10th February 2026
Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (CFI) in collaboration with photographer, Trevor O’Donoghue, are proud to announce the opening of ‘The Cost of Breathing’ photography exhibition at the CFI Conference on 7th February 2026.
The launch of the exhibition marks the beginning of a national tour which aims to highlight the societal and economic challenges that many people living with Cystic Fibrosis (pwCF) face, despite advancements in recent years.
Research conducted by CFI in 2025 shows the significant financial burden many people with CF and their families regularly face. Among the findings are:
- 44.9% of pwCF struggling to meet their monthly bills
- 28.1% of pwCF are unable to work due to their CF
- 30.3% of those pwCF in full time employment experience enforced deprivation
- 63.8% of pwCF receiving Disability Allowance experience enforced deprivation
Presenting the data at the CFI National Conference 2026, Sarah Tecklenborg, CEO CFI, commented “Our research highlighted the significant financial burden many people with CF and their families face daily. Whether they are a parent who gives up work for the caring responsibilities required to keep a child with CF well, a person with CF covering the extensive costs of multiple hospital visits each year or missing education or career opportunities due to CF, there are significant lifelong financial stresses associated with CF”
Cystic Fibrosis Ireland today highlight the enforced deprivation and emerging challenges for people with Cystic Fibrosis, despite the improvement in life experience and expectancy in recent years.
Killarney based photographer, Trevor O’Donoghue of Radharc Perspective & Life Coaching, is a person with CF. He became involved in the project to strengthen awareness of the realities of living with the condition, which is sometimes referred to as a hidden disability/illness.
“Ireland is no stranger to the story of CF. The journey from being a childhood illness to the positivity that we see now, has been paved with many great advocacy and awareness initiatives. However, this exhibition tells an untold part of that story and asks what it feels like to survive in a system that often overlooks your needs. A place where everything has a cost, even the breath in your lungs,” O’Donoghue explains.
“I created seven pieces which were first shown at the online exhibition in October. Each one is embedded in a different emotion, illustrated with a different colour and highlights the very real issues of life with CF. These are based on first-hand, lived experience, but also second and third hand experiences, through discussions with my partner, who also lives with an illness, and others in the CF community in Ireland.”
Tecklenborg continues, “We are incredibly proud to be working with Trevor and would like to thank the Library Services and other locations for featuring the exhibition. 'The Cost of Breathing' is not a comfortable story, but it is one told with hope. Trevor confronts the pervasiveness of social and economic poverty yet shares the positivity of his story. We invite everyone to visit the exhibition and join us on the journey to highlight and address these uneasy truths,”
“Trevor confronts the pervasiveness of social and economic poverty yet shares the positivity of his story. We invite everyone to visit the exhibition and join us on the journey to highlight and address these uneasy truths,”
The photographs were first exhibited online in October 2025 and are now open to the public in multiple locations around Ireland.
ENDS
Exhibition locations
2026 exhibition dates and locations as follows (subject to change):
10th – 20th February
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Killarney Library, Kerry
23rd Feb to 8th March
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Westside Library, Galway
12th to 20th March
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Ballinasloe Library, Galway
23rd March to 4th April
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Celbridge Library, Kildare
6th to 10th April
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The Atrium, Cork City Hall, Cork
5th to 15th May
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Balbriggan Library, Dublin
18th to 22nd May
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Blanchardstown Library, Dublin
25th May – 5th June
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Bundoran Library, Donegal
9th June to 25th June
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Virginia Library, Cavan
Online
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Virtual gallery available here.
