Sharon Finegan is currently Secretary to the Irish Citizens Assembly. She has spent the majority of her career working in the Department of the Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) where she has held a number of roles including Head of Protocol, Head of Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the Northern Ireland and International Division. She also worked in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. Sharon holds a Masters Degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from National University of Ireland Galway.

Yves Mathieu is co-director of Missions Publiques (Paris, France), a social entrepreneur which aim is to foster better public policies through citizen’s participation at national, regional and global levels. Missions Publiques design and manage processes that active the expertise of ordinary citizens and stakeholders. References include UNFCCC secretariat, French Government, German Environment Agency, European Commission, European Space Agency, regional and local governments. Missions Publiques partners with 100+ organisations all over the world. Yves Mathieu was co-coordinator of World Wide Views on Climate and Energy, the largest global citizens deliberation organized (76 countries, 100 debates, 10.000 citizens, 1 day). Yves is active in the TEDx community, as well as in the Institute of the Desirable Futures.

Human Rights Lawyer and International  Jurist, Legal Expert and International consultant  on Prison law and Penitentiary systems, Mental Health, and Human Rights. Member ( Alternate) of the Council of Europe, Venice Commission. Professor of Law, National Universiy of Ireland, Galway. School of Law,  (Adjunct) Visiting Fellow in Comparative Human Rights La Trobe University Melbourne 1992. Chair of the International Association of Irish Lawyers, London 1996. Mental Health Act Commissioner at Broadmoor Special Hospital, UK 1994-1998. Member of the National Crime Council Ireland 2007-2009. Chair of the Mental Health Commission Review  Tribunals  (Ireland) 2006-2010

Dr Robin Wilson is an independent researcher, ranging over issues of governance including intercultural integration and deliberative democracy. On the former he has advised the Council of Europe for 15 years, currently contributing to the Intercultural Cities programme. Earlier this year he co-wrote a paper on the adequacy of democracy in Northern Ireland, during which time the power-sharing system collapsed. This has led to a project which he is advising to establish a citizens' assembly there. He is author of The Northern Ireland Process of Conflict and Agreement: A Model for Export? (Manchester University Press, 2010) and Managing Cultural Diversity in Europe: Moving Beyond the Crisis (Edward Elgar, forthcoming).