Working Life: My first-ever audio recording was done with our local parish priest in Mayo

Fergal Fox, head of stakeholder engagement and communications, HSE Health and Wellbeing

XX Catherine Shanahan .Fergal Fox, Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Communications, HSE Health and Wellbeing Scott Building, HSE, Tullamore. Ger Rogers Photography

“I grew up with the radio always on in the background:  Sunday Miscellany, Radio 1 news, and radio documentaries were often the springboard for conversations between my parents. 

“My first-ever audio recording was done with our local parish priest in Mayo, when he interviewed myself and two classmates about our upcoming Confirmation. He played it at Knock Shrine over the loudspeakers. Fr Doherty was ahead of his time and recruited a few chatterboxes.

“I studied radio as part of a communications post-grad and had initially wanted to work in that area. After college, while working as a primary school teacher in Clondalkin, I volunteered at West Dublin Community Radio in Ballyfermot, where I conducted vox pops and interviewed teachers and young people for a radio show about education. I also covered news and local events, and it gave me great insight into marginalised groups within a community, often with limited resources.

“Like many, ambition and real life collided, and paid work led me down a different path, working with diverse and often marginalised groups — from ex-offenders to stabilised drug users. I found my way into the health service, specifically the then-Midland Health Board, where I worked with Traveller men and male adolescents as a health promotion officer.

“Today, I am still focused on promoting health, but now I work with a small communications team to promote and amplify health and wellbeing messages across a range of topics, using a variety of communication channels. We set up the HSE Talking Health and Wellbeing Podcast in 2023, for a trial run of 10 episodes — we recently released our 103rd episode.

“I host the podcast with two colleagues, Eamon Keogh and Noreen Turley. It’s a platform that allows us to delve deeper into a range of sensitive matters of public concern, for example, mental health, obesity, vaping, alcohol, youth health, and men’s health. The podcast gives the public a new way to engage with evidence-based health information.

“Communicating on behalf of the HSE through the podcast is incredibly rewarding. We have the privilege of speaking with fantastic experts, practitioners, and patients who generously share their stories and insights on a wide array of topics and policy areas.”

• The HSE Talking Health and Wellbeing podcast produces weekly episodes, aiming to empower listeners and their families to achieve their full health potential