Every so often a radio phone-in show opens a Pandora's Box and out pours a hitherto hidden trove of stories that shock the listener. We thought we had heard it all when it came to reproductive healthcare in Ireland after the many shocking stories that led to repeal of the eighth amendment. But all week, call [...]
Vicky Phelan is my hero. This brave woman is battling on all fronts. Fighting a terminal cancer diagnosis, the Limerick-based mum has had a lot to contend with in life already, but after learning that a smear test from years before her cancer diagnosis had been wrongly given the all-clear, she started asking questions. She learned [...]
Earlier in January I got a message on Twitter from somebody I'd met once or twice in a work capacity. He wanted to speak on the show about his experience of mental health. We get a lot of people wanting to talk about their mental health. Many of them are wellness bloggers and celebrities and mental [...]
Photo: Virginia Thomas It’s National Breastfeeding Week, one of those annual public health campaigns that bypasses you completely unless it impacts you directly. I was all about breastfeeding, when I was pregnant. I did the prep course in my local hospital (in which the nurse told us dads might be able to light the [...]
Parenting is a sensitive business, and nobody ever believes they’ll do it right 100% of the time. Most of us, though, do our best. We do our best with the available information, and if not enough information is made available, we look for more. Unfortunately, the place we look for it these days - the internet [...]
https://www.facebook.com/Corks96fm/photos/a.195266260505634.46296.194278177271109/1596060030426243/?type=3&theater The sight of one of Cork's most iconic buildings ablaze on Tuesday evening had half the city out watching in silence on the Lee Fields. Seeing historic buildings on fire in the city is unfortunately nothing new. Last year we had hours of outraged calls when Vernon Mount was set on fire (most likely [...]
In all the recent election debates, there was just one mention of mental health. Only one party (Fianna Fáil) gave much more than a paragraph to the subject in its manifesto. Nobody won or lost a seat based on it, although it’s been acknowledged now for quite some time that both the health service and the [...]
I took a call this morning from a woman on the brink. Her sister is 29. She has a history of anorexia, borderline personality disorder, and, crucially... addiction issues. Her sister called us because they have exhausted every single option available to them, and because, after the Caoilte O Broin case, they know the likely outcome [...]
Conor Cusack's astonishing blogpost and discussion on RTE Primetime on Tuesday night has blasted open the issue of depression. Like well-known people such as Mary McEvoy and George Hook, the Cloyne man has spoken out in the wake of a terrible event to encourage others suffering from depression to seek help. Like the founders of wonderful [...]
This piece is from last week's Cork Independent and also appeared in the Herald - my thoughts on Fr Kevin Doran's 'ethos' comments in relation to the Mater and whether it will obey the provisions of the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act. http://corkindependent.com/20130808/news/no-mater-what-S70357.html
