Dr. Sinéad McNally

Dr Sinéad McNally is an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education and Psychology at the Dublin City University (DCU) Institute of Education. She specialises in inclusive learning contexts from early childhood to higher education, with a particular emphasis on the developmental importance of play and literacy. Sinéad is a twice-honoured recipient of the President’s Award for Research Impact (in 2022 and 2026) for her contributions to inclusive educational scholarship across the lifespan and influence on national policy and practice.

Sinéad is the Principal Investigator of an international study on assessment accommodations for autistic students in higher education—a collaboration with researchers at Université Paris Cité, funded by a Research Ireland Ulysses award. Previously, she led the Autism-Friendly Schools study (funded by a Research Ireland COALESCE award), an interdisciplinary project exploring autistic children’s lived experiences of education that produced implementable recommendations for inclusive practice.

Sinéad is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Active Learning in Higher Education. She also serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Early Years Education and previously served as editor of Autism and Developmental Language Impairments.

Sinéad is Co-Chair of the faculty Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team and a member of the university's Open Research Steering Group, and she serves as an external examiner for the Technological University Dublin.

Sinéad leads the Early Language and Learning Lab group which explores how early formal and informal educational environments predict long-term academic and social development.

She welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in the following areas: children's play, shared reading and early literacy, inclusive education, and autism.