Educate Together School Support – Meet the team!

Keith Mooney, Patronage Officer, Educate Together

The Educate Together national office provides a confidential School Support service for Educate Together principals and chairpersons, Monday to Friday.  

This service is coordinated by Jennifer Buttner, School Support and Development Officer and supported by Alison O’Neil, Volunteer Officer andKeith Mooney, Patronage Officer.

The service supports schools with queries on many different issues, including admissions, recruitment, staff relations, finances, accommodation and much more. In 2024, the service provided over 700 hours of support. We answered over 1,000 emails and returned nearly 600 phone calls. Sometimes, schools may require more intensive support, and a team member will engage with a school principal/chairperson as needed, until a resolution is achieved.   

The team also supports schools with principal and deputy principal recruitment processes and provides principal induction for newly appointed principals and acting principals. 

In their individual roles, Jennifer also represents Educate Together schools on many Department of Education stakeholder meetings, while Alison co-ordinates board of management appointments and board training. Keith, as patronage officer, approves independent assessors, teacher and ANA appointments, and manages the Educate Together redeployment panel and vetting. 

If you are a principal or chairperson of a board, please do contact us for support by emailing schoolsupport@educatetogether.ie.