MINDFREEDOM IRELAND ELECTROSHOCK PROTEST – DUBLIN 2026.
‘Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive’ C.S. Lewis.
MindFreedom Ireland is a psychiatric survivor-led movement which leads a campaign based on respect for the dignity of all people, grounded in human rights and calls for the total abolition of electroshock. We are also opposed to all forms of forced ‘treatment’, especially forced drugging, a practice routinely carried on in psychiatric hospitals in Ireland today.
Since our foundation in Cork in 2003, we have held an annual public protest against electroshock before moving it to Dublin in 2024.
Our protest this year was held outside the iconic and historic General Post Office on O’Connell Street, a building forever associated with revolutionary Ireland’s struggle for independence.
‘Do they still do that?’ is the response when the public is told electroshock is still being used today in Irish psychiatric hospitals, and the answer is definitely ‘Yes, it is’.
The latest figures for 2024 from The Mental Health Commission, the body charged with overseeing the procedure, show that 236 people were electroshocked and that 315 programmes were administered. A programme generally consists of between 8 and 12 electroshocks, and altogether, 2,580 individual ‘treatments’ were carried out.
Electroshock involves deliberately inducing a grand-mal seizure in a person by passing a current of up to 450 volts through their brain. It is frequently administered without fully informed consent and, legally, under The Mental Health Act, can even be forced on people against their will on the say-so of two psychiatrists. In 2024, 389 ‘treatments’ were so administered.
Twice as many women as men were shocked, many of them elderly. Electroshock causes cellular brain damage resulting in memory loss, disorientation and cognitive dysfunction.
These facts were highlighted at our Dublin protest on Sunday, May 17th. Approximately 30 activists participated. Over 900 information leaflets were distributed, personal testimonies were publicly shared, and many interactions took place with the passing public.
MindFreedom Ireland sincerely appreciates the efforts of all those who took part in the 3-hour protest, some of whom had travelled from various parts of the country. We particularly want to express our gratitude to Anna Morrone, whose fundraising efforts last year, along with Derek’s, were of tremendous assistance in financing this year’s protest.
We would also like to place on record our gratitude to Edith for undertaking all the nitty-gritty business of organising teeshirts, leaflets, placards, tables, chairs, etc., a by no means easy task in a busy O’Connell Street.
Our thanks too to Mary, Jeroen, Gavin, Eilis, Derek and David for their organising efforts and to Margaret for recording a photographic gallery of the day and the many others who participated, including Geraldine, Sasa, Niamh, Michelle, Marie-Therese, Mary, and Anthony
We were also delighted to be joined by Karen McCarthy and her Occupational Therapy students from The Dominican University of California, maintaining a tradition which began around 2011.
These days of protest play a vital part in affording those of us who have experienced electroshock a voice to express our truthful reactions to the practice in the face of the overwhelmingly loud barrage of propaganda in its defence by The Psychiatric Establishment.
Jim Maddock,
May 19th, 2026.
www.mindfreedomireland.com
We will have new photos soon.
