Mental health advocate, Irish musician, television presenter and former professional rugby player, Mr Niall Breslin was made an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery last night at a ceremony that opened the 36th Annual International Nursing and Midwifery Research and Education Conference, which continues today at RCSI.

Mr Breslin gave the conference opening address and then received the Honorary Fellowship, the highest honour the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery can bestow, in recognition of his contribution to mental health advocacy.

Mr Breslin has campaigned to help change attitudes towards mental health issues in Ireland and advocated on the need for educational, systematic and cultural change. In 2015 Mr Breslin, also known as ‘Bressie', co-founded the website ‘A Lust for Life' which aims to normalise the conversation around mental health and emotional wellbeing. His bestselling book ‘Me and My Mate Jeffrey' was published the same year chronicling his mental health journey.

Speaking on his Honorary Fellowship, Mr Breslin said: "I am sincerely humbled to receive this honorary fellowship from the RCSI Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. If we are to truly transform the outdated and generational attitudes towards mental health in Ireland it will take a collective response from our health care professionals, those in influence of power and our wider society and we must do so with empathy, sensitivity and humanity. We must recognise the progress that we have made in this regard in recent years but it's a long road to travel. We must join the dots and work together if we are to normalise the conversation around mental health and develop a system that supports and cares for the most vulnerable, while also looking at ways of moving towards a preventative rather than reactive model of care."

Dr Theresa Frawley, Vice Dean of the RCSI Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery commended Mr Breslin on going public with his own mental health issues in order to help others and promote positive mental health and said: "Niall has courageously revealed his personal struggle with mental health issues and spoke openly about his experience of living with anxiety. Niall was 13 years old when he experienced his first panic attack and has depicted his life journey, vividly describing how panic attacks, insomnia and anxiety, affected his day to day life and left him feeling terrified. He also revealed the impact of not having the language to describe it, nor the understanding to cope with it, in a society that deeply stigmatised it."

Speaking on how Mr Breslin has used his profile to engage with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, Dr Frawley continued: "As a mental health champion, Niall uses his public profile to help others affected by mental health issues and especially focuses on the needs of younger members of society. He promotes the importance of identifying and destroying the stigma associated with mental health. He strives to create awareness around mental health and to motivate others towards self-efficacy. He also encourages people to be true to oneself, to engage with relevant services and supports and when possible to take personal control of one's health and well-being."

Honorary Fellowships of the Faculty were also be awarded to Ms Emily Logan, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, former ombudsman for children and Director of Nursing and to Mr John Murray, Vice President of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), in recognition of their outstanding contributions to society, nursing and midwifery.