Mental Health Event at Lansdowne Rugby Club

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The Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association will host a free mental health wellbeing panel discussion this evening at Lansdowne Rugby Football Club.


Organised in partnership with Zurich, the event is part of the “Tackle Your Feelings” campaign and will run from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Ireland and Leinster Rugby Players Jack McGrath and Shane Jennings and Irish International Hannah Tyrrell will be present to discuss their personal mental health stories.

The “Tackle Your Feelings” campaign focuses on mental wellbeing and has national and international rugby stars coming forward to tell personal stories of the issues they have faced off the pitch.

Jack McGrath, who is a “Tackle Your Feelings” ambassador will share his own story about the impact caused by his brother’s suicide. Hannah Tyrrell, who has spoken of her struggle with self-harm and bulimia, will also take part in the panel.

The MC of the panel will be Munster and Ireland rugby legend Marcus Horan and Clinical Psychologist and Tackle Your Feelings advisor Dr. Eddie Murphy will be providing practical advice on how attendees can proactively manage their mental wellbeing.

Jennings will discuss the anxiety and uncertainty he faced at the possibility of his retirement from professional rugby and the steps he took to overcome those emotions. McGrath will talk about the anxiety and anger he felt and the negative effect caused by bottling up these feelings, while Tyrrell hopes that she will be able to encourage people to positively deal with their struggles.

Elaine Hayes, who is driving Zurich’s Corporate Responsibility agenda in Ireland, spoke about the importance of events like this:

“Zurich are pleased to work in partnership with IRUPA on the Tackle Your Feelings campaign, which encourages people in Ireland to continually build their mental resilience and understand the importance of wellbeing. It is great to see so many high profile rugby players from all four provinces highlighting their own challenges and experiences to a national audience. We believe this will have a positive impact in tackling the stigma related to talking about mental health challenges.”

The event is free to attend and registration can be done here.

By Kevin Carney