Teacher celebrates after rounding Ireland by kayak

Susan in her kayak

Local schoolteacher Susan Honan is celebrating after kayaking 1,600km around the island of Ireland with her friend Sonja Ewen.

Honan, a teacher in St Mary’s College, is one of only a handful of women including solo kayaker Elaine ‘Shooter’ Alexander to complete the circumnavigation challenge around seven weeks after she and Ewen set off from Carne beach on 7 June.

Not all of the days in between were spent on the water, as poor weather forced them on land at Slyne Head, Arklow and the Blackwater.

But the duo made up for lost time with some epic 65km paddling days, all in aid of youth counselling service Headstrong, a cause close to the Wexford native’s heart.

Honan and Ewen aren’t the only ones to complete the round-Ireland challenge in recent days, as Cork team Jon Hynes and Sean Cahill paddled into Kinsale to complete their own kayaking adventure after six weeks at sea.

Hynes and Cahill set off from Kinsale on 16 June, and according to Balls.ie they relied “solely on their own skills and equipment to cope in unpredictable Irish weather and windy conditions”.

Joanne to trek up Slieve Foy this Friday as part of 26 peaks challenge

Joanne Treacy

On Friday Joanne Treacy will begin her trek up Slieve Foy as part of her attempt to conquer Ireland’s 26 mountain peaks in just ten days. Joanne’s challenge is in support of Headstrong, a non-profit organisation supporting young people’s mental health in Ireland.

“I really enjoy these kind of challenges where it is as much or maybe even more, a mental challenge as a physical one. It’s amazing what you can convince your body to do when you’re in the right frame of mind and it’s very empowering in normal life to know you can push yourself. I guess that is why I wanted to do this to support a mental health charity and use it as a way to do something positive and useful to raise awareness and support for positive mental health.

“I picked Headstrong as the charity as I think it is fantastic that they are focused specifically on Youth mental health needs, with Jigsaw offering support directly but also including and offering support to others concerned with young people in a community like parents; teachers; sports clubs etc. I really like that they are concerned about changing attitudes; attitudes to how we view mental health issues, but also how we approach addressing them. They are practical and positive and definitely deserve our support,” Joanne says.

The number one health issue for young people is their mental health. About 70% of health problems and most mortality among the young arise as a result of mental health difficulties and substance-use disorders (McGorry, 2005). Almost 75% of all serious mental health difficulties first emerge between the ages of 15 and 25 (Hickie, 2004; Kessler et al, 2005; Kim-Cohen et al, 2003).

Headstrong is leading the change across Ireland in youth mental health. Through research, engagement and service provision in the form of the Jigsaw Programme which operates in conjunction with the HSE and partners, we represent a new approach to promoting and supporting positive youth mental health.

Joanne is aiming to raise €5000 in support of Headstrong’s work. Donations can be made online at http://www.mycharity.ie/event/joanne_treacys_event/ and you can follow how Joanne gets on through twitter @climbeverymtn32  and @HeadstrongYMH