Speciality: Psychiatry

Dr Cooney is a liaison psychiatrist and current clinical director of the hospital’s HOPe (Haematology, Oncology, Palliative Care) Directorate.

Dr Cooney graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1986. He trained in the Federated Hospitals Medical Scheme and obtained the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (MRCPI) in 1989. He then trained in the Dublin University Psychiatry Scheme and became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1993.

Dr Cooney undertook his higher training in London between St Bartholomew’s and The Maudsley Hospital and was awarded a Doctor of Medicine by the National University of Ireland (NUI) in 1997 for studies on the effect of stress on neuroendocrine mechanisms mediating mental illness.

He was a consultant in the South London and Maudsley Trust before returning to Ireland to take up a post specialising in mood disorders. He is former chair of the Medical Board in St James’s Hospital and former chair of the Liaison Faculty of the Irish College of Psychiatrists.