ClassCover names Eva Gallagher to lead Ireland push

ClassCover has appointed Eva Gallagher as Head of Education Partnerships in Ireland as the Australian education staffing platform expands in the market.

Gallagher will lead the company's business development strategy in Ireland, building relationships with schools, educational bodies and industry partners. She will also manage ClassCover's Irish sales team and work on partnerships to increase use of its substitute teacher and special needs assistant booking platform.

The appointment adds a senior education figure to ClassCover's Irish operation shortly after its market entry. Founded in Australia by Ben Grozier, the business matches schools with substitute teachers and SNAs. Its platform is used by half of schools in its home market, according to the company.

Ireland's school system has faced ongoing pressure in securing substitute teachers, particularly when absences arise at short notice. ClassCover is positioning its service as an alternative to the manual process of schools contacting potential substitutes individually.

Gallagher brings experience from both Ireland and Australia. She began her career as a teacher and later served as principal of Yeats College Waterford before moving to Sydney, where she worked as a substitute teacher.

That background gives her experience of both the school leadership side of staffing shortages and the day-to-day realities for teachers seeking temporary work. ClassCover said this perspective would inform its efforts to expand in Ireland.

Market push

ClassCover launched in Ireland in August and is now building out its local leadership team as it seeks to attract schools to the platform. In Australia, it handles 500,000 bookings each year, according to the company.

Its model helps schools create and manage a network of approved substitute teachers and SNAs, with the aim of reducing the time needed to fill urgent absences. The company is targeting both primary and secondary schools.

Gallagher holds a Bachelor of Science in Education, specialising in biology and chemistry, from the University of Limerick. She also has a diploma in social media and marketing from University College Dublin.

Her appointment comes as schools continue to grapple with operational disruption caused by staff shortages. For school leaders, those gaps can mean combining classes or making repeated calls and messages to find cover at short notice.

In remarks accompanying the announcement, Gallagher pointed to the strain substitute shortages place on schools across Ireland.

"If a teacher calls in sick at 7:00am on a Monday morning, principals have no choice but to scramble around making numerous calls and texts to available subs. When that doesn't work, they're forced to amalgamate classes, grouping together as many as 60 children into one room. As a former principal and substitute teacher, I know these measures are taken in desperation, but they directly impact our children's education.

"I am thrilled to be joining ClassCover in delivering this solution and helping the company grow its presence across the Irish education sector. In Australia, the platform is already used by half of the country's schools and has taken great strides in alleviating the substitute teacher crisis. I'm looking forward to replicating that same success here and strengthening our position in the Irish market," said Eva Gallagher, Head of Education Partnerships, ClassCover Ireland.