Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has been speaking about his struggle to overcome a childhood stammer to encourage others not to let it hold them back.
He was speaking about his personal challenge in support of International Stuttering Awareness Day.
Experts have said much progress has been made in the successful treatment of people with the condition.
In Galway City, Noel Leader and Alan Hogan were supporting each other ahead of a weekly challenge.
Both have successfully overcome stammers but say the hard work is ongoing. As members of the internationally recognised McGuire Course, they adhere rigorously to the exercises in the training programme.
Mr Hogan said they continually challenge themselves by approaching random people on the street to ask directions. He said it is a lifelong commitment.
"It's a bit like fitness. You have to work at it. It's just a little challenge that we do to give ourselves a little boost of confidence," he said.
Noel Leader said a person with a stammer always says their name first as soon as they speak.
"Our names are the hardest words for us to say growing up because they're the first point of contact. So instead of me responding and getting tongue tied with N-N-Noel I take a deep breath and say my name straight out first," said Mr Leader.
There are many famous people who have overcome stammers, including US President Joe Biden, actor Bruce Willis, musician Ed Sheehan, as well as Mr Coveney
Recalling his school years, Mr Coveney said: "For many years I felt I couldn't participate in debating. I struggled to read out loud and it affects a person's confidence in terms of how they socialise and what they can and cannot do.
"I'm one of the lucky ones because as I grew older, I managed to find a way of overcoming a stammer, but many people don't.
"And now it's my job every day to speak to the public, on media, in the Dáil, at public events, and it's important, I think, to show people that because you have a stammer at some point in your life, that doesn't mean that you can't overcome that and find ways of dealing with it and fulfilling your potential," added Mr Coveney.
The Irish Stammering Association (ISA) held a conference in Dublin today. ISA Chairman David Heney said: "Creating a week of events around International Stuttering Awareness Day provides an opportunity for the ISA to showcase the range of supports that we offer to children, families and adults who stammer, as well as friends, family and employers.
"These supports can be life-changing and we believe that stammering does not have to hold you back," said Mr Heney.
Dr Shelly Jo Kraft from Michigan in the US was the keynote speaker at today's conference. She said genes play a significant role in the development of a stammer.
"Now that we've identified new genes for stuttering we can dive into what those genes do, where they're expressed in the brain and how they put a glitch - so to speak - in that motor speech plan between what you want to say and how it comes out.
"It's important though to stress that stammers or stuttering have nothing to do with how you were raised or your personality traits," said Dr Kraft.
