Munster Express journalist Robyn Power has been shortlisted for a Mental Health Media Award.
The Shine Mental Health Media Awards 2025 recognises excellence in Irish media coverage of mental health across all platforms and celebrates journalists, producers, editors and content creators whose work improves public understanding of mental health, challenges stereotypes and fosters informed discussion.
Robyn is one of five shortlisted entrants in the Student Journalism Award, for her piece ‘Adult ADHD in Ireland’, a podcast she produced as a student while at Munster Technological University, Cork. As part of her podcast documentary, she interviewed Martin Finn, Service Development Manager for Cork at ADHD Ireland; Dr. Vicky Matthews, Senior Clinical Psychologist and founder of The Compass Clinic in Cork; Dr. Mary Evans, a general adult psychiatrist based in Cork who has 15 years of experiences in Mental Health; and Alana Good, a content creator on TikTok who made a number of videos about her own experiences about only being diagnosed with ADHD when she was an adult.
"I'm delighted to be shortlisted for the Student Journalism Award in this year's Shine Mental Health Media Awards,” said Robyn.
“I decided to create a podcast on the topic of adult ADHD for one of my MA projects as I had seen a rise in content about it being posted online, and wanted to explore the reasons behind this, and what the situation is like in Ireland at the moment for adults seeking an ADHD assessment,” she said.
“We had a professional talk from a Shine Media Programme representative during my time in college, and it was great to gain an insight into how vitally important it is to ensure responsible reporting around mental health topics.
“I would like to thank Shine for their recognition of the podcast, as well as all of my lecturers and mentors in MTU for the support and encouragement they gave me throughout my studies. I would also like to give a huge thank you to the team at The Munster Express for supporting me in beginning my professional career,” added Robyn.
Before joining The Munster Express, Robyn graduated from MTU with an MA in Journalism and Digital Content Creation. She also holds a BA in English Literature from University College Cork.
The Mental Health Media Awards is sponsored by Coimisiún na Meán and there are 12 categories in the awards.
Shine’s Media Programme is a national programme for responsible reporting and representation of mental illness and suicide, recognised globally for innovative media-and-mental-health practice.
The winners will be announced at an event in Dublin on 3 December, next.
