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The Cycle of Life

The ECR 2023 poster takes its inspiration from the congress slogan, ‘The Cycle of Life’ and from the beautiful country of Ireland, which is home to ECR 2023 President, Dr. Adrian Brady. 

The foundation of the poster is based on the tri-spiral (triskelion), or ‘Spiral of Life’, an ancient motif carved in the Irish neolithic passage tomb at Newgrange, built around 3200 BC, and represented at the apex of the poster. It has been ascribed many different meanings in different usages; one suggestion is that the spiral of life represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.  

We see the various stages of life depicted on our own poster: a foetus represents the beginning of life, while the roses and the beautiful harp (another nod to Ireland) symbolise melodic growth and blossoming into adulthood. The sun at the 6 o’clock position represents the zenith of life, with a human couple standing together and reaching for the moon. The inclusion of the sun and moon also serve to represent another constant cycle in nature – that of night and day. The images of the heart and kidney represent vital organs necessary to sustain our life cycle, as well as indicating the importance of radiology in enabling us to observe anatomy and pathology throughout life. The later stage of life is represented by an image of disease, a tumour growing in the kidney. One life ends and another begins – the cycle goes on.  

The clock on which all these elements are mounted is shown at 20.23 hrs, the year of our congress.

Finally, all of these elements are connected together through an intricate array of cogs and wheels, powered by one man on a bicycle, keeping all the elements turning by the strength and capacity of his body. This acts as a reminder that each person’s cycle of life is unique, sustained as much as possible by their own abilities and efforts.