Trinity College Appoints Community Liaison Officer

Posted on: 05 March 2002

Trinity College has appointed its first Community Liaison Officer, Dr. Shane Butler, to act as a link between the College, the local community and the city. He will identify and address issues of mutual concern with the College’s neighbours and the wider city communities.

“This newly created post illustrates the importance Trinity, as a city centre university, places on our relationship with the local community. It builds on the success of our existing Trinity Access Programme (TAP), which aims to increase the participation rate of disadvantaged students, and other outreach initiatives”, commented the Provost, Dr. John Hegarty.

The Community Liaison Officer has become a member of the local statutory community development process RAPID (Revitalising Areas through Planning, Investment and Development) as a College representative. He will co-ordinate a group of interested parties within Trinity to contribute to the work and life of the local area.

Dr. Butler is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Studies, where his main teaching and research interests are in the areas of drug and alcohol problems. He co-chairs Trinity’s Addiction Research Centre, and is a member of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs. He has wide experience of the community-based social services sector and worked as a social worker and social researcher with the Eastern Health Board for more than ten years before coming to Trinity.