Echo article shortlisted for national media award

A journalist has been shortlisted for a prestigious national media award for an Echo article examining the issue of loneliness and isolation.

Sarah Horgan has been shortlisted for a Headline Mental Health Media Award for her December 2023 piece ‘Reach out to lonely, isolated neighbours, Cork City Fire Service urges”.

In the article, Ms Horgan interviewed Victor Shine, second officer at Cork City Fire Brigade, and Dr John Sheehan, a GP based in Blackpool and a Fianna Fáil councillor in the Cork City North West ward, about the mental health struggles faced by many members of the public who live in isolation.

Mr Shine told Ms Horgan that frontline workers often have to deal with problems caused by mental health difficulties, and appealed to readers to reach out to neighbours who might be alone in the community, and who might be finding the period around Christmas especially bleak.

Dr Sheehan said loneliness can be more difficult to admit to than a physical ailment.

“It’s easier to go to your GP with a sore knee or leg than tell them we are lonely, because we all have our pride,” he said.

“Loneliness is an issue, especially at this time of year, and people can experience it very acutely.”

Ms Horgan said it was a great honour to be shortlisted for the Headline Mental Health Media Award.

“Victor Shine and Dr John are always so generous with their time and are both so passionate about helping people, and I am so grateful for the work that they do and the generosity with which they share their wisdom,” Ms Horgan said.

“There are so many people who often find themselves in difficulty as a result of loneliness and isolation in Ireland today, and I think that the more we talk about issues like this, the better equipped we all are to address them.

“It’s a great privilege as a journalist to be in a position to highlight important issues such as mental health matters, and being shortlisted by Headline means a lot.”

Headline is a national programme for responsible reporting and representation of mental ill health, and it is run by Shine, a national charity that supports people with lived experience of mental illnesses, their family members and supporters.

The winners of the Headline Mental Health Media Awards 2024 will be announced at a ceremony in Dublin on December 4