Ber Grogan

Ber Grogan I studied Business & German and graduated in 2005. It was a 3 year Diploma with an add on year degree programme. 

When I started in TU Dublin in Blanchardstown the site was very new, we were still in prefabs with lots of building work going on around us. It felt like a really magical place at the time, there was a lovely buzz. I was lucky enough to get to go on Erasmus to Germany for six months in second year. When I came back I was involved in setting up the International Students Society which established a buddy system for Erasmus students coming to Dublin. 

I always knew I wanted to work on the Not-for-Profit sector, I had always been interested in volunteering, civic and community engagement. I felt my degree would help me to apply the proper principles of governance, project management & business management in a charity setting. I spent a couple of years working with a youth homelessness charity before spending over eight years as a Parliamentary Adviser in Leinster House. I was a Director of Elections in the 2016 general election and managed a successful re-election campaign for an Independent candidate. It was a very stressful campaign but was a huge learning experience for me. Following my time in the Houses of the Oireachtas I joined Mental Health Reform as Policy & Research Manager. 

In the work I did prior to the Dail I worked with young homeless people. In that role I saw up close how the impact of social inequality forms barriers to education and employment.

I would love to see more young people get involved in politics. I would encourage students to get involved in student politics, join their student union. We need more diverse voices in Irish politics. Leinster House can seem so inaccessible to many, in fact every time I walked through those gates I did feel a sense of pride. Working there, in the heart of government, I did see change happening.

There is a mental health crisis in Ireland currently and there is still stigma related to mental health. It is very poignant to be sitting here in TU Dublin’s Grangegorman campus talking to you about mental health, considering the history of this location. Our very recent dark past was to just lock people away. People don’t talk enough about mental health. I think younger people are getting better at it though. Early intervention and prevention is key. We have early intervention and screening services for cancer so why don’t we have something similar for mental health?

Mental Health Reform is a coalition, we have over 80 member organisations including The Samaritans, Pieta House, Focus Ireland and the ISPCC. We bring a unified voice to the government about legislative and policy change. 

My main advice is that you are not alone. You are not the first person to have felt this way and you will get through it. There are supports available, there are people that you can reach out to and there are services that can listen and signpost. Be kind to yourself and one of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given is to speak to myself like I would speak to a friend. I bet you would never be as uncaring or unsupportive to a friend as you are to yourself. Check out mentalhealthreform.ie for a list of great member organisations providing a vast array of mental health services and supports across the country.