Donie's news Ireland BLOG update

An estimated €400,000 raised in Majella O’Donnell's head shave cancer appeal

 

(Right photo) Majella's first reaction to a TV monitor view of her shaven head 

‘Phenomenal response’ to TV appearance by Majella O’Donnell who had her head shaved for charity, A very brave woman.

The Irish Cancer Society has received an estimated €400,000 in donations following last night’s appearance on The Late Late Show by cancer sufferer Majella O’Donnell.

Viewers saw Mrs O’Donnell – businesswoman and wife of the singer Daniel – have her head shaved to raise funds to combat the disease. Mrs O’Donnell was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and started a course of chemotherapy treatment last week.

Calling on the public to donate to the Irish Cancer Society, Mrs O’Donnell said: “I would love it if anyone who would like to contribute to this most worthwhile cause, could start donating today”

Mrs O’Donnell received a standing ovation from audience members who watched as she had her head shaved.

The scale of the response was described by the Irish Cancer Society as “phenomenal.”

Gráinne O’Rourke, communications manager with the Irish Cancer Society, said: “We are absolutely thrilled. We are taken aback at the generosity of the Irish people again. The volume of respondents has just been enormous and needless to say we are incredibly grateful to them.”

Ms O’Rourke said donations are still being made and by this afternoon was “around the €250,000 mark”.

“We are so grateful to Majella. It is such a generous thing for her to have done”.

Viewers of the show were invited to make donations through the cancer.ie website but a surge of traffic caused it to crash several times last night. These problems have since been rectified and the site is now fully operational.

The public can donate in three ways. The fundraising phone number is 1850 606060, the website is http://www.cancer.ie and the text number 50300 which accepts a €4 donation.

Michael D Higgins says economic stress in Europe leading to high suicide risks

 

IRISH PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS

82 PER CENT OF ALL IRISH SUICIDE CASES IN 2010 WERE MEN.

Irish people are under greater pressure and are much more at risk of suicide because of ‘new insecurities’ in employment, Irish President Michael D Higgins has claimed.

The ‘stripping away of security of employment’ through a new job market of ‘increased temporary and part-time work is causing greater stresses,’ he told the press after speaking to a conference to mark world suicide prevention day which falls today, September 10.

Increased financial pressure on people has created ‘new obligations’ for institutions in ‘the way that people are spoken to,’ he said.

‘Looking right across not just the European Union but the western world we are stripping away the security of employment where it exists and we are introducing far greater stresses of casualization in both temporary work, in relation to part-time work, in relation to the structure and definition of work itself,’ President Higgins said.

  More people are now at risk of suicide in Ireland because of economic factors he said. ‘What research suggests internationally is that an increase in the at-risk, the pre-disposing factors, are related to economic factors.

‘Certainly in Ireland at the present time there is a great deal of additional distress on people in relation to unemployment in relation to poverty and particularly in relation to mortgage distress,’ he said.

According to the Irish Times the president said that peer pressure, new technology and a lad culture which involved alcohol abuse and homophobia were other factors in suicide rates.

Stigma over mental health practices also needs to be tackled since it ‘keeps people from seeking help,’ President Higgins said.

Last week the National Office for Suicide Prevention published a report showing 495 people took their own lives in Ireland in 2010 and 82 per cent were men.

Over 40 per cent were reportedly men under 40 years while there were 12,000 incidents of self-harm recorded in hospital emergency departments.

Big protest demonstrations over closure of acute mental health unit in Galway

   

HSE PLANS TO SHUT €2.8 MILLION UNIT IN BALLINASLOE DESPITE LOCAL OPPOSITION

OPPOSITION TO HSE PLANS TO CLOSE A NEW €2.8 MILLION ACUTE PSYCHIATRIC UNIT IN EAST GALWAY IS SET TO INTENSIFY WITH TWO DEMONSTRATIONS PLANNED OVER THE COMING DAYS.

A rally is due to take place in Ballinasloe tomorrow over the proposed closure of the unit, while there will also be a demonstration outside the Dáil nextWednesday.

A delegation from the locality has sought a meeting with Minister of State for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch to convey serious public concern over the plans.

The Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (PNA) says that the removal of acute beds from St Brigid’s Psychiatric Hospital in Ballinasloe without appropriate community facilities having been put in place first was “never envisaged” under the Government’s Vision for Change strategy on mental health.

Controversial decision
Senior mental health service managers in Co Galway have already appealed directly to national director of mental health services Stephen Mulvany to review the controversial decision, which involves referring patients who would use the Ballinasloe unit on to an older unit at Roscommon.

The managers told the director in a letter during the summer that they could not understand how a facility which has just been refurbished, at a cost of €2.8 million, could be seen as less modern than the unit at the department of psychiatry at Roscommon County Hospital, which was last fully refurbished more than 20 years ago.

Roscommon’s hospital has no 24-hour emergency unit, unlike Portiuncula in Ballinasloe, which maintains a close relationship with St Brigid’s.

At a public meeting last month, Roscommon Independent TD Denis Naughten described the Ballinasloe unit as “state of the art – the most modern in the country”, and said that the scoring system used by the HSE to arrive at the decision made no sense. “Over the summer mental health patients in Roscommon were being sent to Galway because there was no room for them in Roscommon or in Ballinasloe. This decision to close Ballinasloe is simply crazy,” he said.

Cut beds
PNA national secretary Noel Giblin said that the HSE was using the Vision for Change strategy to cut beds without having the community supports in place to meet thedemand for services.

HSE West said that the closure is part of a transition towards community-based alternatives and that there are sufficient resources in Galway and Roscommon to meet the needs of the patients under Vision for Change.

Anti-bullying plan to go in place for Irish schools by Easter 2014

     

For the first time, every school must have a policy to deal with cyber-bullying, Every primary and secondary school in the Irish State will be legally obliged to have strong, clear procedures on bullying established by Easter, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has warned.

For the first time, every school must have a policy to deal with cyber-bullying.

Introducing his department’s “anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools” yesterday, Mr Quinn said prevention, rather than simply responding to incidents of bullying, would now have to be an integral part of every school’s policy.

He said bullying often had a devastating and lifelong impact on children and young people. The procedures were a step towards “putting an end” to it.

Template provided
While many schools already dealt well with bullying, some did not. For these, a template will be provided, which must be used and included as the core of every school’s anti-bullying policy,

The template defines bullying as “unwanted negative behaviour, verbal, psychological or physical, conducted by an individual or group against another person or persons and which is repeated over time”.

It includes deliberate exclusion, malicious gossip and other forms of relational bullying, cyber-bullying and identity-based bullying perpetrated on an individual, for example, because of their sexual orientation, ethnicity, social class or special education needs.

Hubert Loftus, principal officer at the Department of Education, said the new procedures replaced and updated guidelines issued in 1993 “to reflect modern forms of bullying”.

They would ensure greater transparency to parents and guardians. A school’s anti-bullying policy, its procedures and contact points would have to be published on its website.

The best way to address bullying in any school was by creating a “positive school culture, in terms of being respectful in pupil to pupil relationships, teacher to teacher and how adults behave as role models”, he said, adding that there was a strong focus on a school’s culture and environment in the procedures.

Positive school culture
There are tips for schools on creating a positive school culture, including on how to build pupils’ self-esteem, raising awareness about appropriate online behaviour and staying safe online, inclusion of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) posters on noticeboards and holding discussions on identity, relationships and sexual identity.

“The primary focus when you are investigating and dealing with bullying is not on apportioning blame but on dealing with the underlying issues and doing as much as possible to restore the relationship between the pupils,” said Mr Loftus.

“These are mandatory procedures. There is a legal framework . . . under the Education and Welfare Act.”

Parents could be confident the procedures would be implemented as oversight had been strengthened.

“The school principal will be reporting to the board of management on a regular basis and the board of management will conduct an annual review [of its policy] against a standardised checklist . . . Our department inspectorate will have a greater focus as part of school inspections [as to] how well schools work in developing their positive climate and culture and dealing with bullying.”

If they were unhappy with implementation, there was a complaints procedure, he said.

British pub chain Wetherspoon now set to open up to 30 pubs in Ireland

 

Improved returns in nine NI pubs influenced decision to enter Republic
British pub chain JD Wetherspoon is set to open 30 pubs in the Republic. Group chairman and founder Tim Martin says the company intends to open between three and four pubs this fiscal year with a view to eventually expanding this up to 30 in the longer term.

Wetherspoon is already set to buy the Tonic House in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Mr Martin said that the improved performance in their nine Northern Ireland pubs influenced the decision to enter the Republic.

In addition to Dublin, it is also expected that the group will open in Cork over the coming months.

Furniture warehouse
Wetherspoon almost opened in Dublin about a decade ago when it acquired the freehold on a furniture warehouse in Capel Street for more than €2 million.

However, due to the high costs of doing business in Ireland at the time, the company reportedly sold on the premises at a loss.

The group said it believed property prices in the Republic were no longer so prohibitive.

The British group is expected to remodel the Tonic House pub under its own brand and, according to sources, could spend up to €1 million to pay for the freehold on the property and fit-out costs.

Wetherspoon announced yesterday that its preliminary after- tax profit increased by £7.9 million. The group, which opened its first pub in north London in 1979, added another 29 pubs during the year and sold three.

It plans to open another 30 pubs in the year to the end of July 2014. Revenues grew 7 per cent to £1.28 billion during the 52 weeks, compared with a 53- week financial year in 2012.

Profits before tax and exceptional items were 6.3per cent stronger at £76.9 million, but they fell 3per cent to £57.1 million once exceptional items such as impairment and onerous leases were included.

Mr Martin said this performance was in spite of paying £32.2 million in taxes.

“It is unsustainable to have far higher taxes for the pub industry than those for supermarkets,” he said. “Already, 10,000 pubs have closed and many others are suffering, through insufficient investment.”

Pubs closing
In May, the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) said that statistics indicated up to 26 pubs a week were closing in the UK, up from 18 per week in 2012.

Earlier this week the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (Digi) announced that almost one pub in the country closed every day.

Leitrim has second highest rate of suicide in Ireland

  

At the Launch of the Mental Health Survey:   Back row (l-r): Geri Bruce, Sligo Leader Partnership, Alan Gregory, Dept. of Education, Tom O’Grady, St. Angela’s College, Mike Rainsford, HSE, Mark O’Callaghan, HSE, Mary Hough, Sligo Education Centre, Carol Duffy, GP Front row (l-r): Catherine Martin, Carrick Education Centre, Ursula Gilraine, St. Angela’s College, Eadaoin Ni Challarain, The Crib Youth Doctor, Trevor Sweetman, Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETB, Anne-Marie Regan, Forige, Michele Glacken, St. Angela’s College.

Leitrim has the second highest rate of suicide in the country according to last week’s HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention figures.

Although the report says that the 2012 figures suggests a “stabilisation in suicidal behaviour” it shows Leitrim’s rate of suicide just behind Kerry nationally. The counties with the lowest rates are Longford, Dublin and Donegal.

The report showed 495 deaths by suicide in 2012, 405 of them were male. Hanging was the most common method for suicide, with drowning, poisoning and guns also used by a large number. The highest rate of suicide is still among 20 to 24-year-old males.

Michelle Fox, Counsellor at STOP Suicide said she felt the HSE stats “don’t show the full picture” she said over the last 14 months STOP Suicide have “saved 75 lives” through intervention and counselling.

She said that is positive and that the majority of people who contact their service get through the low point in their life. Michelle said mental health needs more funding and awareness, but also that we all play a part and must move away from judging people and instead help each other out. She also reminded readers that September 8-14 is National Suicide Awareness week.

It was revealed that the rate of self harm was high in Leitrim last year. The report said there were 12,010 deliberate self-harm presentations to hospitals by 9,483 individuals in 2012. Mary McTernan, mental health professional with Grasp Life said sadly that for “each one that presents at hospital, five don’t.” The most common method of self-harm was overdose, followed by cutting.

The peak rate for self-harm for females is 15-19 years and for males is it is 20-24 years. She said Leitrim has a high level of unemployment, emigration, isolation and many turn to alcohol or drugs, they may have also experienced the death of a loved one or friend by suicide. Mary called for a “drastic overhaul of the mental health services.” She said funding is needed in outreach services.

Rare whale dies after beaching at Waterfoot off the Antrim coast

 

(right photo) Ian Enlander, from the Irish Whale and Dolphin organisation, checks a rare nine metre long Sei whale which was discovered on a small beach in Waterfoot, Co Antrim. It died from suffocation, an expert said.

The Juvenile animal is thought to have died on sands from suffocation

A rare six-metre whale has beached on the Antrim coast and died.

The sei whale is thought to have been a juvenile which became separated from its mother and lost its way.

It was found on the small beach today at Waterfoot, Glenariff, and prompted a traffic jam in the small village as word spread. Sight-seers turned out in numbers causing police to intervene.

The whale was still alive when discovered but was considered to be too weak to attempt to drag it back out to sea. It is thought to have died shortly afterwards from suffocation.

Ian Enlander, from the Irish Whale and Dolphinorganisation, told the BBC: “Initially the immediate response people were feeling was ‘well, there’s got to be something we can do’, but I felt my purpose here was really explaining to people what was happening and why we shouldn’t be in the water tying ropes to its tail and dragging it off, because all you’re going to do is cause more distress and spinal injuries to the animal.”

“It was probably travelling with its mother and has become separated,” he explained. “It probably became disorientated and became trapped.”

The sei whale is commonly found in deep ocean waters but is relatively uncommon in shallower seas. It also avoids warmer waters as well as polar regions.

Adult sei whales commonly grow to around 20 metres and can reach 28 tonnes weight. Despite their size they can swim as unusually high speeds, reaching nearly 50kph in short bursts.

They were once targeted by whaling ships and are regarded as an endangered species.