Development Officers

Basketball Ireland has eight Development Officers located around Ireland

Ciaran O'Sullivan

Head of Development, Cork 

Ciaran is the Head of Development for Basketball Ireland based in Cork as the Cork Development Officer. Ciaran works with the Cork Sports Partnership and works to develop, support and promote basketball participation in Cork.

You can contact Ciaran by email on cosullivan@ireland.basketball or by phone on 087 968 0320.

Niall McDermott

Development Officer, North West

Niall is the Development Officer for the North West and is based out of LYIT college in Letterkenny. His work serves the North West Area Board region and he works with the college, clubs and schools at all levels running programmes like Urban Hoops Basketball Blitzes, 3x3, Active Schools, Elites in Schools and Green Shoots. Niall also organises the U16 NWAB Regional Academy and assists with the BI U14 and U15 Academies. He also organises coaching and officiating courses in the region and is responsible for the set up and coaching of the LYIT Donegal National League team and the men's and women's college teams.  If you wish to contact Niall you can get him on email at nmcdermott@ireland.basketball 

Patrick O'Neill 

Development Officer, Belfast

Based out of Ulster University, Jordanstown in Belfast, Patrick is the Belfast Development Officer for Basketball Ireland. He is an experienced coach and helps schools and clubs experience and develop the sport of basketball throughout Ulster. Patrick rolls out a number of programmes in Belfast including: the Green Shoots programme which is designed to be a fun, enjoyable social activity for children and to improve the skill level of each player. Green Shoots is ideal for clubs or schools and any club interested can get a free session where Patrick will visit the club/school and run a coach education session specific to Green Shoots at which all club/school coaches are invited to attend. Patrick is also available to attend any school/club in the region to: run an age appropriate coaching session or coach workshop and also a demonstration explaining the specific 3X3 rules and set up the tournament format through FIBA 3X3 for clubs that want to run tournaments at no cost to the club. Patrick can also organize recognized education courses at appropriate levels for coaching, table officiating or refereeing for any group. You can contact Patrick on: poneill@ireland.basketball

Mike Murray

Development Officer,  Galway

Mike is the BI Development Officer for Galway and is also the Director of Basketball at NUI Galway. He is responsible for directing the basketball program at NUI Galway and co ordinates the rollout of Basketball Ireland’s Development program within the region. 

You can contact Mike on: mmurray@ireland.basketball

Jason Killeen 

Development Officer, Mid West

Jason is based in the Mid West covering mainly Limerick and Clare. He will endeavor to assist clubs to develop player development and coach development pathways in line with Basketball Ireland's national strategies, strengthening the foundations of schools and clubs and providing any assistance needed. Jason's role is in partnership with Limerick Institute of Technology and along with working with clubs in the Mid West to grow the game outside of the college, he will have an integral role in developing Basketball within the college from participation and competitive viewpoints. Jason is a former Ireland captain, leading the side to the 2021 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries title, when the tournament was hosted in Dublin.
You can contact Jason on: jkilleen@ireland.basketball

Erin Bracken 

Development Officer,South County Dublin

Erin Bracken joined Basketball Ireland in April 2021 as the new Community Development Officers for South County Dublin. Bracken is the head coach of the Abbey Seals Dublin Lions men’s National League team. She’s worked as an assistant coach with the Irish U18 and U20 women’s teams, in 2016 and 2019 respectively. She has also coached underage teams at Liffey Celtics and Dublin Lions, at collegiate level with TUD Tallaght women’s team and Ulster University men’s team, along with schools teams at Coláiste Chiaráin. She’s played for Liffey Celtics and Ulster University in the National League and represented Ireland at U16 level. She graduated from ITT with a Bachelor’s in Sports Science and then from Ulster University with a MSc in Sports Coaching and Performance.
You can contact Erin on: ebracken@ireland.basketball

Casey Tryon

Development Officer, County Meath

Casey, who hails from New Hampshire, grew up playing basketball and started coaching in 2011. She is currently coaching Killester’s U18 women’s team. Previously Tryon spent four seasons with Killester’s Division One women, winning the NICC Women’s National Cup in 2019, with victory over Fr. Mathews in the final at the National Basketball Arena.

She has also represented Basketball Ireland at the 2018 FIBA Women’s Summit in Slovenia and also spent three years in Belfast with PeacePlayers International, doing basketball development and conflict resolution.

You can contact Casey on: ctryon@ireland.basketball

Shane Maughan

Development Officer, Dublin North East Inner City 

Shane is the Development Officer for Dublin’s North East Inner City and Trinity College and began the role in November 2021. Maughan started working with Basketball Ireland in April 2021, as part of Sport Ireland’s Aspire Graduate programme and has been operating as a Development Officer in the Midlands region. 

Maughan has been involved in basketball since secondary school. He captained Ard Scoil Rathangan to U19 ‘A’ All-Ireland Cup success in 2015, the school progressed from the ‘C’ to the ‘A’ division during his time there. 

He began his club career in the Midlands, with Kestrels and Portlaoise Panthers, before moving to IT Carlow, where he played National League for four years. During his time with the club, he won the National League Cup title in 2018, a side he co-captained.

You can contact Shane on: smaughan@ireland.basketball