Chairperson's Chapter I
t really is an honour and a privilege to be putting words on a page as the new Chairperson of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. I remember when my son Senan was born in 2014 and his CF consultant spoke in our first meeting with him to me and my wife Sheena about us facing our “New Normal”, little did I know that 6 years later I would be fortunate to be the new Chairperson, working with a passionate community and an incredible association to continue the support and work that Cystic Fibrosis Ireland stands for. Before I introduce myself, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the fantastic leadership, work, passion and goodwill shown by the outgoing chair, Patricia Duffy-Barber. Patricia had taken on the tenureship of Chairperson when I first became involved at the board as the incoming Treasurer three years ago. As the first PWCF to hold the office of Chairperson, I truly believe that she has led the association through a period of distinct transformation, she has been and continues to be a trailblazer for PWCF and it has been an honour to serve alongside her on the board and indeed the Staff and Finance committee. Thankfully, Patricia will remain involved on the S&F committee and indeed she will continue to support the board in her new capacity as Vice-Chairperson, both of which I know I am very appreciative of. So then it brings us to my first communication with you all and I am writing this from my spare bedroom in my family home in Greystones, which has of course turned into my home office, my “Cystic Fibrosis Ireland board room / Staff and Finance meeting room”, the list goes on. Like everybody, we have all managed to pivot and adapt to “Life with Covid” and it has been very interesting to see how it has impacted us all in many ways. Personally, we have managed to cope well as a team, we being myself, my wife Sheena and our three children, Rian, Senan and Fiadh. We of course have needed to adapt, focus on the more simpler and important things in life and enjoy spending time with each other. I was born in Greystones, Co. Wicklow and I now live there with my family, blessed to be beside the sea and have the Wicklow mountains on our doorstep. Being the father of somebody living with Cystic Fibrosis, I have learnt that there is more to being a Dad than just the title, you need to be a role model in a number of ways. We are very lucky to have Senan under the care of the top class team in Crumlin who have consistently given us the peace-of-mind relating to the management of Senan’s CF. Striving to lead as active a lifestyle as possible and encourage movement is the key to the future for living with Cystic Fibrosis and I have been very fortunate to get to know some of these role models that are in our Irish community. We need to continue to give them that platform to share their ideas and enable them to change the future for Cystic Fibrosis. From a fundraising standpoint, I have been lucky to take part in (not race!) a couple of marathons for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland here in Dublin and support some fundraising efforts in my own workplace. I like to stay active and keep myself moving and this is even more important during the testing times that Covid has brought but I am definitely much more appreciative of the new day-to-day.
Keith & Senan with CFI Ambassador Michael Carruth promoting Christmas Jumper Day for CF
The year 2020 will definitely be remembered as a turnaround point in human history. Many people have lost their lives to the pandemic around the world and so many others have been impacted in such a way that they cannot revert back to the “Way it was before Covid”. People have lost their livelihoods, their routines, their sense of purpose.
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Spectrum / Winter 2020
