Deirdre Mahon

Deirdre Mahon is the Director of Women & Children’s Services and the Executive Director of Social Work in the Western Trust in Northern Ireland. Deirdre is an experienced strategic, senior leader in child care social work in Northern Ireland and the UK. Deirdre has over 30 years’ experience in the delivery, management and training of child protection social work. She has extensive experience in both direct work with children and families, the assessment of risk and practice, and in managing and developing staff. Deirdre has a particular interest in evidence-based practice and is passionate about ensuring service users receive a high-quality service. Deirdre is a member of the Safeguarding Board of Northern Ireland and has worked nationally and internationally promoting Best Practice in Social Work. She has undertaken many serious case reviews and currently chairs the Case Management Review Panel within the western area of Northern Ireland. Deirdre has been working with Signs of Safety as a model of best practice since 2009 and has led on the system implementation of Signs of Safety with statutory Child Care Services in Northern Ireland, along with introducing Signs of Safety into adult safeguarding.