Winner of the 21st Ann Beckett Award - Catherine Daly
Yellow Days – a poetry group and collection by the Harbour Poets
Congratulations to Catherine Daly, winner of the 2025 Ann Beckett Award for her outstanding project Yellow Days – a poetry group and published collection by the Harbour Poets. This year’s award is especially significant as it marks the 21st anniversary of the Ann Beckett Award, established to honour excellence and innovation in Occupational Therapy in Ireland.
Catherine, with her trademark energy and enthusiasm, was inspired by her own experience of writing and reading poetry publicly. What began as a conversation about creativity and brain health grew into a funded programme in collaboration with published poet Grace Wilentz. Together they supported clients with memory impairment to write poetry, creating a nurturing space where participants explored brain health, strengthened executive function and built friendships through meaningful occupation.
The group wrote and shared their own poems, with the reflective environment encouraging expression across the full range of human emotions. Participants described gaining new perspectives on themselves and their lives. The project exemplifies the principles of collaboration, inclusion and empowerment that are at the heart of Occupational Therapy.
Yellow Days was a collaboration between the Memory service based at Clonskeagh Hospital and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Arts Office. You can download a copy of the Yellow Days poetry collection here.
Catherine will be presented with the specially commissioned trophy at the AOTI Annual Conference Dinner on Thursday 2nd October in the Mullingar Park Hotel. She will also showcase her award-winning work at the conference’s opening plenary session. You can book your place here now.
The Ann Beckett Award Committee would like to thank all the other applicants for their excellent projects. These projects reflect the values of the Ann Beckett Award and follow the foundations that leaders like Ann Beckett have laid, to ensure innovative and life changing practice by Occupational Therapists.
The Ann Beckett Award is kindly supported by O’Neill Healthcare.
AOTI Ann Beckett Committee
Catherine Day pictured with Cllr. Jim O’Leary, Cathaoirleach, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the members of the Harbour Poets group at the launch of the Yellow Days poetry collection on 16th January 2025.
Image (L-R): Roger; Nicky O'Reilly; Majella Quinlan; Mary Kinsella; Cllr Jim O'Leary, Cathaoirleach Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council; Catherine Keogh, Senior Occupational Therapist; Anne Bushe; Harriet Conlon; David Finnucane and Máire Davey, Assistant Arts Officer, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
