Hi there !
I am a mum and part- time university lecturer/academic skills tutor and course coordinator living in Cork, Ireland. I am currently in the last stages of writing up my PhD about a project that I head up which has reintroduced a lost Irish tradition of lament called 'keening' as a modern mental health tool around loss, grief and trauma and other emotional life transitions such as divorce, miscarriages, heartbreak etc.

I also am very interested in fermentation and the power of a healthy microbiome as the new 'medicine' for the future of our bodies and our mental health and the planet. I am also into herbal and plant medicine and hedgerow medicine and grow as much of my own veg and herbs as possible, cheaply and in found objects rather than going out buying expensive pots or other equipment. I am an environmentalist and try to live my life without damaging the natural environment as possible, but I get very upset at the decimation of the natural world around me year in year our with intensive mono-culture farming practices which destroys the integrity of the soil and damages wildlife and biodiversity and which particularly damages the hedgerows with all of their valuable medicine.

I am also a passionate advocate of what I call 'present parenting'. I believe that all governments should support a parent to be able to stay at home with their children to raise them rather than handing them over to childminders or creches from when they are very young, for long days and weeks and years on end because they need to go out to work 9-5, five days a week which has become the norm so that people can keep a roof over their heads. Children who feel secure and confident, who grow up without major mental health issues (often born of abandonment and lack of affection form a main carer in their first few years of life and there is academically proven evidence for this) are the future of this planet, and it is very important that we nurture them in order to show them how to nurture the future generations and in turn, the world.

I have many other interest including Classic Cars (I own a beautiful 1967 Austin Cambridge), camping and the outdoor life, gardening, pets (I have a six cat (3 feral) and one dog 'family'). I am vegan so I care passionately for ALL animals and their welfare (not just the cuddly ones!) and feel a moral duty to ensure that in my time on this planet, that I do not consciously contribute to the demand for the skin hair, body parts or secretions or ovum (dairy and eggs) of any animal, which has led to the cruel intensive farming culture that we now live with and which is destroying our planet and the worlds and lives of indigenous people and other animals and plant life. I am not in any way a perfect vegan and there are areas that I know I slip up on, but at least I am trying. I am not involved in activism (mostly because I don't have the time ) but try to create awareness by example.

I am very excited to be part of this training program and to learn more about how to have other income streams in areas that I have interests above.