My name is David Heney and I have took over as chairperson of the Irish Stammering Association (ISA) at our Board meeting on the 5th February. First of all I would like to thank Michael Ryan, whom I took over from, and who I am glad to say is remaining on the Board of the ISA.

The last two years have been busy ones for the ISA. Our funding situation had been precarious but I am glad to say that we were successful in our application under the Scheme to Support National Organisation (SSNO) which is funded by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Goverment. This funds the ISA until July 2019 and allows us to plan our activities with a certainty that had been lacking in the past few years.

The ISA Board has implemented an ambitious governance programme, and we were able to sign up as complaint with the Governance Code for Community, Voluntary and Charitable Organisations in Ireland at the end of last year.

The ISA represents the interests of the stammering community in Ireland and I would invite anyone who has an interest in our community to get in contact with us. If you would like to get involved with the ISA, that would be even better. We run a number of support groups, including a number that are run as phone groups, and new members are always welcome. If there isn’t one in your area and you would like to be involved in the setting up of one, we would be very happy to speak to you.

We will be running a number of events over the next few months, both in Dublin and outside. Details will be posted shortly when the arrangements are finalised.