Reflect, Reimagine, Renew - My thoughts about IPPN Conference 2025

I like to take some time to reflect after IPPN conference. The come down can be hard, it often feels like post-conference blues for a little while. We spend the weeks leading up to it looking forward to it and the conference itself is such a high, that when it's done it's like oh, what now! 

I met someone at this year's conference who said to me it was her first conference after years as a Principal, and that my posts about the conference last year made her decide she'd definitely prioritise it this year. It's hard to describe the pride that made me feel, without feeling weird about sharing it. It's only one person, but feeling that you can make a difference, to one person, to one adult or one child, is why we do this job. It's also why I put time into social media. I hope she loved it at much as I do. 

I've tried many a time to describe what makes IPPN conference so special to me, and I struggle! It's not one thing, but it's the combination of many. At its core, it's the time and space. 

The 3 days makes it feel like there's space to breathe, space to be, but also space to belong. Surrounded by people who are all in the same storm. We may be on different boats, but we all get it. There's a common understanding and space and time to just be in it together. There's something very special in that. 

There's a few hundred interactions, quick chats or long conversations, a wave, a smile and many many hugs. There's the “how's it going” that you might be asked 100 times by different people, and the answers can vary from “tipping along” to “flying it” to “X is really hard” depending on the person, the time of day (or night) or the mood. 

There's time to spend with good friends who you don't get to see enough. To eat with them, wander around the expo with them (expo theme of the year was spin the wheels and trolley keys) and have real conversations with them. There's also time to laugh with them (so much laughter), have the craic with each other and just breathe. Oh, and the dancing with them and late conversations into the night. 

There's also the people you just see once a year here. You might know them from a previous job, from Misneach, many of them from online, but when you see them each year there's a hug, a smile and a genuine happiness to see each other. For me, there's also so many wonderful people who just come to say hi, to introduce themselves or to say thank you for something that helped them, which feels like an incredible privilege (even if I never know what to say!). There are passing waves and smiles to people who would love to get to chat with but you're both lost in the throng, but you see them. 

There are always speakers who make me think, who make me consider, who make me question and wonder. Keith Young, Philly McMahon and in particular Anne Looney for me did this year. 

There are also the unplanned conversations that can make you miss a workshop, like a wonderful catch up with Patricia Mannix McNamara this year. We did agree there was a weird feeling among Principals this year, I couldn't put a finger on it or words on it. In recent years I'd have said people were stressed or overwhelmed or angry about it. This year felt different. It might seem bleak but it felt a little like acceptance or despair about the role. Lots of new faces, lots of old friends missing because they couldn't sustain the job. A lot to think about there too. 

But there's also the buzz. The energy of being able to let it go, to just be. A friend was attending for the first time and was really nervous in advance. Felt anxious and a bit sick at the thought of it. When I met her Thursday night (at a time what can best be described as when they play Maniac 2000 in the residents bar) she talked about how amazing it was, how she couldn't have imagined it. She described it with the absolutely perfect metaphor. 

She said it was like taking your bra off at the end of the day. 

Collectively breathing and letting go. Settling in to just be. Keith Ó Brollacháin, there's a good one for your next Breathwork workshop 👀. 

So many people I know from online that I got to see, say hi to hug and just catch up with their lives a little bit. People I respect, who I value and whose work, online and in real life, makes a difference to me.

It always makes me think about the importance of our support networks and how to create space for more of the conversations, and not just once a year. It makes me look forward to the next chance at Oide mentoring days in December. 

The IPPN values are Misneach, Tacaíocht and Spreagadh. I think courage, support and inspiration sum up what the IPPN conference is to me. What I get out of it and what I hope others do too. 

To every person who contributed to that, thank you. To the organisers, the inspirational speakers, the expo workers. To the Principals who created the atmosphere, to everyone who said hi, or had a chat. To my friends who were friends before I got there, and the new friends who I only met there. To everyone who made the conference what it was. 

Thank you ❤️ 

The conference theme was Reflect, Reimagine, Renew. 

Success ✅