Deirdre graduated from Limerick Regional Technical College (now LIT) in 1986 with a Certificate in Applied Computing (City & Guilds).  She completed a Diploma in Business Studies (Institute of Commerical Management) and Certificate in Training and Development (Irish Institute for Training and Development) while pursuing a career in IT services.  Deirdre returned to education in 2004 as a mature learner and completed her BA (Psychology and Maths) and PhD (Psychology) at Mary Immaculate College.  In 2016 she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching at the Dublin Institute of Technology(now TU Dublin).

Deirdre has held a number of posts at Mary Immaculate College including Teaching and Learning Projects Manager & Educational Developer.  She have been involved in the #VLEIreland Project and a number of National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning funded projects aimed at building digital capacity including the ALL ABOARD, TAKE1STEP and REX projects which seek to empower learners and teachers who use technology to support their work.

Deirdre is currently the Director of Quality at Mary Immaculate College.  Her role involves the development and management of quality assurance policies and procedures in the College. Deirdre's primary responsibility is to direct and oversee institution-level as well as local-level quality assurance reviews.