Protest to raise awareness of eating disorders taking place in Cork this weekend 

A PROTEST to mark Eating Disorder (ED) Awareness Week is being held in Cork city this Saturday, calling for the reform of ED services across the country.

Hosted by the Mind EveryBody group, the protest is set to take place at City Hall Plaza from 11am and is one of three protests being held this weekend across Cork, Dublin and Limerick.

The goal of the protests is to bring awareness to the lack of ED services available, with Cork-based protest organiser and Mind EveryBody spokesperson, Luna Fleming telling The Echo that members of the organisation attended the Dáil earlier this week to raise the matter further.

Detailing their experience with an ED, and the services in Ireland, Luna said that as an adolescent they were placed on a waiting list for treatment, but later aged out of the care requirements due to such long waiting times, pushing them into the adult system.

“There is no specialised care for adults in this country. It’s not taken seriously until someone is dying,” they said.

Further detailing their experience, Luna said that they felt unheard by their doctors, and that the care they received lacked empathy.

Luna said that raising awareness around the lack of ED care could pave the way for early intervention at primary school age, to prevent further cases in Ireland.

“We’re talking about different things that we could do after the protest. We’re thinking about trying to organise something with Bodywhys, like going to schools, specifically in the later stages of primary school, because we see that this is when it seems to start, end of primary school or start of secondary school.”

“They’re just ideas, nothing is concrete, but it’s something we’re thinking of,” they added.

Commenting on the standard of ED care in Ireland, a spokesperson for the HSE said: “Most people can and do recover from eating disorders if they receive effective, evidence-based treatment from ED trained staff. While a small number of people benefit from more intensive treatment through day programmes or inpatient care, the most effective treatment setting is in the community. Our core focus is on developing regional community-based specialist eating disorder services provided by skilled multidisciplinary teams through the National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders.

"Since 2016, more than €8m has been made available for eating disorder posts through the programme for Government funding.”

Attendees at the protest are asked to register ahead of the demonstration to record interest for further action. Register for free via the Eventbrite website by searching ED Awareness Week Protest Cork.

The Mind EveryBody group, which was set up by Dublin woman, Amy Hanley, following her daughter’s anorexia diagnosis in 2022, works with survivors and parents of survivors to bring reform to the national standard of ED services in Ireland.