B plan needed by Ireland in case foreign direct investment is withdrawn
Value of a ‘social wage’ requires more public discourse, Impact education conference told
The Irish Financial Services in Dublin. An economist said there was no guarantee Facebook, Google and other Silicon Valley companies would be in the country in 10 years time.
Ireland needs a “plan B” for a vibrant economy which can survive the withdrawal of foreign direct investment in the next decade, the director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute (Neri) has warned.
Neri economist Tom Healy has also called on trade unions to talk more about the value of a “social wage” , and to contribute to a “constitution or charter” encapsulating a long-term vision for Ireland.
Speaking at the Impact education division conference inGalway on Friday, Mr Healy noted that there was no guarantee that the “Facebook, Google and other Silicon Valley companies of Dublin 1 and 2” would still be here in ten years, given the rapid pace of global economic change.
Ireland’s heavy dependence on foreign direct investment – supporting 25 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) – exposed the fact that Ireland lacked a “well-rounded, native enterprise sector”, comparable to that found in Finland,Norway and other European countries of similar size, he said.
Two politicians – Eamon de Valera in the 1930s, and Seán Lemass in the 1950s – had both made attempts to develop an indigenous sector, but so far this State had not succeeded in developing a “sufficiently strong native base”.
Long-term vision also extended no more than five years in public discourse, yet 30 to 50 year visions were required, he said.
Napoleon Bonaparte had once advised that a constitutions should be “short and vague”, and the same could apply for economic visions, he said.
What Ireland required was a constitution or charter “general enough to capture the uncertainties” and “specific enough” to articulate a vision. Trade unions had an important role to play in this, he suggested.
Mr Healy said that more debate was also required on the value of a “social wage”, encompassing provision of education, early and elder care, health care, community services, pensions and homes.
Ireland’s social wage was “completely out of line with Europe”, he said, and Ireland was “bottom of the chart after Denmark” in measuring social insurance as a percentage of GDP in 2012.
France, Holland, Germany and the Czech Republic were among the highest scoring in terms of social insurance rates as percentage of GDP in 2012, he noted.
Effectively, Ireland was at the “bottom” of the scale asDenmark was a special case, he said.
As Neri economists have explained, Denmark has a system of “flexicurity” which combines flexibility in the labour market, social security on income, and an active labour market policy with obligations and rights for the unemployed, sustained through adequate taxation.
Mr Healy said that the “moral narrative” approaching the next general election was about “cutting tax”, whereas the social wage was the real issue, he said.
He challenged all three strands of a “narrative” which, he said, maintained falsely in his view that Ireland had the “most progressive tax system in the world”, that the public was “over-taxed”, and that tax cuts would boost economic growth.
Earlier this week, Mr Healy told primary teachers at the annual INTO conference in Ennis, Co Clare, that prioritising tax cuts ahead of investment in early childhood development would be “immoral, economically irrational and fiscally irresponsible”.
In a paper published by Neri on its website last January, he signalled that the “welcome and tentative signs of recovery in employment, retail sales, and general market confidence coupled with the exit from the bailout in 2013/14 should be treated with caution”.
“The risk of returning to “business as usual” is high, as political and business culture has not shifted that significantly,” the paper warned.
Mr Healy invited Impact delegates and other trade unions to contribute to the paper which, he said, he was currently updating.
Boost for Irish motor trade as new car sales speed up by 48%
New car sales almost doubled last month compared to 2014 — with more than 17,000 new private cars registered.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show a total of 17,054 new cars were registered in March — a spike of 48.5% when compared with the same month last year.
In the first quarter of 2015, there were 52,543 new cars licensed — a rise of 33.5% compared with the same quarter last year
A total of 4,492 used (imported) cars were licensed, representing a fall of 7.7% on the same month last year, while there was a decrease of 1.9% in used (imported) private cars licensed in the quarter, compared with the same period in 2014.
The most popular make of new cars licensed for the first time last month was Volkswagen (2,042), followed by Hyundai (1,849), Nissan (1,843), Toyota (1,499,) and Ford (1,401).
Volkswagen (6,315) was also the most popular make of new car licensed in the first quarter of 2015, followed by Toyota (6,022), Ford (5,286) and Nissan (5,062)
There was a 56.3% increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in March 2015, an increase of 897 vehicles, bringing the total to 2,490.
The total number of new vehicles licensed during March 2015 was 20,659 compared with 13,998 during the same month in 2014 — an increase of almost 50%.
Figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) found new car registrations were up 33% (19,046) last month, compared to March of last year. SIMI said new car registrations for the first three months were up 30% on the same period in 2014.
SIMI director general Alan Nolan said the increase in new car registrations “is a good reflection of the growing consumer confidence in the economy, which is so important for industry”.
In February, SIMI said it expects 2015 sales to “comfortably exceed” 100,000 for the first time since 2008. Light commercial vehicles are expected to top 20,000, for the first time in six years.
Economist Jim Power said that providing political and economic conditions remain stable, new car sales could hit 120,000 during 2015 after a number of “very difficult years for the motor trade”.
Cheese could be the reason why the French eat more fat but don’t get heart disease
The French are a perplexing bunch for scientists who study diet and nutrition – and for cheese lovers who want to stay healthy.
On average, the French eat more saturated fat than the World Health Organization says is good for them. They also ate more cheese, which can be high in saturated fat, than any other country in the world in 2014.
Since higher saturated fat intake usually correlates with greater death rates from coronary heart disease, the numbers predict the French should die from coronary heart disease more often then they do.
In reality, France has low rates of death from coronary heart disease, a phenomenon known as “the French paradox.” It basically looks like the French can munch on fatty and salty cheese all they want without negative health impacts.
The French propensity to enjoy wine frequently is a popular explanationof this apparent contradiction. But a new paper in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests another aspect of the French diet that may play a role in the paradox: all that cheese.
The scientists behind this paper analyzed data from a small study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2014. That study found that people who ate a diet for two weeks containing saturated fats from milk and cheese didn’t have as high blood cholesterol as those who ate the same amount of saturated fats from butter instead of cheese. (High blood cholesterol is linked to heart disease, so is used to approximate risk of heart disease in short-term studies.)
The authors of the new paper analyzed urine and feces samples collected during the initial experiment to see if the products of digestion – the compounds the body produces when breaking down food – were different for the groups that ate milk and cheese versus the group that ate butter. They thought that somehow the type of food eaten may have impacted how it was used and broken down by the body.
Interestingly, they found that the cheese group’s urine had lower levels of a compound called trimethylamine N-oxide, which has been identified as a potential indicator of cardiovascular disease. The cheese group also had more of a molecule called butyrate and other short chain fatty acids in its feces. Higher butyrate levels corresponded to lower cholesterol, the researchers found, which they hypothesized might happen becausebutyrate stops cholesterol from forming in the body.
While these differences can’t be directly linked to cheese eating, the researchers think that cheese and potentially other milk products could influence the activity of bacteria that live in the gut, possibly encouraging the ones that are good for your cholesterol levels.
Granted, these results are preliminary and the researchers note more research is needed to find out exactly what the link is between cheese eating and cholesterol levels. The experiment was also tiny, done on only 15 participants, all men.
But it’s another reason to keep on loving cheese, if you needed one.
People who hear voices in their heads
Traditionally associated with serious mental illness, perceptions are changing for people who hear voices, writes James Fogarty.
Next week, on Friday, April 17, the support group, Hearing Voices Network Ireland (HVNI), will hold its national launch at Trinity College Dublin.
Affiliated with the international group Intervoice, the HVNI is part of a growing movement, challenging the stigma around voice hearing. While traditionally associated with schizophrenia and psychosis, many voice hearers are now refusing to live under the label of mental ill health. They are finding wisdom and comfort in the voices they hear, and are encouraging others to do the same.
“There are very many people who hear voices, and many of them do not fulfil the criteria for schizophrenia or any mental illness,” says Prof Brendan Kelly, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCD and author of numerous books on mental health. He explains that approximately 2.5 per cent of the population routinely hears voices, not the voice of their conscience or their thoughts, but a separate voice “as clear as mine or yours”.
While this percentage may be higher due to underreporting, he repeats that “hearing voices is not indicative of major mental illness”. However for those experiencing psychosis early intervention is key, and the HSE’s Detect Programme is already working in this area, Prof Kelly adds.
William Lynam is a mental health service user, diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. “Paranoia is my major problem,” he explains, adding that this symptom has been stabilised by medication. It is his belief that the network helps both patients and healthcare professionals. “It gets people talking about the illness. We are realising a lot of gifted people hear voices… I would recommend people who may be experiencing voice hearing to go to the support groups,” he says. “Talking about your experiences and becoming part of a group teaches people to respond rather than simply react. “And that’s so important for recovery.”
Nicola Hynds, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, is an ambassador for Seechange, the National Mental Health Stigma Reduction Programme. For her the road to recovery meant challenging stigma head on.
“Stigma has delayed my recovery many times. I am okay with having a psychotic illness, but sometimes other people’s ignorance can change that,” she says. “When I hear someone describe schizophrenia as a multiple personality disorder or use the word ‘schizo’, it takes away a little bit of the resilience and self-acceptance I have worked so hard to build up.”
Nicola believes that while this prejudice is being eroded, much remains to be done.
“While I do not think the stigma is disappearing, I feel that it is lessening with each brave person’s decision to speak out or look for help.”
Inspirational TED talk doctor of psychology, Eleanor Longden, who is from the UK, has become in many ways a figure head for the Hearing Voices Movement. In 2013 she gave a deeply honest and inspirational TED talk, where she discussed her own challenges with voice hearing and mental distress.
During the talk she revealed that while at university, as she was leaving an empty room, a voice spoke to her. Initially, in a neutral calm manner, it began to recount her everyday actions, ‘she is leaving the building’, ‘she is opening a door’.
It was only after visiting a GP and receiving a diagnosis of schizophrenia from a psychiatrist, though, that the experiences became profoundly negative. Hospitalised and medicated, Dr Longden has described this struggle as a psychic civil war where 12 hostile voices assailed her. However, thanks to the support of her family and healthcare professionals, this war is over. The voices have not disappeared, they now work in harmony with her.
“That level of conflict and misunderstanding is long in the past,” says Dr Longden. “I would certainly miss the voices if they went. They are a very important, intrinsic part of my life and my identity.
“I feel very proud to be a voice hearer.”
Traditional thinking in psychiatry is at odds with this assessment and she is often asked if the ‘medicalisation’ of the voice became another trauma?
The answer to that question is complicated, Dr Longden explains. “Because as a child and a young adult I had already experienced considerable trauma, which had consequences that needed to be healed and understood, it is probably likely that I would have experienced suffering regardless. But the medicalisation, and consequent isolation I experienced, made it much more complicated than it needed to be.”
Like others, she has come to consider her voices as a psychological mirror, reflecting her concerns and stresses.
“I do still hear voices and they can be troubling. But if that happens it would definitely be an indication that there are things going on in my life that the voices are responding to. And if the voices were more invasive or distressed or more active than usual, then I have to try and make sense of that.
“So it feels like a process of communication and collaboration between myself and the voices. A partnership really.”
This idea of working in partnership with the voices is central to the Hearing Voices Movement, a development she believes is positive.
“I think it’s very positive but I have always been resistant to ‘romanticising’ voice hearing. I think it’s important to acknowledge how incredibly distressing and demoralising it can be for people. But what I would say is it is an experience that can be interpreted, deciphered and made sense of.
“But to just treat it as an aberrant symptom of schizophrenia and mental illness, in the same way that you would approach something like a headache or a stomach ache, is very unhelpful for very many people,” she believes, adding that for a significant number medication, solely, is not going to promote genuine long term recovery.
To achieve this, tackling the underlying causes is essential, and this is something she stresses to healthcare professionals.
In Ireland Brian Hartnett has done much to challenge the stigma around voice hearing, setting up Hearing Voices Ireland in 2006.
“It’s so common, anyone can hear them and it doesn’t have to be seen in terms of a mental illness,” Brian says. “Children from a young age will have imaginary friends and conversations, but as we get older we are conditioned not to behave like that. But some people never stop hearing voices.
“It’s important to note for some people this is not a problem; it can be a positive thing. For me my voice hearing is a positive, supportive experience, I wouldn’t want it to stop. But it wasn’t always like that; I did go through a period where it was negative.”
While for Brian the voices were always with him, “the volume was turned up” following experimentation with drugs in the 1980s and early 1990s while in London. He received a diagnosis of drug induced schizophrenia shortly after returning to Ireland in 1996.
“I do take a small bit of medication now which I feel helps keep me grounded, but I also feel there’s a psychological aspect to the voices. When I was in a less healthy psychological state, the voices became negative. When relaxed and stress free, I find them comforting and helpful.”
For mental healthcare professionals, growing patient confidence is helping to set the agenda for treatment.
Dr Pat Bracken, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director of the West Cork Mental Health Service, has been working in the field of psychiatry for 30 years. When asked whether talk therapy and medications should be used in concert, Dr Bracken is emphatic.
“Absolutely. Medication is undoubtedly important, even life-saving, for very many patients. But, it has its limitations and there are often serious side effects. We need to be careful not to see medication as the only answer for any sort of mental health problem, including very serious problems such as schizophrenia.
“In saying this, I think I am in the mainstream and at one with most psychiatrists and mental health stakeholders. It’s also important to remember that what will work for one person won’t necessarily work for everyone. In mental health work, it’s very rarely as simple as saying ‘we’re dealing with illness X and so the treatment is A and B’, as it might be in other parts of medicine.”
In fact taking a narrow medical approach can shut down treatment options, he believes. This shift is part of a general change in psychiatry and mental health more widely, he explains, called the Recovery Movement. This approach to care seeks to emphasise the expectation for recovery from mental ill health, and calls for the patient to be offered the chance to take a greater role in decisions about their treatment.
“What’s happened in recent years is that patients of mental health services have become more organised, and many of them are very critical of the way things have been carried out so far,” he explains. “They have argued that we need to think very differently about mental health problems. They tell us that we need to think ‘beyond the medical model’ and to see mental health problems as more than just problems of the brain. That’s not at all to belittle or question the seriousness of mental health problems but to make the point that the mind is not simply another organ of the body and mental illnesses are more complex than bodily diseases.”
When asked about new pharmacological advances in the treatment of schizophrenia, Dr Bracken believes progress has been minimal. “In addition there’s increasing concern about the long term effects of anti-psychotics, and we as doctors have to have a more nuanced approach to prescribing these medications,” he explains. “Some people don’t respond to anti-psychotics at all. And in these cases, one has to work in different ways to bring support and help to such people. Other times they may have a partial response; the drugs dampen down the psychotic experience, whether that be hearing voices or experiencing delusions, but they don’t make these experiences go away entirely.
“These drugs are often helpful but they are far from curative.”
For Dr Longden her message to people experiencing voice hearing is simple — you are not alone.
“It’s important to remember that hearing voices is a very common human experience. It’s been documented for as long as there has been human history, in ancient civilisations, in religious texts — notable historical figures have heard voices. And we should not immediately think of it as a sign of insanity or something to be ashamed of.
“And also to bear in mind, while voices can be very distressing, with support it is perfectly possible to learn to live happily and peacefully with them.”
Nasa names asteroid after Malala Yousafzai
An asteroid discovered by a US astronomer has been named after Pakistan’s teenage education activist and the world youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
Amy Mainzer, an astronomer at Nasa in California, discovered an asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter and chose to name it after Malala.
The formal designation of the asteroid is 316201 Malala, or 2010 ML48. The asteroid orbits the Sun every 5.5 years.
“It is a great honour to be able to name an asteroid after Malala,” Mainzer said.
“My postdoctoral fellow Dr Carrie Nugent brought to my attention the fact that although many asteroids have been named, very few have been named to honour the contributions of women (and particularly women of colour),” he added.
Malala became the youngest Noble Peace Laureate last year when he was declared winner with Indian child right activist Kailash Satharthi.
She was attacked by Taliban in 2012 for standing up for the right of girls to attend school in her native Swat region which was controlled by Taliban from 2007 to 2009 when they were expelled by Pakistan army. Taliban destroyed hundreds of school in the areas and banned female education.
Last month, Malala contributed $50,000 for the reopening of a school in occupied Gaza in eastern Khan Younis area of Gaza Strip. The school has over 1,100 students who returned to classrooms in mid-March, according to a statement issued by the UN relief agency. The school building was one of the 83 schools that were affected by Israeli attacks.
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