{"id":36196,"date":"2026-09-04T15:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/36196\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:02:11","slug":"minister-patrick-odonovan-says-life-has-changed-dramatically-since-falling-ill-in-brussels-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/36196\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister Patrick O\u2019Donovan says life has changed \u2018dramatically\u2019 since falling ill in Brussels \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minister for Media Patrick O\u2019Donovan<\/a> has said his day-to-day life has changed \u201cdramatically\u201d after he was hospitalised in Brussels in July<\/a>. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donovan was attending an event for Ireland\u2019s EU<\/a> presidency when he fell ill in the Belgian capital. <\/p>\n

The Limerick TD has previously spoken about his epilepsy diagnosis. <\/p>\n

He collapsed after suffering from an episode while speaking in the D\u00e1il in 2023. <\/p>\n

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, O\u2019Donovan said: \u201cI have an underlying condition, I have epilepsy, so I had an episode bigger than usual … not the kind of thing I want to have repeated to be quite honest about it. \u201c <\/p>\n

He praised the hospital staff in Brussels along with the staff in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut look, I want to say that I got fantastic care in the hospital I was taken to in Brussels and as soon as it was safe for me to be moved back to Ireland, I was moved. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy own team in Beaumont were part of the decision-making process around that, and I haven\u2019t come back to work without them knowing it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t come back to work without the realisation that I have to change a few things. I\u2019m in the process of doing that.\u201d <\/p>\n

He thanked Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> and T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris<\/a> for \u201cthe support they gave me as leaders of the Government and their understanding of the condition that I have\u201d. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Donovan said: \u201cI suppose the manner in which I go about my day-to-day life has changed dramatically and there are more changes to come. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy life will be the better for it, and I certainly think my output will be the better for it as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

He did not go into futher detail when talking about how his life has changed. But O\u2019Donovan said he hopes to be an example that people with conditions like epilepsy can carry out roles in public life and should not have to leave jobs they love. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor people with an underlying neurological condition or a disability it is important to show in public life that you can have it and not have to give up your position … and not have a disability or a condition and have to leave behind a job that you feel like you\u2019re making a big difference in and have more to offer to. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to continue in my role, there are a number of things that I think are really important in the brief I have as Culture, Communication and Sport Minister.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minister for Media Patrick O\u2019Donovan has said his day-to-day life has changed \u201cdramatically\u201d after he was hospitalised in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,18,125,15730],"class_list":["post-36196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-belgium","tag-brussels","tag-european-union","tag-patrick-o-donovan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/117213380526236853","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}