Our Story
The Story of SAI-
Supervisors Association Of Ireland.
The Supervisors Association of Ireland was established in 2005 by a group of trained supervisors who responded to the need for an organisation that would provide the necessary recognition and standards for their unique training as Cross-Professional Supervisors.
These newly trained supervisors were graduates of Ireland’s first masters programme in supervisory practice developed by Dr. Geraldine Holton and Dr. Jack Finnegan initially delivered at Milltown Institute.
A representative group of supervisors met on June 14th 2005 in St. Stephens UCD out of which the task of establishing the organisation took its first step.
The founding group formed a board of directors and it is not surprising that Dr. Geraldine Holton was appointed its first chair. She has held the position for thirteen years (2005-2019) and during that time has been an innovative, creative and inspiring leader for the organisation.
The training to become cross-professional supervisors took place in a cross-professional learning group,
‘learning with, from and about each other’
and this was unique at the time. Many in the training group were not coming from base professions that had a history of supervision thus there was not a professional body to represent them.
At this time uni- professional supervision was the norm and the innovative training became a vehicle of crossing bridges between professions and establishing links with other professional organisations.
SAI was later to adopt the slogan for the organisation a ‘bridge across professions’.
Dr. Geraldine Holton
Founding chair and current President.
Inspirer and serving the organisation for twenty years.
The story enters a new chapter in 2019..
A new chapter begins for SAI in 2019 with the long- term chair Dr. Geraldine Holton stepping down from the position after thirteen years of service in the role. The process of transition at this stage of the association’s development has been a challenging evolving process.
This a common experience in organisations when a founder and key visionary for the development of the organisation steps down.
Dr. Holton has for at least three years attempted to step down but her changing role comes into effect from Spring 2019.
A new role has been established for Dr. Holton, as President, in recognition of her leadership of the association, her vision for the association since its inception and her continued dedication to the association and passion for Cross-Professional supervision.
Moving into 2025
As we move into our twentieth year, we have moved into another phase. Our membership continues to grow and the importance of our service is constantly confirmed by our members.
We are soon to offer our 40th Conference on Supervision
The Collaborative Circles are regular gatherings for full members that have proven to be a wonderful support for practice.
Our bi-annual journal is a wonderful resource.
Our voluntary committees are attend to membership, research and our events.
We are looking forward to the unfolding story.