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.
