Prof Mary Horgan re-elected as RCPI President

Infectious diseases specialist, Prof Mary Horgan, has been re-elected by Fellows of the RCPI as President to serve a second term of office.

Prof Horgan, who has served as President since October 2017, will commence her new three-year term next month. Prof Horgan is the first female President of the College in its 366 year history and the first President to serve a second consecutive term since 1894.

Prof Horgan is looking forward to continuing her work to focus on issues in medical training and education, doctor recruitment and retention and informing and supporting the efforts by frontline staff to provide high standards of patient care during this pandemic.

Speaking about her re-election Prof Horgan said: “It is a great honour to be re-elected by my peers and colleagues. I am very much looking forward to the next three years which are likely to be extremely challenging for everyone working in the health service and the wider population. I am committed to supporting our Trainees, Members and Fellows in their day to day work” she said.

As an infectious disease specialist, Prof Horgan has also been to the forefront of informing the public about how we can live with Covid19 during these challenging times. “It is important that we learn to live with this disease which will be with us for some time yet. We should live with caution rather than fear. There are basic things that we all can do to keep this disease at bay such as washing our hands, socially distancing, wearing masks and avoiding crowds. This is how we will protect each other and the more vulnerable people in our communities. 

“Every family knows, or has someone who has diabetes, chronic heart disease or cancer. It is essential that we all try to protect our family, friends and colleagues as best we can. Lots of small actions amount to a big response to suppress Covid19. We have all made great efforts, and while we are tired, we can again unite to bring the levels of Covid19 in our communities lower. This is how we will ensure that our children can continue to attend school, that businesses will be able to reopen safely and that the health services can provide care for everyone who needs it in a timely way in the weeks and months ahead” Prof Horgan said. 

She congratulated the newly elected members of Council: Prof Colm Bergin (Medicine), Dr Ronan Collins (Medicine), Prof John Cooke (Medicine), Prof  Francis Finucane (Medicine), Dr Emer Kelly (Medicine), Prof Cathy McHugh (Medicine) and Dr Yvonne Smyth (Medicine) and looks forward to working with them.

Prof Mary Horgan is from Tralee, Co Kerry.  She graduated from UCD in 1986 and was awarded her MD in 1995, MRCPI in 1988 and FRCPI in 1997. She has served on the board of the Health Products Regulatory Authority and the Mercy University Hospitals Cork, the Governing Body of UCC and was formerly a Board Member of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and former Chair of the Council of Deans of Medical Schools in Ireland.