President of Ireland: Congratulations Feelgood on milestone achievement

Uachtarán na hÉireann President Michael D. Higgins: "I am pleased to note that Feelgood has continued throughout the years to cover health and fitness issues across the full spectrum of life — from childhood through to old age." Picture: Maxwell’s.

May I congratulate all of the editors, writers, and production staff, past and present, of the Irish Examiner’s Feelgood section on reaching the significant milestone of its 25th anniversary.

Over the course of the last quarter of a century, Feelgood has provided an important public service in offering readers access to quality articles on topics such as health, fitness, and many related issues.

In particular, Feelgood has helped to encourage and build awareness around life-threatening challenges such as breast cancer.

The special edition, edited by the late Vicky Phelan for International Women’s Day in 2019, where she highlighted the importance of women continuing to get cervical screening tests, provided vital and trusted information at a time of great worry for so many people.

The importance of choosing screening was something that the section returned to as a special campaign to mark and pay tribute to Vicky’s legacy on the first anniversary of her death.

The important work of building awareness around cancer has continued in the special edition on bowel cancer last month, a collaboration with Dr Sarah Fitzgibbon.

Other issues given prominence in the supplement over the years include fertility and pregnancy, menopause, men’s health, and raising children, among many others.

In its coverage of such a broad range of issues, Feelgood has encouraged conversations that may have been avoided in the past due to the risk of causing embarrassment. This might have led to a reluctance to make that vital first necessary visit to a doctor.

Feelgood’s campaigns and publicity have helped to provoke a more positive public conversation on topics which affect the health of all members of our society.

I have no doubt that articles such as those found in the section will have encouraged people to take actions which will have made a crucial contribution to their personal health.

As we look to the future, it remains more important than ever that all countries meet their commitment, including those in relation to health, under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Goal number three aims to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all people at all ages.

Some of the targets included under this goal include such important global necessities as reducing maternal mortality, ending all preventable deaths under five years of age, fighting communicable diseases, and achieving universal health coverage.

I am pleased to note that Feelgood has continued throughout the years to cover health and fitness issues across the full spectrum of life — from childhood through to old age.

There is now a welcome greater and necessary recognition than ever of the importance of positive ageing, and the section continues to provide evidence-based information and expert views to assist people in making healthy choices throughout their life.

Feelgood has evolved over time, meeting its audience with new means of communication. Podcasts and videos have helped expand coverage beyond the limits of the physical newspaper, and I am sure that such innovation will continue into the future.

As we look forward to the next 25 years, may I, as President of Ireland, extend my best wishes to all those who have been associated with Feelgood, as well as all of its dedicated readers, listeners and viewers, on this special occasion.

Mo bhuíochas libh uilig. Traoslaím libh agus gach rath don todchaí.

Beir beannacht.

- Michael D. Higgins, Uachtarán na hÉireann