My name is Doireann Barrett & I have been campaigning for better access to Endometriosis Treatment in Ireland since my diagnosis in 2005 at the age of 26.
This time I am fundraising for my own Surgery Costs as I need to leave Ireland for Complex Surgeries that are not currently available in Ireland.
After decades of medical gaslighting and many emergencies, a&e visits, many surgeries, I now need to leave Ireland for Specialist Treatment.
On June 9th, 2016, I lost my uterus through medical negligence after decades of medical gaslighting!
Since that surgery I lost more organs and prior to that surgery I endured a lifetime of medical misogyny and gaslighting since a very young age.
Unfortunately this lead to Legal intervention & on July 4th 2022 the State settled one of my many medical negligence-cases out of court as I was too unwell to attend the original High Court Date, so they settled out of court before we even got the opportunity for my case to be heard in the High Court - it was by far one of the most traumatic experiences of my life being dragged through the court system for systemic medical abuse.
Unfortunately that settlement did not put a dent in the decades of medical debt that I endured or the trauma inflicted.
I never received a state apology for that experience as liability was never accepted and the compensation was an insult to the loss I suffered.
One Month after that settlement I endured my 15th surgery in Ireland which was major surgery but unfortunately it was not with an endometriosis specialist.
Two months after that surgery I watched the documentary "Below the Belt" which exposed decades of medical gaslighting and systematic medical neglect in women' s health.
Since my diagnosis of Endometriosis I have lost 6 organs in total and because I have never been seen by an Endometriosis Specialist on the Island of Ireland I am now facing my 16th surgery in total.
This will be my second outside of state of Ireland since diagnosis and facing the loss of my 7th organ plus a multi disciplinary team is needed to deal with my complex endometriosis which has now spread to other parts of my body.
After decades of campaign work on July 15th 2025 I was invited to attend Irelands first ever Endometriosis Motion in
Dail Eireann our Irish Parliament, as one of many women who attended that evening.
The current Minister of Health Rejected the Motion to open a Centre of Excellence in Ireland and quoted that Irish Women have "the Choice to leave Ireland for Endometriosis Treatment"
That is NOT a Choice I have as Ireland do not have the surgeons needed for my complexity of the disease forcing me out of Ireland to seek medical treatment.
On July 16th 2025 88 TDs voted No to an Endometriosis Centre of Excellence and 69 TDs voted Yes.
On July 21st I was brought to one of our Government Funded Supra Clinics by ambulance but discharged with a care plan to seek specialist surgery outside of Ireland.
In order for me to pay for that surgery I am looking at upwards of £25,000 plus consultation fees, scans, travel and accommodation costs.
I can get some of these costs reimbursed but I must pay upfront before I can apply for reimbursement.
While I will be in recovery from these surgeries I will not be in a position to earn an income causing me to struggle to survive the cost of living crisis that many of us are already navigating while trying to survive off underfunded state supports when we are unable to commit to full time employment due to delays and failures in our healthcare system.
As part of my fundraising goal I plan to invest the money I can reimburse back from these medical costs back into my Cneasu Community Project.
Cneasu was originally set up in my Cafe in Ivy Terrace, Tralee, Co. Kerry, in 2012 as monthly support groups and moved the support online in 2015 when we were forced to shut my cafe due to increased rents.
I renamed the community Cneasu in 2021 which means Healing in the Irish Language.
Cneasu is a community project that hosts Retreats, Support, In Person Events, Podcast & Documentary and is a Not for Profit Community that has been growing organically with very limited resources and a lot of unpaid hours to build it to the community it is today.
In June 2023 I won the Community Achievement Award in the Irish Women's Awards for my work within the community.
In March 2024 Cneasu Hosted Irelands inaugural Endometriosis Retreat to bring Endo warriors and their loved ones together in retreat for friendship & support.
This is an annual event that brings women from all over Ireland and the UK.
Season 1 of Cneasu the Podcast is currently in Production - this is a hugely exciting milestone for me as I am healing through enormous trauma navigating a healthcare system that failed me and generations of our sisters, mothers, daughters, grandmothers and their ancestors.
The Irish Government have never been fully made accountable for our Healthcare Failures in Ireland.
The Endometriosis Framework that was promised has still not been published.
The Endometriosis Framework Specialist Clinics over 7 hospitals do not have multi-disciplinary staffing and currently have 20.6 state paid staff to cater for more than 155,000 women with diagnosis s & are only catering for gynaecology!
Endometriosis which is a Chronic Systemic Inflammatory Disease which can cause serious adverse health conditions where cells (endometriotic) are found throughout the body, found most frequently in the pelvis affecting the pelvic structures, ovaries, bowel, bladder, ureters (tubes from kidney to bladder). These cells can also be found in the diaphragm, lung, pericardium (sac surrounding your heart), skin & brain. Endometriosis is a common condition and has been found in approx. 1 in 9 women, Endometriosis has also been found in Foetuses, Transgender & Cis Males.
Women are losing organs and many women losing their lives because of medical negligence and systemic failures in our country.
Cneasu the Podcast will platform many incredible people in the community whose lives have been traumatically impacted by our State Services and how these amazing people are helping survivors in our communities and who are also on their healing journey.
Cneasu is Irish for healing and is crowdfunding to launch an independent website for Cneasu and to also produce a series of documentaries.
Cneasu is also in the process of becoming a Not For Profit so that as a community we can raise awareness and support more women and their families who are forced out of Ireland for specialist treatment.
I have been campaigning in Ireland now for over ten years to create awareness & looking forward to this next chapter!
You can pledge through this platform to help fund this project or by attending any of our events - any amount will be greatly appreciated.
Cneasu also have a petition on change .org to demand a National Inquiry into the Endometriosis Delays in Ireland, please sign.
You can also sign up to the Cneasu social platforms to be updated on this project.
I appreciate any pledge no matter how big or small and if you are not in a financial position to donate.
Please share amongst your social networks who may be in a better position to pledge.💛✨