Kevin Hennessy CBT, Mental Health & Wellness Clinic

28/04/2026

Yes you Can! But just to start, wouldn't it be great to learn to reduce it?

15/04/2026

My Take on the Sin of Omission in Irish Politics

A brief note before I begin:
Some may wonder why I use this page to comment on issues like this. The answer is simple. My work has always been about human behaviour, how people think, how they frame reality, and how they respond to pressure, fear, authority, uncertainty, and persuasion.

So, from time to time, I use real-world events and live public issues as examples of those dynamics in action.

This is not a departure from my work. It is an extension of it.

My Take on the Sin of Omission in Irish Politics

I have been thinking about the way Government presents certain policies to the public, and fuel excise is a good example.

To be fair, not every misleading statement is an outright lie. But there is such a thing as the sin of omission. That is when a crucial part of the truth is left out because the full picture would weaken the position being defended.

The EU sets minimum excise floors on fuel. That is the starting point. But Ireland is free to go above those minimums, and it does. So when people are left with the impression that “Europe made us do it,” while the part left unsaid is that our own Government chose to go further, that is not full honesty. It is framing.

I have the comparative rates to hand if needed, but in the interest of brevity, and out of respect for the reader’s time, I will leave them aside for now.

One further point is worth noting. Last night on Prime Time, one of the Government’s own repeatedly stated that Ireland had one of the highest levels of spending on intervention in fuel prices. But simple mathematics matters here too. If Ireland starts from a higher tax take on fuel than other countries, then of course it may have to spend more simply to make a meaningful dent in the final price. That does not automatically prove greater generosity. It may simply reflect a higher starting level of taxation and the cost of partially undoing it.

From a human behaviour point of view, this matters. People are more likely to accept a burden if they believe it was imposed from outside and beyond local control. But once people realise that choices were made much closer to home, the whole conversation changes. Accountability comes back into the room.

This is how public perception is shaped. Not always by direct falsehood, but often by selective truth. A half-truth can be every bit as useful politically as a full lie.

And that is the point.

If a Government withholds material context in order to support its own policy, then it may avoid the charge of lying, but it cannot avoid the charge of manipulation by omission.

The public deserves the full picture, not just the politically convenient part of it.

That applies not only to fuel policy, but to governance in general.

We need higher standards in public life.
Less spin.
Less “cute hoor” politics.
More honesty.
More accountability.
And a lot more respect for the intelligence of the Irish people.

14/04/2026

Sometimes people do not need fixing. They need understanding, clarity, and the right tools.

At Kevin Hennessy CBT, Mental Health & Wellness Clinic, the work is about helping people make sense of what they feel, why they react the way they do, and how to move forward with more calm, confidence, and direction.

My approach is practical, human, and grounded in real life. No fluff. No judgement. Just a safe space to talk, reflect, and learn new ways to respond to anxiety, stress, overwhelm, low mood, trauma, and the pressure of simply being human.

There is nothing wrong with your brain. It may just need new glasses.

If life feels heavy right now, talking can help.

13/04/2026

My Take on the Fuel Support Bone That Was Thrown

What we are witnessing now has clearly moved beyond fuel prices.

A bone has been thrown. Relief has been announced. The atmosphere is being softened. The language is shifting from pressure to calm, from confrontation to “solution”, from public anger to a carefully managed return to order.

But many people are no longer fooled by the sequence.

The aid package was the soft hand.
The overnight operation, launched in the dead of night to clear peaceful protesters using Gardaí and military assets, was the hard hand.

And between the two came the familiar media B/S, poured through our radios, televisions, and screens, not simply to inform the public, but to calm the atmosphere, blur the deeper questions, and guide people back toward dependence, order, and obedient passivity.

The point was sharpened almost immediately. The bone we were thrown on fuel relief was swallowed almost whole at the market open, when oil surged again overnight. WTI jumped 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent rose 7% to $102.29, putting $100 oil straight back into the public psyche before the Government’s spin had even settled.

So even before the spin had settled, reality had already intervened.

Yes, there are genuine EU minimum excise rules, and no honest person should pretend otherwise. But that is not the same as saying Government had no room to move. The EU sets the minimum, not the maximum. Brussels may set part of the cage, but Dublin still decides how comfortably it wants to sit inside it.

EU rules may have set the floor, but it was this Government that chose the ceiling.

So this is no longer just about fuel.
It is about credibility.
It is about communication.
It is about who gets to frame reality and who is expected to swallow it.

At its best, communication helps people understand.
At its worst, it manages perception.

Too many people now feel that much of modern media no longer exists simply to inform, but to influence. And when it comes to RTÉ, many no longer experience it as a fearless public service broadcaster, but as something much closer to a Government mouthpiece, however loudly editorial independence may be claimed.

That collapse of trust matters, because people are not only reacting to events. They are reacting to how those events are narrated back to them.

I approach these matters through a therapeutic and holistic lens rather than political heat. So when I look at what is happening, I do not just see policy. I see fear. I see reactivity. I see manipulation. I see people struggling to hold on to their own inner voice while noise, spectacle, and pressure try to override it.

And that inner voice matters.

At any point in life, a person can begin, or begin again, to develop awareness through reflection, critical thinking, Socratic questioning, instinct, moral compass, spirituality, soulfulness, stillness, prayer, conscience, or simple gut feeling. The name matters less than the fact that it exists.

The danger is that dramatic events can hijack it. Fear can drown it out. Noise can replace clarity. Borrowed outrage can replace personal discernment.

That is why awareness matters now more than ever.
Not just awareness of events.
Awareness of self.

I should add this too: I have succumbed to reactivity in the past myself. I am not writing from a mountaintop. I am still learning. A saying I hold close is this: to be old and wise, one must first be young and foolish. There is truth in that. We learn from our own mistakes, our own overreactions, and from watching the mistakes of others. In truth, we have been doing that for millennia. It is one of the deepest and oldest learning modalities of our species.

None of us arrives fully formed.
None of us gets it right all the time.
None of us is beyond error.

But if we are honest enough to reflect and courageous enough to learn, even our mistakes can become teachers.

Human beings have two extraordinary powers: adaptation and problem-solving. We would do well to remember both.

That is why I believe this moment should not end with a temporary package and a return to obedient quiet.

It should open a wider national conversation, not just about fuel, but about whether the political structure of this country is still serving the people as it should.

Many people are no longer only questioning one policy or one announcement. They are beginning to question the whole stale arrangement.

Too often, Government governs to preserve itself.
Too often, opposition opposes to position itself.
And too often, the Irish people are left watching a theatre of point-scoring that changes little in the realities of daily life.

Political point-scoring will not warm a home.
It will not build a house.
It will not lower the cost of living.
It will not stretch a litre of fuel.
It will not restore trust.

And while there is a broad range of alternative views across the country, and no easy cohesion among them all, that does not excuse the deadness of the present structure.

If the system has become little more than a recycling machine for power, pensions, performance, and partisan manoeuvring, then people are right to ask harder questions about what needs to change, what no longer works, and what kind of political culture Ireland now actually needs.

Because the national conversation is moving there whether the political class likes it or not.

Ireland, long known for punching above its weight, needs through its Government to state clearly what its position is on matters that affect us on the international stage.

If foreign military aircraft are involved in a war that is helping drive oil higher and deepen the burden on Irish households, farmers, hauliers, fishers, and the wider economy, then Irish airspace and Irish airports should not be open to facilitate the very thing that is hurting us.

That would say far more about Irish sovereignty and Irish neutrality than turning up in Washington with a bowl of shamrock to flatter power while ordinary people here foot the bill.

Neutrality is either real, or it is theatre.

And if Ireland is serious about resilience, then this moment should force an honest adult conversation about energy self-reliance.

Corrib proved that Ireland can produce its own gas, even if that field is now in decline, and it is time to ask honestly whether wider west coast hydrocarbon potential should play some role in protecting the national interest rather than leaving us permanently exposed to foreign wars, foreign markets, and domestic spin.

It should also include a hard-headed conversation about our own peatlands and whether, in a measured and responsible way, we have become too quick to shut off domestic options only to leave ourselves relying on imports and outside dependence.

And we should not forget our fisheries. For an island nation, that conversation should never have been pushed to the margins. Our seas, our fishing grounds, and the people who work them are part of the same wider question of sovereignty, resilience, food security, and whether Ireland intends to provide for itself or remain endlessly dependent on the decisions of others.

Because the real issue now is not just what Government has announced.

It is whether the people still believe what they are being told.

And once that trust goes, no amount of spin, softening, or carefully managed relief will fully restore it.

As for the trolls, the threats, the usual right-left racket, and the predictable noise from absolutists of every shade, including environmentalists, who I believe deserve a fuller and more thoughtful conversation of their own, I have covered my basic position already.

Let them.

12/04/2026

My Take on the comments under the “My Take on The Protest” post.

Before I say anything else, I want to admit something plainly and honestly: I am genuinely bewildered by the scale of the response to my original post. Stunned, if I am honest. A little shocked, and yes, a little alarmed too. Not because people responded, but because of the sheer reach of it, the depth of feeling in it, and the number of people who clearly saw their own thoughts, frustrations, and fears reflected in what I wrote.

The phrase “My Take” is influenced by Fareed Zakaria’s now well-known preamble on his programme Fareed Zakaria GPS: Global Public Square. It is a phrase I have long liked because it allows space for reflection, interpretation, and honest personal observation.

A note for anyone commenting here:

I support lawful protest, public accountability, and peaceful civic pressure. I do not support threats, violence, intimidation, hatred toward any group, or unlawful action against individuals, An Garda Síochána, our armed forces, or public infrastructure.

Having read through many of the comments under my original post, one thing has become very clear to me.

What I am looking at is not simply a reaction to one protest, one blockade, one policy failure, or one political flashpoint.

What I am looking at is a window into people.

Into their frustration.
Into their fear.
Into their disillusionment.
Into their belief systems.
Into the long road of experience that has shaped how they now see the world, authority, fairness, truth, power, and their own place in society.

In many ways, reading the comments felt less like scanning social media and more like observing a cross-section of human experience laid bare in real time.

Some comments were angry.
Some were thoughtful.
Some were supportive.
Some were critical.
Some were measured.
Some were reckless.
Some were deeply heartfelt.
Some were plainly driven by fear, suspicion, pain, or accumulated resentment.

That, too, is part of the reality.

Human beings are not neat.
We are not uniform.
We are not always rational.
We are not always eloquent.
We are not always fair.
We are not always calm.
But we are always being shaped by what we have lived through, what we have lost, what we have feared, what we have survived, and what we have come to believe.

And that is why the comments matter.

Because beneath the surface noise, I noticed something that struck me deeply.

A remarkable number of people said some version of:
“I wish I had your words.”
“I wish I could express myself like that.”
“I know what I feel, but I would not know how to say it.”

That matters.

Because what I heard in those comments was not lack of intelligence.
It was not lack of depth.
It was not lack of feeling.
It was not lack of truth.

It was lack of confidence.

And I suspect there are many people walking around with strong thoughts, deep instincts, honest observations, and heartfelt convictions, who have been made to feel that unless they can speak with polish, force, elegance, or so-called eloquence, then their voice somehow matters less.

That is simply not true.

Too many people have had their confidence chipped away by mockery, by social pressure, by cultural pressure, by keyboard warriors, by trolls, by performative know-alls, by perceived authority, and sometimes by real authority too.

Too many decent people now hesitate before opening their mouths, not because they have nothing to say, but because they fear sounding foolish, being attacked, being diminished, being laughed at, or being treated as if they are not educated enough, clever enough, important enough, or articulate enough to take part.

I understand that far more than some might imagine.

So let me say this plainly to anyone who felt that way while reading my post:

Have a go.

You do not need to be a wordsmith.
You do not need perfect grammar.
You do not need polished sentences.
You do not need rhetorical flourish.
You do not need anyone’s permission.

You need only enough courage to begin.

Say it plainly.
Say it awkwardly if needs be.
Say it in your own words.
Say it with care.
Say it lawfully.
Say it honestly.

But say it.

Because your voice does not become valid only when it sounds impressive.
Your voice is valid because it is yours.

As a therapist, I see this often in another form. People hold back not because they are empty, but because they are wounded. Not because they are incapable, but because confidence has been undermined, sometimes quietly, sometimes cruelly, and sometimes over many years. In therapy, we do not wait for perfection before encouraging expression. We work carefully, cautiously, and truthfully to help people build confidence by using it.

The same principle applies here.

Not every thought must arrive fully formed.
Not every sentence must sing.
Not every contribution must be profound.

This is not a talent contest.
It is not an audition.
It is not a competition in eloquence.

It is public life.
It is human experience.
It is the right of ordinary people to speak in their own voice about what they see, what they feel, and what they believe is happening around them.

If anything, these comments have reinforced for me that people are hungry not only to be heard, but to trust themselves enough to speak.

That matters enormously.

Because when people lose confidence in their own voice, they do not merely go quiet.
They begin to doubt their own perception.
They begin to mistrust their own judgment.
They begin to hand over too much power to louder people, smoother people, more aggressive people, or people draped in the costume of authority.

And that is never a healthy thing in any society.

So this, for me, is not just about protest.
It is not just about politics.
It is not just about Government.

It is also about confidence.
It is about expression.
It is about fear.
It is about dignity.
It is about whether ordinary men and women feel they have a right to say, in their own imperfect but honest way, “This is what I see. This is what I feel. This is what I believe.”

They do.

I should also say this. I have crafted this post through my therapeutic lens rather than political heat. I am not an academic. I am holistic in how I look at people, behaviour, emotion, meaning, conflict, and the way life experience shapes belief. That is the ground I stand on. So when I read these comments, I am not only reading opinions. I am reading hurt, hope, fear, anger, identity, memory, and the struggle for dignity and expression.

We are an imperfect species and always have been. Human history is full of upheaval, struggle, courage, error, overreach, conflict, learning, and change. That is not evidence of failure. That is evidence that evolution, personal and collective, is still underway.

So my own central position remains what it was from the beginning:
observational,
heartfelt,
and rooted in service.

I am not writing to inflame hatred.
I am not writing to encourage lawlessness.
I am writing because what I saw in those comments reminded me of something important.

There are many people out there with a voice still trapped behind self-doubt.

To those people I say this:

Do not let fear silence you.
Do not let mockery shrink you.
Do not let the noise of empty kettles convince you that your voice has no worth.

It does.

You do not need perfect words to speak truthfully.
You only need the courage to begin.

11/04/2026

My Take on "The Protest"
What we are witnessing in Ireland today should shock every decent citizen.
As blockades are met with increasingly aggressive enforcement, the mask is slipping. This is no longer just about one protest, one grievance, or one stretch of road. This is about the growing distance between a Government and the people it is supposed to serve. And that distance is now being enforced with force, arrogance, and contempt.
Let me be plain. I am not ashamed to say that peaceful resistance should now broaden in scale and seriousness. If those in power continue to ignore the people, then the people will naturally begin to ask whether protest must reach the true arteries of the State: the ports, the airports, and even the Dáil itself. Not out of mindless chaos, not out of hatred for our country, but because this country belongs to the people, not to a political class that has lost the run of itself yet again.
And yes, I might make special mention of our fishermen. I have a deep affinity with our fishing fleet, having served on it myself as a young man. That community has been battered, neglected, sold short, and treated like an inconvenience in their own country. They represent a hard-working, proud strand of Irish life that has been steadily gutted while Government after Government looked the other way. The men who worked the sea built real value for this country. They deserved far better than to be sacrificed on the altar of political indifference and European convenience.
This Government, like too many before it, has forgotten a basic truth: they serve at the pleasure of the people. That is not a slogan. That is the foundation of sovereignty. And sovereignty in this country was not gifted to us. It was fought for. My own grandfather fought the British to secure that sovereignty, and later served as a Guard until his retirement. He understood both sides of duty: duty to country, and duty to the people. That legacy matters to me. It should matter to every person now sitting in office and every person giving orders in the name of the State.
I have always been a law-abiding citizen. I hold real respect for An Garda Síochána and for our military personnel. They are our own. They are not the enemy. They are not the authors of this failure. They should not be turned into the political shock absorbers for a Government that is increasingly deaf to public anger and blind to its own behaviour. Nor should they be put in the degrading position of having to carry out the will of a detached elite whose first instinct is always control.
Once again, we are watching Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael behave as if power is theirs by right. Once again, we are watching Irish life bent around the dictates of Brussels, while the Irish people are expected to smile politely and take what they are given. It is long past time to say it plainly: this is not what sovereignty was won for.
Micheál Martin and Simon Harris display a level of arrogance that is breathtaking. And Jim O’Callaghan, who is currently Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, now sits at the centre of a response that many ordinary people see not as justice, but as political force dressed up as order.
The Irish people are not subjects. We are not an inconvenience. We are not a problem to be managed. We are the nation. And when a Government forgets that simple fact, it should not be surprised when the public mood hardens, broadens, and begins to move from anger to determined resistance.
If they will not listen at the roadside, they may yet be forced to listen at the very doors of power.
Ireland is not the property of politicians, mandarins, or Brussels-minded careerists. It belongs to the Irish people, and the Irish people may be nearing the point where they decide to prove it.
Keyboard Warriors, Fire away. Take pot shots at my take. In the words of Mel Robbins and her bestselling book, "Let them". I care not for your opinion just as you are entitled not to care for mine.

21/11/2025

Be curious. We are all connected in some way!

05/07/2025

05/11/2024

I will just leave this here as a reminder that metal health goes hand in hand with overall wellbeing. https://www.facebook.com/reel/2454671828257813

22/09/2024

Its that time of year, when one might notice feeling a bit down, and it can sometimes be attributed too, "SAD", Seasonal Affective Disorder. Don't wrestle with it, sort it! Give me a shout!!

19/09/2024

We learn the best lessons from the mistakes we make!