2025/2026 Was Another Busy Year for PharmSoc
The 2025/26 Academic Year has been yet another successful and busy one for all of us at the Pharmacy Society! With plenty of new faces and new ideas, much care and preparation went into creating newer, exciting events for all students of UCC’s pharmacy programme.
In Semester one, we started strong by launching our Run Club, sponsored by PharmaPlus and Coffee Bros! This ran (pun intended) every Wednesday morning throughout the whole year to give attendees a bit of fresh air before their 9 am lectures. We also held a talk and mixer event for the first years, as well as introducing them to their second-year buddies, to help ease them into college life. PharmaPlus also kindly sponsored us again for World Pharmacist Day (September 25), giving away a fantastic hamper for one lucky raffle winner! On October 6, we held the highly anticipated Pharmacy Cup in LeisureWorld, Bishopstown! Very competitive, as always, with Glendale Rovers becoming back-to-back champions. We then teamed up with UCC Surf Club for their annual Movember Sea swim, along with the UCC Environmental Society who organised a beach clean at Fountainstown. In November 2025, we also held two placement talks, where students from years 4 and 5 passed down their wisdom for the 2nd and 3rd pharmacy years ahead of their upcoming placement experiences! We finally finished up semester 1 with a Winter Treat Swap, where both students and staff could come and bring a treat they had baked (or bought!) and try someone else’s!
Semester two came thick and fast, and with it the annual Pub Quiz in Flannery’s, followed by the Pharmacy Ball 2026, which was held on February 20th at the Rochestown Park Hotel. The theme of “Farm” was selected, to a mixed reception!. A great night of dancing and agriculture took place, where the Athena Swan Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) award was also announced, with Prof. Abina Crean presenting Sarah Cooper with the fantastic award! The Run Club also picked up the pace with more community pharmacy supporters coming on board, including Irwins Pharmacy, Dennehy’s Cross Pharmacy and Frank Olden’s Pharmacy. At the beginning of March, as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge, we launched a daily quiz for our Instagram followers titled, “Fíor nó Bréagach”, to test their pharmacy knowledge, along with the occasional “Frása Cógasaíochta” to promote the use of the Irish language in the School of Pharmacy. To finish off Seachtain na Gaeilge, we also held ‘Cultúr sa Cav’ in the Pharmacy Building on March 16th, where students were encouraged to wear the colours of their nationality to display the diverse range of cultures we have in all years of the course (Along with a few packs of Tayto to ring in St. Patrick’s Day!). On the 9th of March, we organised an informative Atopic Eczema and Dermatitis Talk, hosted by consultant dermatologist and paediatrician Dr. Cathal O’Connor. On the 19th of March, Anne-Marie O’Neill from Perrigo came to talk to first year students and introduce them to their company. This coincided with the annual Perrigo Scholarship Competition, where students created infographics with the theme “How Pharmacists Promote Public Health”, with one student from each year winning €400! Next, we held an Erasmus Talk where 4th years talked about their experiences to give 1st and 2nd years a taste of what they could expect if they choose to spend their placement abroad. To see off the academic year, we decided to partner with UCC’s Chemical Society to host a screening of the movie, “Love & Other Drugs”, for all the rom-rom lovers in the course! On a final note, on behalf of the entire committee,
I would like to express my gratitude to all sponsors, speakers, societies and School of Pharmacy staff members for their help and support throughout this year. We’ve had such a ball organising all the events this year and couldn’t have done it without you!
Personally, I would also like to thank my fantastic committee for their hard work and never-ending enthusiasm throughout the year. You have all made my time as Chair a wonderful experience and I’ll be forever grateful! I look forward to seeing what you all have up your sleeves next year to try and top this one!
Mise le meas.
Ronan Lalor (BPharm3)
Chairperson, UCC Pharmacy Society 2025/26
