Drop Everything And Read Dr Mick Feehan Mick

Drop Everything And Read Dr. Mick Feehan

Mick Feehan - Biography • 35 years in policing – served as Assistant Commissioner Northern Region & Dublin Region – Managing 4, 500 Gardai • Currently executive team member at Dublin Airport Authority – managing 1100 people • Board member Special Olympics Ireland • Interests: Mountain Walking; Sea Swimming; Reading (almost any book I can)

Education • • • Leaving Cert – Pres Birr B. A. in Public Management M. Sc in Criminal Justice Studies Advanced Mgt Diploma MBA (1 st Class Hons) Doctorate in Governance

Dr. Mick Feehan - Education • Retired Garda Assistant Commissioner • B. A. (Hons) in Public Management, I. P. A. • M. Sc. in Criminal Justice Studies – Portsmouth University • Advanced Management Diploma – U. C. D. • M. B. A. (1 st Class Hons) – Smurfit School, U. C. D. • Advanced Management Diploma in Police Leadership, U. C. D. • Doctorate in Governance - Queens University.

High Profile Investigations / Events during my Policing Career • Murder, mutilation and dismemberment: Ireland transfixed by 'Scissor Sisters' case (Ireland Correspondent, David Mc. Kittrick Wednesday 1 November 2006)

Escorting an Taoiseach at St. Patricks Day Parade – O’Connell Street Dublin

• The Queen in Ireland: security operation is largest in republic's history (The telegraph)

The Queen Arrives at Trinity

Policing the Queens Visit

Kilimanjaro – Southern Ice Field

Kilimanjaro – Uhuru Peak – 5895 M

Mount Elbrus, Russia – 5642 M

Challenges at High Altitude • Mountain Sickness – Breathlessness - Nausea - Headaches - Poor Sleep - Pulmonory (HAPE) / Cerebral Edema (HACE) • ‘Pole - Pole’ (Swahili) - aclamitise

Touching The Void • 6, 344 -metre (20, 813 foot) Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes • 1985 – Joe Simpson and Simon Yates complete the first ever ascent • As you read the book – ask yourself why did they do this

Touching the Void Siula Grande 6344 M

Touching The Void - Foreword All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. (T. E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom)

Touching the Void Some Thoughts From the Book

Overcome Your Fears / Uncertainty • I knew it wasn’t difficult, but I was standing on an open face with a drop of nearly 4, 000 feet below me and felt very unnerved by the exposure…I knew it would take just a couple of moves to reach easier ground…I calmed down and thought out the few moves I needed to make. When I tried again I was surprised at how easy it seemed. (Touching the Void: P 47)

Personal Q. – Where will your future bring you? Be brave enough to dream Inform your dreams – Reading is one way Be even braver by following your dream Achieving your dream will not ‘just happen’ – it requires you to put the effort in • Sometimes it gets tough – stick with it • Ultimately it is your responsibility – this is not a dress rehearsal • Exam Q. Where will your dream take you? • •

Friendship • Friendship - would Joe Simpson have managed the first part of the descent without help? • Friends are valuable –so work on it.

Friendship • We had locked ourselves into a grim struggle, my part was pain-wracked, Simon’s an endless physical battle to get me down almost 3, 000 feet without a break…Simon knew all the time that he could descend alone quite safely if he chose (Touching the Void P 89)

Prepare & Plan • Our fatal mistake was made before we left base-camp – We hadn’t allowed ourselves enough gas to keep us hydrated…to save weight we pared everything down to the minimum. It left us no time to manoeuvre when things started to go drastically wrong…for the sake of a canister of gas to melt ice and snow for warm drinks, we had to carry on. (Touching the Void P 205)

Stick With It • Fortitude in the face of adversity – if Joe had given up he would have died. • To succeed you need persistence ( don’t give up)

On Reading • A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies – The man who never reads lives only one. (George R. R. Martin) • Think before you speak. Read before you think (Fran Lebowitz) • Reading has been a real passion in my life and has informed my ambitions about places I might want to see – many of which I have now seen

Conclusion • Think about what success might look like for you (academic: sport: life) • Set your compass towards achieving it. • Think about ‘how do I get there’ – what do I need to work on • Don’t be afraid to aim high – and believe you can get there