Stories from Foster Care

In this episode Irish Foster Care Association chairperson Irene Browne talks to Maria O’Connell, school principal and keynote speaker at IFCA’s 2026 conference, The Healing Power of Play. In the course of this rich and informative conversation between two educators, we learn about the Nurture approach to schooling and how approaches that work for children in care in Nurture schools can also work for them and their carers at home. Maria and her school staff’s commitment to trauma-informed, relational education offers great hope for children struggling in education.

Resources

Nurturing Schools Ireland

https://www.nurturingschoolsireland.ie

Nurture International

https://www.nurtureinternational.co.uk

NEPS

https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/services/national-educational-psychological-service-neps

NEPS: Psychological First Aid

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/guidance-for-primary-school-staff-using-psychological-first-aid-db36eb98-883b-429d-8df.pdf

Ross Greene

https://drrossgreene.com

Books and other resources

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (for carers)

https://www.dubraybooks.ie/product/body-keeps-the-score-pb-9780141978611

The Scared Gang series (for children)

https://www.sensoryattachmentintervention.com/product-page/the-scared-gang-set-of-9-books

List of children’s books for wellbeing (PDF)

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Disability & Equality. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Careon Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Niamh Barrett talks to Clodagh Downes. Clodagh was in relative foster care as a child and since then she has been on a journey through education in social care, working in disability services and now working with Tusla in the area of Feedback and Complaints, a role that she feels well equipped to fill. Based on her own experience, she thoughtfully describes how children in care adapt to their home and care situations and how, in adulthood, feelings of low self-worth can persist. She shares her journey in overcoming internal and external obstacles to arrive to where she is today. 

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Disability & Equality. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Careon Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Andrew Murphy talks to Scott and Tristan Casson-Rennie about their adoption and fostering journeys as a same-sex couple. The conversation then focuses on their passion, as founders of FASD Ireland, to bring awareness about the effects of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) to all areas of Irish society. FASD results when prenatal alcohol exposure occurs, by either parent, and affects the developing foetus’ brain and body. Tristan shares information on the nature and prevalence of this brain condition which will be valuable for anyone caring for a child with FASD, or for carers or parents who suspect that their child may have the condition.

Resources

FASD Ireland – https://www.fasdireland.ie

FASD Ireland Conference, 14th & 15th May 2026

‘Justice and FASD’ https://www.fasdireland.ie/conference

FASD Hub. A free, confidential support service. Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm

Phone: 065 6703098

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Disability & Equality. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Careon Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Andrew Murphy is speaking with Maureen Gannon. Maureen has been fostering for over 13 years and three years ago began offering emergency placement care. Drawing from her experience of over 150 placements, Maureen talks about the role models that inspired her to become a foster carer, the losses and joys of emergency placement fostering, and the self-care practices that keep her balanced and well.

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Disability & Equality. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Careon Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Niamh is speaking with Elizabeth Ward and Bridget Power, Traveller women who are family access workers at Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service in Dublin.

In a wide-ranging and illuminating conversation about the experiences of Traveller children in care, they touch upon their own upbringing as Travellers, and the activists and community and family members who inspired them. The conversation turns to the underlying discrimination in Irish society against Travellers, which results in a plethora of negative effects on families and children. Elizabeth and Bridget highlight the critical importance of cultural awareness among the settled fostering community, so that traveller children are not denied an experience of their cultural identity. They describe how a great source of cultural awareness for children and families, both Traveller and settled, is the children’s book The Fairy Queen written by Elizabeth’s mother, writer Chrissie Donoghue Ward.

To close the conversation, Elizabeth reads one of her mother’s poems, written for her daughter at a time when she was facing challenges in school.

Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service can be contacted at: https://www.exchangehouse.ie/ Phone: 01 872 1094 or Email: [email protected]

The Fairy Queen by Chrissie Donoghue Ward is illustrated by Monika Mitkute and published by Skein Press and Little Island. It is available to buy directly from Skein Press or at bookshops nationwide. https://skeinpress.com/product/the-fairy-queen-by-chrissy-donoghue-ward/

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

Part 2 of 2 – Part one is available here and on Spotify here

In this two-part interview, Niamh is speaking with Katie Wrench. Katie is a social worker, art psychotherapist and author. She and her family have also been respite foster carers. Katie was IFCA’s keynote speaker at its 2022 conference, Wrapped in Relationships. Katie Wrench is a deeply experienced, empathetic and engaging communicator. She has so much to share that we decided to release her episode in two parts.

In part two we delve into Life Story Work, a practice that Katie has written two books about. She is now involved in training practitioners in the BUSS model (Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems). She shares her thoughts on what is really needed in the field of foster care in this moment.

Resources – books:

·  Life Story Work with Children Who are Fostered or Adopted: Creative Ideas and Activities (2013)
Co-authored with Lesley Naylor. A practical, creativity-infused guide for life story work with fostered or adopted children. Jessica Kingsley Publishers – UKGoodreadsHachette UK

·  Helping Vulnerable Children and Adolescents to Stay Safe: Creative Ideas and Activities for Building Protective Behaviours (2016)
A compendium of creative techniques to support vulnerable young people in developing protective behaviours. Jessica Kingsley Publishers – UKamazon.comHachette UK

·  Creative Ideas for Assessing Vulnerable Children and Families (2018)
A hands-on, inventive toolkit designed to assist practitioners in engaging with vulnerable children and families effectively. Jessica Kingsley Publishers – UKHachette UKThriftBooks

·  Skills and Knowledge for Life Story Work with Children and Adolescents (2024)
An updated, comprehensive manual that builds on a long-standing 6-step life-story work model, enriched with contemporary theory and case examples. 

Websites: https://www.blossomsocialcaretraining.co.uk/about-the-trainers/

https://bussmodel.org/

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this two-part interview, Niamh is speaking with Katie Wrench. Katie is a social worker, art psychotherapist and author. She and her family have also been respite foster carers. Katie was IFCA’s keynote speaker at its 2022 conference, Wrapped in Relationships.

Katie Wrench is a deeply experienced, empathetic and engaging communicator. She has so much to share that we decided to release her episode in two parts.

In part one, she talks about her pathway into social work and, with some brilliant stories and examples, she shares some of the valuable learning she received along the way.

In part two we delve into Life Story Work, a practice that Katie has written two books about. She is now involved in training practitioners in the BUSS model (Building Underdeveloped Sensorimotor Systems). She shares her thoughts on what is really needed in the field of foster care in this moment.

Resources – books:

·  Life Story Work with Children Who are Fostered or Adopted: Creative Ideas and Activities (2013)
Co-authored with Lesley Naylor. A practical, creativity-infused guide for life story work with fostered or adopted children. Jessica Kingsley Publishers – UKGoodreadsHachette UK

·  Helping Vulnerable Children and Adolescents to Stay Safe: Creative Ideas and Activities for Building Protective Behaviours (2016)
A compendium of creative techniques to support vulnerable young people in developing protective behaviours. Jessica Kingsley Publishers – UKamazon.comHachette UK

·  Creative Ideas for Assessing Vulnerable Children and Families (2018)
A hands-on, inventive toolkit designed to assist practitioners in engaging with vulnerable children and families effectively. Jessica Kingsley Publishers – UKHachette UKThriftBooks

·  Skills and Knowledge for Life Story Work with Children and Adolescents (2024)
An updated, comprehensive manual that builds on a long-standing 6-step life-story work model, enriched with contemporary theory and case examples. 

Websites: https://www.blossomsocialcaretraining.co.uk/about-the-trainers/

https://bussmodel.org/

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Andrew is speaking with Kai Brosnan. Kai spent time in residential care and he shares his lived experience in a way that dispels a few myths and encourages a better understanding of it. Kai speaks movingly about the people, organisations such as EPIC, and even the beloved pet who have been beacons of support for him on his care journey. He has just completed his studies in Social Care and will clearly be a strong and inspiring advocate for the care-experienced community in the years to come.

EPIC – https://www.epiconline.ie/

Stories from Foster Care is a podcast series from The Irish Foster Care Association, subscribe now on Spotify at the following link https://open.spotify.com/show/2V0EH1oh4wG4WrSn6Kr6Xv?si=aa2fa635e6f94477

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this episode of Stories from Foster Care, Niamh is talking to Andrea Reilly. Andrea is a passionate advocate for other young people, particularly those with lived experience in care.

Andrea is committed to shining a light on the misunderstood, under-acknowledged and under-diagnosed condition of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) by speaking from her own lived experience of it. As a key member of EPIC (Empowering People in Care) she focuses specifically on FASD and care experience, and on Aftercare.

In an inspiring conversation Andrea reflects in-depth on her experience of living with FASD, stepping into the role of advocate, how Aftercare provision needs to change, and the role her foster mother in particular has played in her development.

She mentioned the following organisations:

FASD Ireland (national conference takes place on May 22, 2025) https://www.fasdireland.ie/

EPIC – https://www.epiconline.ie/

Stories from Foster Care is a podcast series from The Irish Foster Care Association, subscribe now on Spotify at the following link https://open.spotify.com/show/2V0EH1oh4wG4WrSn6Kr6Xv?si=aa2fa635e6f94477

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/

In this latest episode of Stories from Foster Care, Niamh talks to father and foster daughter Niall Sheehan and Lauren O’Toole. An honest and wide-ranging conversation about the ups and downs of foster care, and a glimpse into a deep fostering relationship. Stories from Foster Care is a podcast series from The Irish Foster Care Association, subscribe now on Spotify at the following link https://open.spotify.com/show/2V0EH1oh4wG4WrSn6Kr6Xv?si=aa2fa635e6f94477

About the podcast – Stories from Foster Care is brought to you by the Irish Foster Care Association in association with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Join host Niamh Barrett as she meets people from all walks of life who have different experiences of foster care in Ireland. Listen to Stories from Foster Care on Spotify, Apple, Nearcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest episodes.

The music on this podcast is a track called Pastures by Ketsa, the music appears here under a Creative Commons Licence. Stories from Foster Care is made with the Near FM podcast network. For more information and how to get involved visit https://nearcast.ie/get-involved/