Today marks the 12th International Day of the Girl Child, established in 2011 by the United Nations to champion the rights and well-being of girls globally, tackling their unique challenges. This year's theme is 'Our time is now – our rights, our future,' highlighting the urgency of the moment. A core mission of this day … Continue reading International Day of The Girl Child

As a leading Executive Career Coach and HR Director for over 20 years, Melissa Stone established her consulting business, HR Support Ireland, in 2021 (www.hrsupportireland.com) While sitting on a number of Charity Boards and Not for Profits in Ireland at the time of the pandemic, Melissa then decided to further expand her service offering by … Continue reading Melissa Stone – Creating online content to support corporate professionals achieve career success

The 2023 Rugby World Cup is upon us (Wahoo!!). Having previously been perceived as being a ‘macho’ sport where no vulnerabilities were discussed, now more and more male rugby players are being open and honest about discussing issues such as mental health, how concussions are impacting them, issues to do with their physical health, the … Continue reading A XV of Irish Rugby Players Who Speak Openly About Diversity and Inclusion Issues

According to their press release announcing their coverage, RTE says “RTÉ Sport will broadcast every match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 on television and on RTÉ Player. Viewers will be able to cheer on the Republic of Ireland as well as coverage of all other matches with some featuring on RTÉ2, RTÉ News … Continue reading The Best Irish People to Follow on the RTE Team for The FIFA Womens World Cup 2023

The 2023 FIFA Womens World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand this week and there has never been more public interest in The Republic of Ireland Womens team. For many fans of male football it’s a chance to support the team and learn about our opposition and the favourites for the competition. With … Continue reading Best Irish Journalists to Follow for Information About The FIFA Womens World Cup 2023

Trailblazer, role model, entrepreneur, speaker, lecturer and and author, there's not many things in the area of Diversity and Inclusion in Ireland. Starting out as a software engineer, Furkan found herself being the only person who looked like her in many of the offices she went into. It was here that she found out why … Continue reading Furkan Karayel – Trailblazer, entrepreneur, speaker, lecturer, author and one of Ireland’s biggest advocates for D&I

Having spent 16 years in the advertising world and working as a primary school teacher, Mairin began experiencing migraines and other symptoms such as weight loss, changes in skin colour and eventually all the power on her right hand side. Mairin was forced to take a year off and having spent time going to different … Continue reading Mairin Ni Bheachain – How a traumatic medical diagnosis led to a change in her career and creating a new business – MoStyle

Dr Ivanna Mc Mahon is a GP trainee, plays seven musical instruments, is an advocate for the Irish language and the current Miss Ireland. Ivanna is currently spreading her message about Dyslexia acceptance and building the self esteem of young people with Dyslexia throughout her visits to schools throughout Ireland. What was your background before … Continue reading The current Miss Ireland; Dr Ivanna Mc Mahon is spreading the message of Dyslexia acceptance and building self-esteem amongst students

Ukrainian national Anna Krys has a remarkable story to tell. Born and raised in Ukraine, Anna moved to Ireland in 2015 and began working for Dogpatch Labs, before returning home in 2019. Anna then went to a Hackathon with an idea to reate an interactive map that would not only mark accessible and inclusive infrastructure … Continue reading Meet Anna Krys: A Ukrainian Visionary Entrepreneur Empowering Accessibility in Tech and Ukrainian Nationals in Ireland

Rugby coach, TV rugby pundit, entrepreneur  and TV personality Brent Pope has been one of Ireland’s biggest advocates for Mental Health. Brent and his colleagues Dave Southern and Eoin Byrne have recently created a campaign called elephantintheroom.ie. They are asking all employees to have a custom designed poly-resin model of a baby elephant in their office … Continue reading Brent Pope co-founded Elephant in the Room, and he is hoping it will create a real conversation about mental health in the workplace

Developmental Coordination Disorder, or more commonly known as Dyspraxia, affects approximately 6% of the population. As the condition affects a person's coordination, spatial awareness, fine motor skills and speech, it can negatively affect a person’s chances of getting a job. However, more and more employers are looking to neurodivergent individuals, as they can see that … Continue reading Top tips for Dyspraxic people and others with neurodiversity joining a large organisation

Last week, in part 1 of this article, I discussed how people are being more open and honest about their dyslexia in the workplace, since LinkedIn added ‘dyslexic thinking’ as a skill on their skills portfolio in March 2022. Here is the second part of the article where I will look at a further 15 … Continue reading 30 People to follow on LinkedIn who post information about dyslexia – Part 2

In March 2022, LinkedIn added ‘dyslexic thinking’ as a skill on their skills portfolio. However, long before that there has been a movement from dyslexic people to be more open and honest about their own experiences or gain knowledge from experts who may not be dyslexic themselves but have expertise in the area of neurodiversity. … Continue reading 30 People to follow on LinkedIn who post information about dyslexia – Part 1

Following on from two of my most successful articles on the site to date (Leaders of Medium and Large Organisations in Ireland who have Dyslexia, and Irish start-up founders embracing their Dyslexia) here are 15 Irish people from the world of entertainment and the arts who openly discuss their Dyslexia: Pauline Bewick - Artist Having moved … Continue reading Irish people who work in entertainment or the arts and are Dyslexic

In recent years several children of my friends or family have been diagnosed with dyslexia or different conditions within the neurodiversity spectrum. Many have reached out to me to ask me “what worked for you?”, or what can I do to support them?”. So I thought I’d put down some tips that I can send … Continue reading Advice for parents of children with dyslexia

Dyslexia affects approximately 15% of the population. Although the exact figures of unemployment or under-employment (people being highly qualified but not working in their preferred area) is estimated to be somewhere between 75-85%. However there is what is described as "the double empathy problem”. There’s a lot of fear and trepidation on both sides. Employers … Continue reading How dyslexia has helped me in work or education

Neurodiversity is becoming an increasingly used term within the diversity and inclusion umbrella. Employment coaches are also becoming more and more common with in organisations that advocate for conditions such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD and Autism. I caught up with Guy Brewer to find out what a dyslexia coach does and how he can help … Continue reading What does a dyslexia coach do?

Nobody likes job interviews. It's particularly difficult for those that are neurodivergent. It gets even more complicated when you add in virtual interviews which are commonplace now. Having done 135 interviews in 10 years (which shakes out to be over 1 a month), you pick up a few hints and tricks. So to play it … Continue reading Top Tips for job interviews (in person and virtual)

It's 2023's International People's With Disabilities Day. According to this article from The Disability Federation of Ireland the 2022 census says there are: A total of 1,109,557 people (22% of the population) reported experiencing at least one-long lasting condition or difficulty to any extent Of these, 407,342 (8% of the population) reported experiencing at least … Continue reading Irish entrepreneurs who have opened their own business and have a disability

The basic ratio for the number of applications you send in versus the number of interviews you get is about for every 10 applications you do, you’ll get approximately 3-4 interviews and maybe 1 job offer. However, this is different for everyone, people from under represented groups such as people with disabilities, women in technology, … Continue reading Top Tips for CV/Cover Letters

Over 10 years of job searching, 11 short-term contracts, approximately 135 interviews and being unemployed several times, I’ve acquired something of a knack for applying to jobs. Through this I’ve developed several strategies that I have found helpful and I hope others will find them helpful too: Ask yourself what are you best at? Business … Continue reading Top tips for job hunting

Having only missed 1 Paralympics since the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, Ireland has a proud record of 499 athletes taking part in the games, who have amassed 222 medals (65 gold, 66 silver and 95 bronze) between them. With Tokyo 2020 games being delayed due to the Pandemic, this year the 31 … Continue reading 12 Irish Paralympians to look out for in Toyko

Having interviewed over 600 people, been a guest lecture at more than 30 colleges and having their exhibitions in galleries throughout Ireland, the UK and New York, and being an expert violin and fiddle player F and his father Jonathan Angus created Fionnathan Productions to promote Diversity and Inclusion by showing that someone with Down … Continue reading Fionn Angus Crombie – Film maker, interviewer educator, musician and CEO of Fionnathan

According to The National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) “There are an estimated 246,773 people in Ireland who are blind or visually impaired.  The term ‘visual impairment’ covers moderate sight loss, severe sight loss and blindness.” Here are just some of the inspirational people with sight loss who are thriving in their careers: … Continue reading Irish people who are visually impaired

According to The Irish Cancer Society’s website ‘Current estimates state that more than 40,000 people in Ireland get cancer each year. This figure comprises both invasive and non-invasive tumours, as well as non-melanoma skin cancers.’ People with cancer can often think the worst when they get the diagnosis. However here are just some of the … Continue reading Irish people who have gone through cancer treatment

There are approximately five thousand people who are amputees or have limb deformity in Ireland today. While competitions such as The Paralympics or the increased focus on amputees in the Irish media means now amputees have role models to look up to. Some of these are: Rick Allen - Musician  Rick Allen is the drummer … Continue reading People in Ireland who are amputees or have limb deformity

According to statistics up to 70,000 children (under 18) in Ireland have a speech disorder. While there are several international examples of adults who have overcome their speech impairment, such as President Joe Biden, Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman or UK actress Emily Blunt,, there are thousands of people in Ireland who have done the same. … Continue reading Irish people with Speech Disorder

According to Mental Health Ireland has one of the highest rates (3/36 countries) of mental health illness in Europe with 18.5% of the Irish population recorded as having a mental health illness such as anxiety, bipolar disorder or depression. There is still such a stigma around these conditions that many people often suffer in silence. … Continue reading Ireland’s biggest advocates for mental health in sport or the entertainment industry

Large organisations are beggining to embrace people with Dyslexia in their organisation. With companies such as Dell Technologies, SAP or Microsoft creating Neurodiversity Hiring Programs to mentor people with conditions such as Dyslexia in their organisation so that the companies can tap into a new, loyal, hard working talent pool for their organisations. However, there's … Continue reading Leaders of Medium or Large Organisations in Ireland who have Dyslexia