Ionbhá: The Empathy Book for Ireland

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That’s where I discovered drama. We did a drama module with Pat Kiernan from Corcadorca. That year for me was hugely formative. We took a pause [between exam years] which was brilliant. I think transition year — both my boys just went through it — is fantastic. It shouldn’t be like, junior cycle, senior cycle, third level, straight into exams again. I think that’s insane,” he says. As a manager and a coach I have delivered messages to young talented athletes which has, at the very least, disrupted their dreams – that they may have progressed as far as they can go in their chosen sport at this time; a question mark for some, a full stop for others. I have often been as devastated in delivering that verdict and they have been in receiving it... But empathy gives you the confidence to communicate the truth to them that disappointment in one area of life need not diminish the self; that personhood is resilient and strong if nurtured well and supported consistently.” Rory O’Neill, AKA Panti Bliss

A) Sea, a bheith íogair do réaltacht mheabhrach na ndaoine timpeall orainn ní amháin go hintleachtúil, ach go mothúchánach freisin, Is scil an-riachtanach é freagairt d’athruithe féideartha sa timpeallacht phearsanta agus oibre, nó fiú riachtanais ár dtimpeallachta a réamh-mheas. Rud a ligeann dúinn oiriúnú go rathúil d’éilimh an lae ó lá go lá agus torthaí níos fearr a bhaint amach ar gach leibhéal. Conas a chuidíonn éisteacht ionbhách lenár gcreideamh a cheistiú? That’s sympathy, not empathy,” Dolan counters. “The empathy education response would have been to actually sit down and educate people around why are you allowing guns in the first place? In the main, the more empathy education you have, the better civic society will be.” Ar an gcaoi chéanna, is uirlis í an éisteacht ghníomhach a ceadaíonn sé tuairim réamhcheaptha faoi dhaoine eile a athrú agus dul níos faide ná clichés agus claontachtaí trí glacadh leis an gcaoi a smaoiníonn agus a mhothaíonn daoine eile. Go hachomairPlease visit our online shop and feel free to browse our shelves, as you would if you were in our physical shop. We have it set up so it’s easy to browse and even have all our recommended reads in one place to help you, if needs be. I think it’s so vital,” says Dolan. “You know, because very often we look at negative things that are going on and saying, what can we do? Here’s something you can do.” Empathy is not pity, it is mirroring the other's feelings and feeling them as our own. Understanding others, eliminating the notion of "the other" and embracing the humanity that unites us all, this is why empathy is important, now more so than ever before.

Dolan’s team at University of Galway has been rolling out empathy education in more than 100 secondary schools, youth club settings and Garda diversion projects for a few years. Activating Social Empathy is a 12-week programme specifically designed for post-primary school students. Pat Dolan, who has been researching this area for years, says there is a compelling case to introduce empathy education in schools, and across wider society, based on the positive findings of a growing body of research.Ar an mbealach seo, is gné fíor-riachtanach íéisteacht ionbhá caidreamh a dhéanamh i gceart agus go héifeachtúil lenár dtimpeallacht: agus muid ag déileáil leis na daoine timpeall orainn agus freisin le foghlaim ónár gcuid botún agus muid ag idirghníomhú leis an gcuid eile den tsochaí, athmhachnamh a dhéanamh ar ár dtuairim agus feabhsú mar dhaoine. Chomh maith le cuidiú linn sa ghné shóisialta le daoine eile, éisteacht ionbhá freisin imríonn sé tionchar dearfach orainn féin agus cabhraíonn sé linn feabhas a chur ar réimse leathan gnéithe pearsanta, mothúchánacha agus iompraíochta, ós rud é go dtugann sé faisnéis dúinn faoin mbealach a dhéileálann daoine eile lena gcuid mothúchán, lena gcuid fadhbanna agus lena gcuid tionscadal agus seachmaill.

Could Empathy Lead to Community Development? A Study on the Factors Shaping and Maintaining Personal Empathy Food binds us together and is essential for life, both physical and social. The recent inability to touch, or hug, or to share bread together due to Covid-19 has highlighted, with an ever brighter intensity, the importance of these human connections. Interactions once tactile and exuberant are now fraught and fragile.” Tolü Makay, singer, actor and mental health advocate Empathy really is about the other; that’s what makes it different to the idea of resilience or wellbeing, which are really important things,” says Dolan. “Empathy isn’t sympathy. It’s about valuing, respecting and understanding another person’s view.”Some sceptics might also point to the campaign around empathy education as being earnest and naive, along the lines of John Lennon’s well-intentioned but wide-eyed campaign to give peace a chance. Ionbhá or empathy is a core element of wisdom and a universal language of the soul. It brings joy to the everyday, making the unbearable bearable. 'We need empathy in schools just as we need empathy in the world right now' - Cillian Murphy, Actor and Patron of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre. We are conscious that this Christmas will be particularly hard for many: those who of us lost loved ones during Covid, our new Ukrainian community celebrating their first Christmas away from their homeland, the staggering number of children and families now homeless and many other groups in dire need.

Ionbhá, The Empathy Book for Ireland, is published by Mercier Press and edited by Cillian Murphy, Pat Dolan, Gillian Browne and Mark Brennan On empathy... Eamonn O’Shea, economist and former Tipperary hurling manager and coachI think sometimes Irish people are a little afraid of emotion. And I think I was probably saved from that by acting. Because it’s all about connecting with emotions.”