College of Psychiatrists of Ireland > Spike Milligan Public Speaking Competition 2012
College of Psychiatrists of Ireland > Spike Milligan Public Speaking Competition 2012
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Spike Milligan Public Speaking Competition 2012
March 23, 2012
Report on CPsychI’s recent 12th Annual Spike Milligan Public Speaking Competition
March 14th, 2012
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QUB winners Neil Bradley and Charlotte Cosgrove with College president Dr Anthony McCarthy
Belfast team, QUB, win CPsychI annual Spike Milligan Intervarsity Public Speaking Competition for the 3rd time. “Out of Sight, out of Mind- who are the Bond Holders for our Homeless with Mental Health Problems?” |
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The College of Psychiatry of Ireland held its annual Spike Milligan Public Speaking Competition recently in the Sugar Club, Dublin. In its 12th year, the competition aims to raise awareness of mental health issues among the general public and student doctor community from the seven medical schools in Ireland. Teams of two from UCC, UL, NUIG, TCD, UCD, RCSI & QUB spoke on this year’s theme: “Out of Sight, out of Mind- who are the Bond Holders for our Homeless with Mental Health Problems?”
Judges Dr Joanne Fenton, Dr Maurice Clancy and Father Peter McVerry awarded Queen’s University’s Neil Bradley and Charlotte Cosgrove the win for 2012. As well as winning the perpetual Dick Joynt Trophy, especially sculpted for the competition, they also received a cash prize and a free place at one of the College annual conferences. UCD’s Jack Nolan and William Courtney took the runner- up prize.
“This year, the standard of the teams was extraordinarily high across the board” commented the College President, Dr Anthony McCarthy. “Congratulations to Queen’s, UCD, and all involved. It was clear that each of the seven teams had put a huge amount of time, effort, research and their hearts into their speeches, as well as addressing the multi faceted, complex issues involved, making it a tough decision for the judges to come up with a winner. This is the only time when all seven medical schools in the country meet together and it is great forum to highlight mental health issues, particularly the issue of homelessness and mental illness, which is the College focus for 2012”
Guest judge Father Peter McVerry of the Peter McVerry Trust commented that he was particularly impressed that each team in their different ways highlighted that as a society we are all the bond holders for our homeless people, that we all share the responsibility of caring for them and striving to give them not just accommodation and support services but opportunities to lead a life with dignity and purpose.
The competition was established to foster and promote communication skills among doctors in training in the area of mental health. The award is named in recognition of the late Spike Milligan’s work in de-stigmatising mental illness through openly speaking about his experiences of living with bi-polar disorder. Sadly, he passed away before getting an opportunity to judge the competition. Past entrants of the competition have gone on to train as psychiatrists and the full house at the Sugar Club last Wednesday shows how valuable it is to use the award to continue where Spike had left off.