Catherine Heaney
Catherine Heaney is a founding Director at DHR Communications and leads our Public Relations and Public Affairs work. With over 15 years of experience in the field, she is well placed to advise and support organisations embarking on communications and lobbying campaigns.
Prior to establishing DHR Communications, Catherine served as Chief Executive of the Irish Family Planning Association, where she was responsible for service development, fundraising and executive management. She implemented a range of awareness campaigns and public affairs strategies on sexual and reproductive health. As part of this work, she established a highly effective, informal all-party group to progress issues at a political level. She acted as the Association’s primary media spokesperson, and addressed conferences and political advocacy meetings at EU and UN levels.
Catherine has also served as Press Officer with the Labour Party, where she developed a keen insight into public policy formation and lobbying. She supported the work of frontbench spokespersons across a range of key portfolios. She managed the Party’s issue-based campaigns on housing, women’s participation in politics and pre-budget consultations. She was also responsible for providing candidate support in a number of by-elections, as well as in local and European elections.
Previous press office positions held by Catherine include tenures with the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed and the Irish Farmers’ Association.
She is a graduate of the DIT School of Journalism and has studied criminology and industrial relations at post-graduate levels.
Contact: catherine@dhr.ie.