EP Saturday @6.30pm Are our systems sound

Host: Dr. Ciara Kelly

Panel: Minister Simon Harris, Dr. Pat Bracken, Caroline McGuigan (CEO Suicide or Survive), Senator Lynn Ruane

What is our government doing to care for the mental health of the people of Ireland? Waiting lists to talk to someone, organisational inconsistency, the growing rates of anxiety and depression, staff recruitment issues, budget cuts, archaic policies – the system is failing us.

Why this is happening, who is accountable and what can we do right now to transform this narrative ?

This discussion is a deep dive into how our political system is currently influencing our collective mental health. We want to explore why legislation and policy implementation that can save people’s lives is so painstakingly slow to upgrade and implement. Economic pressures such as low wages, high rents and unemployment are all linked to increased rates of depression and anxiety. Rising homelessness and substance abuse are more closely related to mental health than they ever will be to economics or criminality. When will wellbeing be the thread that runs through all government activity? This is not about throwing stones or slinging arrows, this is about forging a new path forward together and keeping each other accountable to our promises.

Dr. Ciara Kelly

Dr Ciara Kelly is a GP, Broadcaster and Award Winning Columnist. She is a broadcaster with Newstalk where she presents her own show Alive and Kicking on Saturday mornings from 9 – 10am. She qualified as a Doctor in 1997 from UCD and was a medal winner in her graduation class and achieved First Class Honours in General Practice. She is a partner in Carrig Clinic, Family Practice, in Greystones. She also teaches General Practice, to medical students and Post Graduate Doctors for UCD and Trinity College Dublin. Previously, she was the Former Assistant Director of GP Training in UCD. Ciara is the Medical Expert on RTÉ’s Operation Transformation. She is also a regular contributor to other TV shows including Tonight with Vincent Browne and Ireland AM both on TV3. She has her own weekly slot on Monday evenings, The Right Hook Health Check, recently described in The Irish Times Radio Review by Mick Heaney as ‘So good it deserves Cult status.’ She has a popular weekly column called Doctors Orders in The Sunday Independent.

Simon Harris

Simon is a native of County Wicklow and has been involved in the community all his life. Simon first became involved in politics through his work as a disability advocate and is committed to providing a strong voice on issues relating to special needs and mental health. Before entering politics, Simon established the Wicklow Triple A Alliance, a charity to support children and families affected by Autism. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the 2011 General Election and was the youngest member of the 31st Dáil. During that Dail term, Simon served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure & Reform, Secretary of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and Co-Convenor of the Oireachtas Cross Party Group on Mental Health, before being appointed in July 2014 as Minister of State in the Departments of Finance, Public Expenditure & Reforrm and the Department of the Taoiseach with Special Responsibility for OPW, Public Procurement & International Banking (including IFSC). Simon was re-elected as TD for Wicklow & East Carlow in the February 2016 General Election and subsequently appointed Minister for Health. Prior to his election to Dáil Éireann, Simon was a member of both Wicklow County Council and Greystones Town Council, having been elected in the 2009 Local Elections with the highest percentage vote of any candidate in the country. He has also served his community as Chairperson of the County Wicklow Policing Committee, Chairperson of the Dublin-Mid Leinster Regional Health Forum, Board Member of Wicklow Tourism and Member of Wicklow Vocational Educational Committee.

Dr. Pat Bracken

Pat Bracken is a psychiatrist who has been working for nearly 35 years in the field of mental health. He has worked with individuals, families and communities in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand, Uganda and other developing countries in Africa and Asia. He has a particular interest in work with asylum seekers, refugees and victims of institutional abuse. He is also a philosopher and was appointed Professor of Philosophy, Diversity and Mental Health in the University of Central Lancashire in the UK in 2006. He argues for the importance of critical thinking and was one of the founders of the Critical Psychiatry Network.

Caroline McGuigan

Caroline McGuigan is the CEO of, Suicide or Survive an innovative, unique organization supporting and encouraging people to invest in their own lives. Supporting and encouraging people to save their own lives. A organisation marinated in the recovery principles. She is a qualified psychotherapist and a coordinator – No Panic, Helpline for Anxiety. Other activities include:

• Tutor Maynooth University, Foundation in Counselling Skills
• Mental Health Advocate (I.A.N.)
• Peer Supervisor, I.A.N.
• Amnesty International, expert by experience – Mental Health as a Human Rights Issue (5 years)
• National Anti-Stigma Campaign
• Member of the Expert by Experience Advisory Group, Amnesty International
• Advanced WRAP Facilitator
• Member of the Governments Connecting For Life National Strategic Planning Committee

Lynn Ruane

Lynn Ruane is a recently elected independent senator, serving in Seanad Éireann and is a former president of Trinity College Dublin’s Students’ Union. An early school leaver & single mother of two from Tallaght, she gained access to Trinity College in 2011 through the Trinity Access Programme as a mature student. Prior to her return to education, she worked for fifteen years as an addiction programme developer and community worker in west Dublin. As a senator, Lynn plans to be a passionate and vocal defender of education, a voice for the under-represented in Irish politics and a challenger of inequality in all it’s forms.