AGM and Annual Conference 2023 - Athlone

In October of this year, IMNDA’s AGM, Annual Conference, Patient & Carer event took place in Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone. We had a wide range of speakers and exhibitors at the event. It was well attended with almost 200 delegates in person as well as people joining us on Zoom. The business part took place early on Friday morning where the IMNDA’s Board of Directors reviewed the operations and financial performance of the organisation in 2022. 

Following the formalities of the AGM, we were then treated to a very interesting conference with a variety of speakers MC’d by IMNDA’s board members Jonathan Healy and Norman Hughes. We were very excited to welcome Maria Walsh MEP and proud Mayo woman. Maria opened up the conference and welcomed us all to Athlone.

We were also delighted to welcome RTE news to the conference to highlight MND and a new voice banking technology that has come to Ireland. RTE interviewed John Daly who is living with MND and uses voice technology on a daily basis. RTE also interviewed Prof Orla Hardiman and CEO Lillian McGovern.

A special thanks to all of the presenters who took part on the day, Clare Duffy from Family Carers Ireland delivered an in-dept on presentation on Benefits & Finances. Ethel Wallace who is a complementary therapist delivered a fascinating talk on the history and biology of massage as well as importance and benefits of touch and how important it can be for mental and social wellbeing.

Prof Orla Hardiman delivered the most interesting talk on the overview of MND Research 2023 and the importance of investing in talented bright people who can deliver results for MND.

Naomi Fitzgibbon, Director of Nursing & Services delivered a talk on the survey 'What Matters to People affected by MND' which was conducted by IMNDA and MND Scotland. Teresa Leahy who is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) with the University College Hospital Galway spoke about Living Well with MND – A Team Approach.

Thanks to everyone for making it such a memorable event, we hope you enjoyed it, see you next year!

You can visit our You Tube Channel here @MNDireland if you would like to see all the presentations from AGM & Annual Conference 2023