By Margaret Doyle, our Health & Wellbeing OfficerOn October the 12th, after many months of trying, we finally launched the health and wellbeing aspect of our club - with Finnian Fitzgerald present and our event aired on Kerry GAA TV! Many thanks to everyone that turned up on the night, especially all of our speakers:

Pat O'Brien (Kerry Mental Health Assoc.) enlightened us to the importance of being able to talk with and listen to those with mental health issues, in the same open-minded way we would approach someone with a phystical ailment.
Eileen Buckley (Kerry County Board: Gambling, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Officer) outlined the importance of being able to deal with the real societal issues presented when it comes to gambling, drugs and alcohol abuse, and talked about the services available that we can use to help to deal with those issues.
Jimmy Mulligan (Southwest Counselling Services) presented a talk around the services that are available to sufferers of mental illnesses, and how under-pressure they are to provide these services.
Ian O'Connell (our guest speaker), who made it to our event to present on mental health - despite all the challenges of the day.

Many thanks to the following for their additional help:

Deirdre (our secretary), for her help as we approached the launch
Anne Holland, for her help with the event and her superb photos
Cait, for her tea and hospitality on the night

Thank you everyone - your presence was very much appreciated. These talks helped to being home how necessary it is that we, as a club, are able to help our members to deal with any issues that present themselves.I, as Health & Wellbeing Officer, would love to collect feedback from members on this new facet of our club. How interested are you in being there for another? If there is interest in training programmes to provide the necessary skills to help someone out, or for anything else, please feel free to contact me on 087 918 1970.Health and wellbeing is now well-established within the GAA and it is important that we embrace this together, as a club. We're all very good at doing, but it's taking pride in what we do and finding our positives that really make a difference.If we all work together, we can turn our excellent club into an even greater one.