Dr Harry Gijbels retires as Senior Lecturer from the School of Nursing and Midwifery

Dr. Harry Gijbels.

Dr Harry Gijbels retired from his post as Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in January 2017, after 18.5 years of service at UCC. Harry joined the then Department of Nursing Studies, established in UCC in 1994, as a College Lecturer in September 1998.  Since then he has been an integral member of the School Executive Committee, contributing to the School’s many developments into the School it is today. In the early years Harry was responsible for the development of psychiatric nursing education in the Cork and Kerry areas. Following his Senior Lecturer appointment in 2001, he became the first Director of Undergraduate Nursing Education with responsibility for the implementation of the new BSc degree programme for general, intellectual disability and psychiatric nursing.  He also led the development of the postgraduate mental health nursing programme, and was its Course Co-ordinator for a number of years.  Over the years Harry served on various School and university committees, including Academic Council, College Council, Examinations Appeal Committee, Plagiarism Officer, and chairing the School’s most recent Quality Review Committee in 2012. 

Harry is perhaps best known for his work in the area of critical psychiatry and mental health. With Lydia Sapouna, Lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies, he organises the annual critical perspectives conference, which is now considered one of the most significant events of its kind, nationally and internationally, to debate and promote diverse perspectives in mental health thinking and practice. An outcome of these conferences has been the formation of the Critical Voices Network Ireland (CVNI). Harry’s and Lydia’s work was recognised when, in 2011, they were jointly awarded the UCC Exceptional Citizen Award. Harry has also played a central role in setting up the Hearing Voices Network Ireland (HVNI), a network which supports people who hear voices, see visions, experience sensory or tactile sensations and have unusual beliefs.  He is also a Director of Sli Eile Housing Association, which now includes a highly successful residential farm for people wishing to regain their lives following periods of severe distress. 

One of Harry’s achievements as an academic has been his nurturing of a collaborative educational environment where different voices can be heard and respected. He has been passionate in ensuring that undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students engage with issues around power and expertise within mental health, ensuring that ‘experts by experience’ are meaningfully involved in course delivery matters, including lecturing. On the basis of his work outlined above, Harry was awarded a Human Rights and Nursing Award by the University of Surrey’s International Care Ethics (ICE) Observatory in September 2016. This award is presented to any nurse in recognition of an outstanding commitment to human rights and exemplifying the essence of nursing’s philosophy of humanity, to further their work. Harry received his award in Brazil in September 2016. Harry gave birth to Erasmus in this School, nurtured it into what it is today in the School, a vibrant exchange programme for students and staff which has grown from 0 to six partners around Europe

Harry is without a doubt a valued colleague in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and will be greatly missed on his departure.   As he begins a new phase in his life, we wish him every health, happiness and success for many years to come. 

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, UCC