Conor Whelan

So what can start off as a small challenge can basically drive into becoming something much bigger down the line.

But I think we've shifted the conversation in Ireland from reaching out for help, and now I think we're at the stage where we're aware of the importance of getting help.

But I think...

And the help we access and how we go about it is probably what we struggle with now, I think.

That's how I would conceptualize it, I suppose.

What I mean by that is I think that there's a lot of different avenues in which you can get help, but I think the right signposting around someone who is struggling with an issue, they know they're struggling with an issue, they know that it's important to talk, they know it's important to reach out, but...

Where exactly do they reach out and how can they go about getting on the pathway towards getting better?

I think when Niall passed away, we didn't know the importance of reaching out.

We didn't know what services were there.

Now we know that there are services there, but getting access to those services and those services actually being accessible, I think are what I believe to be the two biggest challenges.

um yeah i think it's so important i think like my background is teaching in schools um i think from my perspective as a teacher like i was dealing with mental health challenges um anxiety stress etc etc on a daily basis in school i had no training to to to deal with any of that it was very much anecdotal as a teacher you're going off

trying your best really.

And then the issues with CAMHS, with students trying to access services there, like you could be a year waiting for a consultation for a mental health issue, which like, it sounds absolutely insane, but it's actually, it's very much real.

Like if you think about that like this,

you've like that's the point i'm making is that you recognize that there's something wrong you reached out for help and now you're told okay you have a consultation in a year's time like like i just think that is such a major issue like i think the consequences of that is huge yeah as far as gaining experience you know obviously there's a study end of things with gaining experience you did spend a bit of time in cunrara and yeah in galway yeah so i spent how did you find that

Yeah, I spent six or seven months.

Yeah, I found it very insightful, I suppose.

I found it like I was doing a master's in psychology.

I found I was learning all this stuff, but I landed down on cool iron.

I was like, Jesus, this is real.