Over 45,000 people in Ireland have epilepsy, making it one of the most common neurological conditions in the country, according to the Irish Epilepsy Association. Over 50 million people live with epilepsy worldwide.
Despite this, stigma still surrounds the condition which affects the brain and can cause seizures. This is something that Minister Patrick O’Donovan freely acknowledges – indeed it is the reason he has not revealed his own diagnosis before now.
Fearful of what he saw as a private matter being used against him or that people would look at him differently, the rural Limerick politician only told a few in a tight circle about his health struggles.
That all changed in June when the father-of-three publicly revealed he had epilepsy.
Now, he feels duty-bound to speak up for others to ensure their health outcomes are better, raise awareness and show that you can still live and work well. But why now?
“I never had any notion of doing it [saying it publicly], to be honest. I never wanted to disclose it, because it’s something very private. And, you know, I have it under control, touch wood, and I’m leading a pretty normal life, but I’ve put down a few very tough years,” he says.
“Whatever about me, it was worse for my wife and children, to be honest, seeing it and living through the consequences of it, because, you know, it is quite a debilitating condition,” Minister O’Donovan explains to Irish Country Living during a chat in Co Louth recently.
What changed for him is what he considers some “below the belt” criticism when he was first appointed as Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport. It mainly centred on his non-attendance at events in the theatre or cinema and unhappiness at him as the choice of Minister to oversee the arts.
As it turns out, the Newcastle West native, who was first elected to the Dáil in 2011, had a reason for not being seen as regularly in arts venues as others.
“I can go to the cinema and the theatre when I know it’s organised and when I’m not in direct line of sight of flicking lamps and things like that, or strobe lighting, or I’m not going immediately from daylight into a darkened environment because I have photosensitivity [related to his epilepsy which can make him ill].”
Minister Patrick O'Donovan pictured in his Dáil office.
A teacher by profession and formerly an industrial chemist, the Minister has been heartened by the positive and supportive reaction from the public since he revealed his condition, particularly from people in the same boat as himself or parents of children with epilepsy.
Many people thanked him for his frankness because “it meant a lot to them that a person can serve in cabinet and be elected four times to the Dáil and have a pretty normal quality of life at the same time”.
“I have to say, the day that I got my final diagnosis, it was a relief. I knew there was something physiologically wrong with me, and I was being told that there was nothing wrong with me, that I was just tired,” he recalls, and that went on for a long, long time. “In several hospitals, they told me there was nothing wrong with me. Go home. You’re tired; take a break.”
Not being believed or being made to feel like a time waster was the “worst part” of the whole experience, he admits, saying that he began to doubt himself and think maybe he was bringing it on himself, or it was stress. However, he and his wife, Eileen, knew this was not the case and they persisted.
“I suppose I have been battling it really badly since about 2015, and I would have had symptoms prior to that,” he explains, adding that he was hospitalised several times before his initial diagnosis in 2016.
Dáil collapse
Two years ago this summer, the then-Fine Gael Junior Minister collapsed while speaking in the Dáil. It was a “completely scary” experience for him because the seizure lasted so long and it came out of the blue, both of which were unusual.
“I actually thought that, you know, this is it. This one is going to take me. It felt like a tennis ball or a sliotar on fire trying to get out of the side of my head, and every muscle in my body was contracted, and the pain was just excruciating. I was in agonising pain,” he remembers. Luckily, the now-Fianna Fáil Minister, Jack Chambers, who trained as a doctor, quickly came to his aid until first responders took over.
While he couldn’t see or speak, Minister O’Donovan also recalls hearing his colleague, then-Minister Anne Rabbitte, praying into his ear. “I was convinced I was dying at the time, to be honest
about it.”
He was later taken to hospital where no cause was found and he recuperated at home with his family.
His GP, Dr Roger Hayes, followed up and he later referred him to Beaumont Hospital to see consultant neurologist Professor Norman Delanty. It was here, after a spell in the monitoring unit, he finally got some “life-changing” answers with a confirmed deep frontal lobe epilepsy diagnosis.
New reality
Since then, he has managed to come to terms with the new reality and, after some trial and error in terms of medication, has found the right combination to control it well.
The Minister is now feeling well and, despite a few wildlife interruptions during our interview and a challenging brief with plenty of fires to fight since his ministerial elevation, he is brimming with enthusiasm for the job.
Minister Patrick O’Donovan receiving his Ministerial seal of office from President Michael D Higgins.
He speaks excitedly about plans for a scheme to support rural arts like amateur drama, the need for Arts Council funding to be more inclusive of things like comedy and country music and the drive to retain the Basic Income for the Arts scheme.
His team ensure that all precautions are taken daily when attending events and he gets enough sleep to manage his condition.
“Exhaustion is something that I have to be very conscious of, and I have to be very careful. It’s a bit like people with diabetes and, you know, with sugar; I just have to be very careful with the tiredness.”
Although he works very long hours, he makes sure that while travelling to and from events to use his trusty neck pillow and get some sleep where he can.
“For me, it [a seizure] is the very same as pulling a blind down on a window, gradually getting darker and darker. I’m just so lucky that the meds that I’m on at the moment are really good.”
See epilepsy.ie
What’s the most country thing about you? I’d say it’s my accent. You know, people ask me, those that meet me for the first time say, what part of Kerry are you from? I think there’s a there’s a unique accent in west Limerick.
Have you a plan to support rural arts? We want to bring in an arts scheme to help communities across the country that are looking to do stuff for themselves and aren’t waiting for somebody from Dublin to do it for them.
Will Limerick hurlers make a comeback? Yeah, they’ll win the All Ireland next year.
Over 45,000 people in Ireland have epilepsy, making it one of the most common neurological conditions in the country, according to the Irish Epilepsy Association. Over 50 million people live with epilepsy worldwide.
Despite this, stigma still surrounds the condition which affects the brain and can cause seizures. This is something that Minister Patrick O’Donovan freely acknowledges – indeed it is the reason he has not revealed his own diagnosis before now.
Fearful of what he saw as a private matter being used against him or that people would look at him differently, the rural Limerick politician only told a few in a tight circle about his health struggles.
That all changed in June when the father-of-three publicly revealed he had epilepsy.
Now, he feels duty-bound to speak up for others to ensure their health outcomes are better, raise awareness and show that you can still live and work well. But why now?
“I never had any notion of doing it [saying it publicly], to be honest. I never wanted to disclose it, because it’s something very private. And, you know, I have it under control, touch wood, and I’m leading a pretty normal life, but I’ve put down a few very tough years,” he says.
“Whatever about me, it was worse for my wife and children, to be honest, seeing it and living through the consequences of it, because, you know, it is quite a debilitating condition,” Minister O’Donovan explains to Irish Country Living during a chat in Co Louth recently.
What changed for him is what he considers some “below the belt” criticism when he was first appointed as Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport. It mainly centred on his non-attendance at events in the theatre or cinema and unhappiness at him as the choice of Minister to oversee the arts.
As it turns out, the Newcastle West native, who was first elected to the Dáil in 2011, had a reason for not being seen as regularly in arts venues as others.
“I can go to the cinema and the theatre when I know it’s organised and when I’m not in direct line of sight of flicking lamps and things like that, or strobe lighting, or I’m not going immediately from daylight into a darkened environment because I have photosensitivity [related to his epilepsy which can make him ill].”
Minister Patrick O'Donovan pictured in his Dáil office.
A teacher by profession and formerly an industrial chemist, the Minister has been heartened by the positive and supportive reaction from the public since he revealed his condition, particularly from people in the same boat as himself or parents of children with epilepsy.
Many people thanked him for his frankness because “it meant a lot to them that a person can serve in cabinet and be elected four times to the Dáil and have a pretty normal quality of life at the same time”.
“I have to say, the day that I got my final diagnosis, it was a relief. I knew there was something physiologically wrong with me, and I was being told that there was nothing wrong with me, that I was just tired,” he recalls, and that went on for a long, long time. “In several hospitals, they told me there was nothing wrong with me. Go home. You’re tired; take a break.”
Not being believed or being made to feel like a time waster was the “worst part” of the whole experience, he admits, saying that he began to doubt himself and think maybe he was bringing it on himself, or it was stress. However, he and his wife, Eileen, knew this was not the case and they persisted.
“I suppose I have been battling it really badly since about 2015, and I would have had symptoms prior to that,” he explains, adding that he was hospitalised several times before his initial diagnosis in 2016.
Dáil collapse
Two years ago this summer, the then-Fine Gael Junior Minister collapsed while speaking in the Dáil. It was a “completely scary” experience for him because the seizure lasted so long and it came out of the blue, both of which were unusual.
“I actually thought that, you know, this is it. This one is going to take me. It felt like a tennis ball or a sliotar on fire trying to get out of the side of my head, and every muscle in my body was contracted, and the pain was just excruciating. I was in agonising pain,” he remembers. Luckily, the now-Fianna Fáil Minister, Jack Chambers, who trained as a doctor, quickly came to his aid until first responders took over.
While he couldn’t see or speak, Minister O’Donovan also recalls hearing his colleague, then-Minister Anne Rabbitte, praying into his ear. “I was convinced I was dying at the time, to be honest
about it.”
He was later taken to hospital where no cause was found and he recuperated at home with his family.
His GP, Dr Roger Hayes, followed up and he later referred him to Beaumont Hospital to see consultant neurologist Professor Norman Delanty. It was here, after a spell in the monitoring unit, he finally got some “life-changing” answers with a confirmed deep frontal lobe epilepsy diagnosis.
New reality
Since then, he has managed to come to terms with the new reality and, after some trial and error in terms of medication, has found the right combination to control it well.
The Minister is now feeling well and, despite a few wildlife interruptions during our interview and a challenging brief with plenty of fires to fight since his ministerial elevation, he is brimming with enthusiasm for the job.
Minister Patrick O’Donovan receiving his Ministerial seal of office from President Michael D Higgins.
He speaks excitedly about plans for a scheme to support rural arts like amateur drama, the need for Arts Council funding to be more inclusive of things like comedy and country music and the drive to retain the Basic Income for the Arts scheme.
His team ensure that all precautions are taken daily when attending events and he gets enough sleep to manage his condition.
“Exhaustion is something that I have to be very conscious of, and I have to be very careful. It’s a bit like people with diabetes and, you know, with sugar; I just have to be very careful with the tiredness.”
Although he works very long hours, he makes sure that while travelling to and from events to use his trusty neck pillow and get some sleep where he can.
“For me, it [a seizure] is the very same as pulling a blind down on a window, gradually getting darker and darker. I’m just so lucky that the meds that I’m on at the moment are really good.”
See epilepsy.ie
What’s the most country thing about you? I’d say it’s my accent. You know, people ask me, those that meet me for the first time say, what part of Kerry are you from? I think there’s a there’s a unique accent in west Limerick.
Have you a plan to support rural arts? We want to bring in an arts scheme to help communities across the country that are looking to do stuff for themselves and aren’t waiting for somebody from Dublin to do it for them.
Will Limerick hurlers make a comeback? Yeah, they’ll win the All Ireland next year.
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