater acceptance of stammering in the general population. David has had a stammer since he was a child and works as a civil servant in Dublin.

Nora Trench Bowles

Vice Chair

Nora joined the Board of the Irish Stammering Association in 2017 and is now Vice Chair. She has been a person who stammers for as long as she can remember. With time, exploration and reflection, she has come a long way in becoming more comfortable, compassionate and open (and sometimes even proud!) with this as an integral part of who she is.

With the ISA, Nora is particularly interested in connecting with the stammering community, and in raising awareness to help people who stammer and those around them better understand, respect and value stammering. In relation to stammering, and in other areas of her life, she is committed to social change.

Nora works in public policy, currently focusing on lifelong learning in the university sector, based back in Dublin. Previously, she studied and worked in EU affairs in Brussels, Strasbourg and Sweden.

Callum Wells

Board Member

Callum lives in Dublin and works as a speech and language therapist in child and adolescent mental health services. Callum has stammered since childhood, although its impact on him has significantly reduced over the years, due in no small part to his involvement in the stammering community.

As a board member of the Irish Stammering Association, he has an interest in developing support networks and providing education and information on stammering.

Niall Walsh

Board Member

Niall is a chartered public service auditor. He has held various key financial roles in the private sector and in the public sector, where he worked for the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) for Ireland. He has worked on a number of public service audits, reports on public services, and value-for-money examinations to provide independent assurance that public funds and resources are used in accordance with the law, managed to good effect and properly accounted for and contribute to improvement in public administration. In addition, he holds an M.Sc. degree, Honours B.A. degree and a diploma in Psychology.

He has stammered since childhood and continues to do so into his adulthood. Over the years, he has developed various coping mechanisms that work for him to deal with his fluency, but more importantly, his confidence with stammering. He believes that having a stammer should not hold anyone back from reaching their desired potential; a stammer should never be the obstacle holding anyone back.

Sarah McCormack

Board Member

Sarah has been a Director on the Board of ISA since 2011. She is also a facilitator on the Women’s Phone Support Group, which provides a forum to gain support and share experiences of living as a person who stammers.

A project manager in IT prior to taking a career break, Sarah is nearing completion of training as a psychotherapist. In 2012, she conducted a research MA on the role of emotional support in stammering.

Stephen Greene

Board Member

Stephen works in social care in the disability sector, he has being involved with the ISA since 2005 attending the Dublin support group and then as group facilitator. Stephen also held the role as chairperson.

"I volunteer with the ISA because it was with the ISA support groups that I found a sense of community and started to talk about something that was quite taboo for me, my stuttering. Now I can give back support to others that I so gratefully received in the past".

Hope all is well with you. It must be some buzz seeing the stuttering pride flags being proudly flown around the world.

Annual reports

Promise of transparency

As an organisation, ISA aims to be as transparent as possible with its members and the public. Please take a look at our Annual Reports if you are interested to know how we are getting on.

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