Meetings and Events
Members Meeting
HDAI’s 2024 Members Meeting takes place on Saturday 25th May at the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
Dr Timothy Counihan, Neurologist, Galway University Hospital is guest speaker.
Workshops include:
- In This Together: A Workshop for People Living with HD
- Carer’s Workshop for family Carers, hosted by Liz, Family Support Officer
HDAI will provide complementary lunch and dinner. Attendance during the day is free of charge but you must reserve your place in advance.
HDAI can also cover the cost of a Saturday night stay. This is subject to confirmation by April 30th and a booking fee of €30 single / €50 double/twin which you can pay here Members Meeting 1 night B&B May 25th. Please do not pay online if you have not had confirmation of a room booking. Contact us on info@huntingtons.ie for further information
Support Meetings
Support group meetings allow people impacted by HD to avail of peer support and share information with others who may have a similar experience to you. You will have an opportunity to speak with people who understand your situation because of their own experience. Meeting with other HD families can be an effective way of sharing coping strategies and useful tips and offer an opportunity to build friendships. Family care givers are encouraged to look after their own health and wellbeing.
Support meetings are held regionally on a Saturday morning from 11am - 1pm. 2024 meetings include:
- Cork: Mar. 23rd July 20th Oct. 5th, Nov. 30th
- Dublin: Feb. 10th May 4th Aug. 10th, Nov. 9th
- Limerick: Jan. 20th April 13th Oct 19th
- Roscommon: Feb. 24th Sept. 7th Dec. 7th
- May 25th Annual Member Mtg and Carers Workshop (Galway)
Meetings are subject to change. Please contact us at info@huntingtons.ie if you are interested in attending.
HD Cafe at Bloomfield
HD Café Evening at Bloomfield Hospital, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin on Wednesday 27nd March 2024, 6.00pm - 7.30pm. Booking is essential - email info@huntingtons.ie
Members Meeting
HDAI’s 2023 Members Meeting took place on Saturday 20th May at the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
Guest speakers included Cathy Coughlan, Senior Speech & Language Therapist, HSE Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, Dr Tom Burke, Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr Ian Daly Clinical Director, and Dr Kieran O’Driscoll, Consultant Psychiatrist, Bloomfield Hospital.
The Hope Q2 2023 Newsletter provides a report on the meeting.
2022 Meeting
Minister Anne Rabbitte met family members at our 2022 Members Meeting in Ballinasloe and spoke about her commitment to improve services for families affected by Huntington's Disease.
Minister Rabbitte, (centre) meeting family members and Liz O'Sullivan, HDAI (right) at the Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe 24/09/22. Copyright Andrew Downes
Keynote Speaker
Colm Peelo, PhD Researcher in Clinical Medicine at Trinity College Dublin and Beaumont Hospital gave a talk on Neuropsychology in Huntington's Disease
Colm completed a Masters in Clinical Neuroscience at University College London where he did a project with Professor Ed Wild, looking at biomarkers in HD. Colm now works with Prof. Orla Hardiman and Prof. Niall Pender's teams in Trinity College and Beaumont Hospital. He is currently examining how changes in the brain due to Huntington’s disease and Motor Neurone Disease affect people’s cognition and behaviour.
Please contact us on info@huntingtons.ie for further information.
Family Voices Webinar Series
The Huntington's Disease UK and Ireland Alliance is hosting a series of lived experiences, 'Family Voices'. Family members from across the Huntington’s disease community will share their experience. Most webinars have been recorded and are available online.
HDYO Congress
The Huntington's Disease Youth Organisation (HDYO) are holding the FIRST IN-PERSON HDYO International Young Adult Congress on March 17-19, 2023! To register or stay tuned to more details, visit HDYOCongress.Org.
Previous Seminars
Meet the HD Researchers
The Huntington’s Disease Research Group at Trinity College Dublin and Beaumont Hospital, in collaboration with the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland hosted an online Webinar 'Meet the HD Researchers' on May 31st 2021 to share information about their work.
This webinar provides an overview of the exciting research in Huntington's Disease that is happening in Ireland right now! Hear about the work of Professor Niall Pender, Professor Orla Hardiman and their HD research team here Meet the HD Researchers
Huntington's Disease: Hope For A New Decade Saturday April 13th 2019
The British Neuroscience Association - in partnership with Neuroscience Ireland (NI) and the British Society for Neuroendocrinology (BSN) - hosted the 2019 international Festival of Neuroscience in Dublin. HDAI hosted an event Huntington's Disease Hope For A New Decade as part of the public festival of events .
Presentations by Professor Bernhard Landwehrmeyer and Dr Tom Burke are available here:
Mindfulness & Wellbeing
HDAI hosted Mindfulness & Wellbeing Virtual workshops to mark Brain Awareness (March) and Huntington's Awareness Month (May) in 2021.
See page 32 of Hope Annual 2021 for Mindfulness tips.
HDAI and HDANI Joint Conference September 2018
Day 1 Information and workshops for health and social care professionals
Day 2 HD Family Conference. Presentations from Conference speakers are available online.
- Dr. David Craufurd, University of Manchester, Centre for Genomic Medicine: Treatment for HD: where we are now, and where we might be going
- Dr. Niall Pender, Principal Clinical Neuropsychologist Beaumont Hospital, Dublin Coping with the emotional and cognitive challenges of HD
- Lauren Byrne, Research Fellow and PhD student at UCL Institute of Neurology in London Fighting Public Enemies #1 1nd #2
- Professor Asa Petersén, Professor of Neuroscience and Senior Consultant in Psychiatry, Lund University, Sweden Research on non-motor aspects of Huntington disease
HD : The Future March 2017
- Dr Ed Wild : Update on Huntington’s Disease Research
- Professor Orla Hardiman : The Importance of Clinical Trials in Rare Neurological Diseases
- Dr Niall Pender : Understanding Thinking and Behaviour Changes in HD: An Update