Fondest Regards - new collection of short plays by the Harbour Playwrights

Fondest Regards - new collection of short plays by the Harbour Playwrights

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the HSE’s Memory Harbour service are delighted to announce the launch of Fondest Regards a new collection of short plays by the Harbour Playwrights.

The Memory Harbour is part of a national network of HSE Memory Technology Resource Rooms (MTRRs). These are assistive technology and memory enablement demonstration sites where people with memory concerns or dementia and their families, when referred, can meet with an Occupational Therapist for a consultation. Each member of the Harbour Playwrights was seen in the Memory Harbour and then invited to participate in this creative writing group. Through this project, they navigated the brain health challenges of planning, organising, meeting new people as well as challenging their language skills to reflect and write this new collection of short plays. 

The group were supported by Michelle Read, Playwright, Catherine Daly, Senior Occupational Therapist and Ciara McWeeney, Senior Speech and Language Therapist to create this new collection of short ‘letter’ plays. 

The Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Cllr. Jim Gildea said:

“Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is delighted to launch this new collection of short plays with the HSE as part of the Council’s Arts and Health Programme. The characters and stories crafted by the group are wonderful and remind us of all the benefits of creativity and its positive impact on our brain health.”

Frank Curran, Chief Executive of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said: 

“Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is very pleased to continue our work with our partners in the health sector to ensure that our wellbeing and arts initiatives continue to anticipate the needs of our ageing population.”

Welcoming the launch of Fondest Regards, Aisling Heffernan, Integrated Healthcare Area Manager, HSE Dublin South and Wicklow, said:

 “The establishment of the Memory Harbour Service in this area in 2019 has greatly enhanced support and engagement with service users and their families.  This collaboration between the Memory Harbour Service, HSE Primary Care, HSE Older Persons and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is beautifully credited and showcased through Fondest Regards, a series of short plays. This example and continued integrated working across all the services in this area will promote the brain health and creativity of our people.

‘Fondest Regards’ was funded by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the HSE and supported by the Memory Harbour. 

If you are interested in receiving a copy of ‘Fondest Regards’ or would like more information about this project, please contact the Arts Office at arts@dlrcoco.ie or (01) 236 2759