IN MEMORY OF MR. NIALL O’MAHONY (1967-2003)

The Niall O'Mahony Perpetual Award is an annual award that remembers Mr. Niall O'Mahony who was a nurse tutor on the Diploma programme for Mental Health Nursing programme and worked closely with some of us present here today. Niall was a visionary and an academic and worked tirelessly to promote and develop Mental Health nursing.  He was committed to Nurse Education and was a fantastic advocate for the profession.  Unfortunately, Niall past away unexpectedly in December 2003 at a young age.  In honour of his memory and commitment to the profession of Mental Health nursing we in the clinical team established a perpetual award in 2004.  Each year this award is presented to a graduate on the Mental Health Nursing programme. 

This award will be presented to a student who excelled in clinical practice from year 1 to year 4. The criteria for selecting a recipient to name a few include personal & professional development, attitude, responsibility, accountability, commitment, motivation and a role model to junior colleagues. The recipient is chosen in collaboration with clinical and academic staff. The student receiving the award today has developed and shown all these attributes over the past 4 years of the programme and was quietly committed to becoming a Mental Health nurse.