➡ Where: Online
➡ Date: Monday 9th February 2026
➡ Time: 4.00pm – 5.00pm (UK time)
We invite you to the upcoming #LunchtimeSession entitled, ‘Being and Becoming a Primary School Principal in Ireland’.
This event will be based on guest speaker, Anna Mai Rooney’s Doctoral Thesis from June 2025. It will examine the motivation behind aspiring leaders becoming principals and how early principalship affects their emotional development.
Read the abstract for the thesis here.
It will also interrogate how emotions develop into established leadership, and how they impact on the benefits and challenges of principalship in the Irish context.
We hope you can join us for this discussion.
Please note, this event is free to BELMAS members and £5.00 for non-members. To ensure you receive your free ticket, please log in on the BELMAS website before booking.
If you pay the non-member fee to attend and then become a BELMAS Member within a month of the event taking place, please let us know and we will refund the £5 fee.
Registration will close at midnight (UK) on Saturday 7th February 2026.
Anna Mai Rooney
Joining instructions will be sent out the day before the event, so please keep an eye on your inbox for these. We look forward to seeing you at the event!
The latest #LunchtimeSession entitled ‘Being and Becoming a Primary School Principal in Ireland’, took place on Monday 9th February 2026, with host, Anna Mai Rooney.
The session focused on Anna Mai Rooney’s Doctoral Thesis from June 2025, which examined the motivation behind aspiring leaders becoming principals and how early principalship affects their emotional development.
Read the abstract for the thesis here.
We also discussed how emotions develop into established leadership, and how they impact on the benefits and challenges of principalship in the Irish context.
In case you missed this event or would like a recap, you can now watch it in full below.
A huge thank you to Anna Mai Rooney for hosting and offering lots of food for thought; to our event Chair, Deb Outhwaite; and to everyone who joined us for the session.
