On a Tuesday afternoon, rain pelting, Deirbhile Brennan spoke to Adam Shanley from, ironically, inside a closet. Their conversation had been delayed slightly: Storm Ciara, raging the previous day, had landed Adam in hospital for an x-ray. But eventually she got to ask him the most burning question – how was his night at the GALAS?

Deirbhile Brennan

Adam Shanley with his partner Francisco Figueroa

Adam Shanley of HIV Ireland is the director of the MPOWER programme, which focuses on grassroots, community-led HIV testing. At the GALAS he was nominated for the LGBT+ Role Model Award, with HIV Ireland being nominated for the Noel Walsh HIV Activism Award. He was modest about the nominations - “It’s great to be recognised,” he acknowledged, praising the other nominees and winners in both categories.

MPOWER and HIV Ireland do deserve any and all of the recognition that has, only recently, been on the rise. The campaign, which is funded by the HSE, is the result and culmination of many years of hard work and grassroots campaigning by Shanley and many others. Adam has been working with, and campaigning for, People Living With HIV for nearly five years. As part of his work with HIV Ireland, he began to notice the deficits in terms of services and resources, and campaigned for a redevelopment of GBT men’s health communications. “We made a bit of noise, in pure activist mode,” he laughs. But it worked.