'Women are neglected': Councillor shares diagnosis after years of constant pain

Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan shares her five-year struggle with chronic pain as she calls for improved government support for endometriosis and adenomyosis patients

Add to preferred sources News Stephen Holland Local Democracy Reporter 12:13, 03 Sep 2026 View 2 Images Councillor Janice Boylan pictured in hospital. (Image: Instagram @cllrjaniceboylan)

A Dublin inner-city councillor says a recent diagnosis has left her shocked by "how much women are neglected in this country when it comes to their health” after years of living in constant pain.

Sinn Féin Councillor Janice Boylan has taken to social media to voice her support and raise awareness for campaigns around endometriosis and adenomyosis. These conditions affect the lining of the uterus and lead to severe, ongoing pain among sufferers.

While Cllr Boylan explained that she always supports campaigns calling for healthcare reforms, better funding, and shorter waits for diagnosis, she said it was only after getting an adenomyosis diagnosis herself she fully realised just how much women’s voices aren’t being heard in Ireland. She said that some medical professionals are “gaslighting” women, many of whom wait decades for official diagnosis.

Cllr Boylan has been no stranger to health concerns in recent months, as she suffered facial paralysis and was hospitalised due to Bell's palsy last June . While undergoing treatment, Cllr Boylan told doctors about the pain she’s been “constantly” feeling for over five years.

“They did an ultrasound on me and they found out that I had a thing called adenomyosis,” the O' Devaney Gardens native stated. While many may be familiar with endometriosis, which sees tissue grow outside the uterus, commonly on the ovaries and fallopian tubes, this condition sees tissue grow into the muscular wall of the uterus itself.

“It causes severe pain. Back pain, shoulder, leg, sides, pelvic floor pain. I am constantly in pain. There is no day where I wake up and don’t feel pain. Some days I really struggle,” she said.

After learning of her diagnosis, Cllr Boylan has been researching the condition and speaking with others, which made her realised just how much more the government needs to do to address women’s concerns and ensure people can deal with these conditions better. “It really is only when you are in something yourself that you absolutely know how bad it is,” she said.

For this reason, Cllr Boylan said she aims to use her platform as a North Inner City representative to “speak up” and share her experiences. She stressed that there is an urgent need to be “doing more when it comes to women’s health in this country”.

“We know our bodies. We know what is going on. We just keep the medical professionals to help us, guide us and listen to us,” she said.

Often, the solution to medical problems is to put people on pain medication that they can often remain on for the rest of their lives, she said. But, Cllr Boylan believes there is a need to explore other options and “not just pawn us off”.

“I have a huge issue with medicating a problem when you could address it with a different solution. If there is another option that you can opt for, it would be more helpful than staying on medication for years and years,” she said.

“I want to throw my weight behind any campaign out there in relation to endometriosis and adenomyosis. The endometriosis campaign is in full swing and I support both.”

Cllr Boylan’s testimonial comes amid ongoing campaigns to raise awareness around severe women's health issues like Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), adenomyosis and endometriosis. Last February, a public meeting hosted by People Before Profit Cllr Conor Reddy was held at the Axis Centre in Ballymun which called out the “systemic medical misogyny” women often face.

One speaker was Shauna Halpin, who has spoken candidly about the challenges she faced through years of misdiagnosis before finally gaining an official PMDD diagnosis. PMDD affects an estimated 3–8% of women of reproductive age.

Sometimes dismissed as ‘bad PMS,’ the truth is this is a a severe, cyclical hormone-related condition that can cause extreme depression, panic, rage, intrusive thoughts and suicidal ideation. For some women, it can be completely life-disrupting, affecting work, relationships and safety.

View 2 Images PMDD advocate Shauna Halpin and People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy

As a condition only classified by the World Health Organisation as a disease in 2019 many are unaware of the realities of PMDD. This is why Ms Halpin is campaigning to have PMDD and endometriosis included in the secondary school SPHE curriculum to raise awareness among young women who may be suffering from the conditions.

She is also highlighting the importance of including PMDD in undergraduate medical education and postgraduate medical training schemes, particularly in general practice. Having engaged with multiple members of the Oireachtas, Ms Halpin hopes to organise public meetings across the city and country in the near future.

“PMDD can feel like losing yourself every single month. For some women it is a matter of survival. We need awareness in schools so girls know what is normal and what is not. We need proper education for doctors so women are not dismissed. And we need a national conversation about how serious this condition can be,” Ms Halpin said on Virgin Media's Ireland AM.

Cllr Reddy’s background studying for a PhD in Immunology means he has insider insight into just how important accurate education around medical issues are. “As a biomedical scientist, I have seen how research funding, publishing and medical education have historically side-lined women’s health,” he said.

“Conditions like PMDD and endometriosis have been under-researched, underfunded and under-recognised. We need the state to act to undo the damage that systemic medical misogyny has caused. This begins with changes to curricula, investment in service delivery and more dedicated resourcing of public health educational campaigns targeting women.”

This content is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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