MARY-KATE SLATTERY
Age: 22. Sport: Amateur boxer. Works: Third-year law student. Greatest achievement: Overcame childhood anorexia and is now dedicated to raising awareness about fitness and mental health.
Goals: “I would love to go from being an amateur boxer to a professional boxer, once I leave college. I prefer the professional sport and the endurance of it. I find it thrilling and more exciting. I’d also like to pursue post-graduate studies. I love learning. Jack Nicholson once said — ‘The minute you’re not learning, I believe you’re dead’.”
Motivation: Mary-Kate is passionate about sport and using it as an outlet to promote positive mental health and de-stigmatise mental illness in today’s society. “I am motivated by happiness. My happiness and the happiness of others around me. I also want to make an impact. I am sometimes disheartened by the world we live in — how obsessed we can be with material things and objects that are simply not important. How we are so easily influenced by what is not real and how attached we are to living up to a certain standard in society. If everyone can accept themselves, promote self-love and actually figure out what it is that truly inspires and brings joy, the world wouldn’t have half the problems it currently faces.” Women in sport: “Women belong in sport just as much as men do. Ireland has produced, and is producing, incredible female athletes, all of whom will serve to be fantastic role models for future generations. The future of female Irish sport has never looked brighter, in my opinion.”