More people in Ireland at risk of losing their family home are "now seeking advice"
As much as 3,588 people has sought advice from Focus Ireland in the first eight months of this year.
Focus Ireland says there has been a 43% increase in the number of people seeking advice and information so far this year because they are homeless or at serious risk of losing their home.
The latest figures released today shows that 3,588 people had sought advice and information in the first eight months of this year, compared to 2,500 people over the same period last year.
Focus Ireland said this significant rise is a reflection of the reality that more people are now at risk of losing their family home. The charity says it has had to expand its advice and information services to meet this growing need.
Fundraising for the expansion of services to meet the growing demand, Focus Ireland is preparing for a charity event taking place next Friday night, which involves nearly 100 business leaders and community leaders, who are all going to sleep rough in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens and Cork’s City Gaol.
Head of Fundraising Lisa-Nicole Dunne said that the charity has to raise one-third of its income from fundraising so events like the Shine a Light Night are critical to allow Focus Ireland to continue to support families and single people struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
Focus Ireland stressed that early access to advice and information can help to prevent a housing problem from becoming a homeless crisis and appealed to anyone worried about their housing situation to contact the charity as soon as possible.
The charity is also putting out a final call to business leaders who would like to get involved in next week’s event.
To register for Shine A Light or to nominate your boss, see the Focus Ireland website.
Once again “Over 50,000 march in Dublin” to protest against Irish water charges
GROUPS FROM ALL OVER COUNTRY CONVERGE ON ireland's CAPITAL TO OPPOSE the austerity NEW MEASURES
People taking part in the anti-water charges protest march in O’Connell Street, Dublin this afternoon.
Upwards of 50,000 people marched against water charges in Dublin today in one of the largest demonstrations seen in the capital in years.
The marchers took one hour and twenty minutes to pass the Spire in O’Connell Street as they made their way from Parnell Square, around the city finishing at the GPO in O’Connell Street.
While the Garda press office could not give a figure for the numbers in attendance, one garda observing the march estimated they could be as high as 100,000.
Banners could be seen from communities across Dublin, including Crumlin, Ayrfield, Clarehall, Brookvale, Donaghmede, Ballyogan, Finglas, Ballymun, Edenmore, Coolock, Tallaght, Clondalkin while others from outside Dublin came included ones from Carlow, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Offaly, Wicklow, Athlone, Ballyphehane, Co Cork, Letterkenny, Leitrim and Mayo.
There were also banners from trade unions Mandate, Unite, the CPSU, the Communication Workers Union and the plasterers’ union,
There was huge anger directed at Taoiseach Enda Kenny, as well as the Labour Party and at Tánaiste Joan Burton in particular for her comments during the week that anti-water charges protesters all seemed to have expensive mobile phones. A number of people carried placards with pairs of tin cans strung together attached, with slogans such as “My little phoney, Joaney” while one man was dressed as an iPhone. Other placards said:“Sold out by our own Government”; “Stick your water meters up your arse” and “Can’t pay, won’t pay”.
A number who spoke to The Irish Times, said the water charge was “the last straw”.
“Enough is enough,” said Kathleen McWilliams, a woman in her 50s from Artane.
“The property tax was bad enough but I have nothing left to give.”
There was also anger directed at the media which many protesters said had been agnoring anti-water meter protests around the country.
Among the chants were, “Enda in your ivory tower, this is called people power” and “From the rivers to the sea, Irish water will be free”.
One man was distributing plastic water meter hub caps which he said could be used to ensure a household’s water supply while others were handing out leaflets advising people that Irish Water did not have a legal right to force people to sign a contract with them, could not pursue money from people’s wages and could not cut off people’s water supply.
The Garda presence was low key, with small numbers standing some distance back from the march mainly on streets adjacent to the route.
Before the main speakers, the Resistance Choir sang from the platform and performed their song Now Is The Time For Rage.
Among the speakers was Audrey Clancy, of the Edenmore Says No campaign who urged people neither to fill in their ‘welcome packs’ from Irish Water nor to pay bills when they start arriving.
“We have to have mass non-compliance when these bills start coming in January. No contract, no consent.. We can beat this. We have to stick together. The power of the people is greater than the people in power. Stand up to them,” she said to enormous cheers.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett urged everyone to take selfies and email their photo to Tánaiste Joan Burton.
“Let her wallpaper her office with all the photos of people here. Will we pay the water charges?,” he asked, to which the crowd responded loudly, “No, no, no.” He urged people to take part in planned demonstrations around the State on November 1st.
“Today we brought Dublin to a standstill. On November 1st we will bring the country to a standstill.”
Independent TD Clare Daly said there were historic days from which point nothing would be the same, and this was one of them.
“The people are here with our mobile phones and our tablets and we’re saying, ‘You are not getting any more blood from these stones’.”
Older peoples mental health in Ireland is linked to deprivation
OLDER PEOPLE LIVING IN DISADVANTAGED AREAS OF IRELAND ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO HAVE POOR MENTAL HEALTH, A NEW STUDY HAS FOUND.
The results are based on an analysis of data collected as part of the TUDA Ageing study – a study involving over 5,000 older people living in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
The researchers acknowledged that cognitive functioning generally decreases as people age. However, they found that older people living in disadvantaged areas had a greater risk of developing cognitive dysfunction, ranging from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, than those living in less deprived areas.
They also found that those living in the most deprived areas were more likely to be anxious or depressed and had three years less education. They also exercised less, weighed more and smoked more.
“The overall results of our study suggest that older people living in the most deprived areas in Ireland, North and South, are at higher risk of poor mental health and developing cognitive impairment. We should target resources and strategies at this group to reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairment,” commented Prof Helene McNulty of the University of Ulster.
The findings were presented at the recent annual Scientific Meeting of the Irish Gerontological Society in Galway.
Leo Varadkar health Minister says the cycle of cuts in healthcare is now over
Minister for Health says spending savings will go back into services and not to pay debt any more?
The Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said the cycle of cuts in health care is now over.
It was revealed yesterday that Mr Varadkar will receive a €500 million supplementary budget estimate this year, with some €300 million to be rolled over into 2015.
The two-year budget deal his department has struck is designed to ensure it can adhere to spending limits without the need for repeated financial bailouts.
“The good news is, the cycle of cuts in health care is over,” he told a conference in Dublin earlier today but cautioned that “we’re not flush with cash”.
“Our spending ceiling is now rising again so it means any savings or efficiencies we do make in our health services will go back into our health services and not into deficits or to pay down debt,” he said.
Mr Varadkar was speaking at the International Street Medicine symposium hosted by Safetynet Ireland and The Street Medicine Institute which looks at health of homeless people and rough sleepers.
He said the number of drug-related deaths was a matter of serious concern and was “surprised” by data from 2011 which showed that there were 60 poisoning deaths from heroin compared to 113 from methadone.
In order to respond to the problem of drug related deaths and overdoses the health service has developed an overdose prevention strategy which recommends making Naloxone routinely available in Ireland, he said.
Naloxone is an antidote to heroin which temporarily reverses the effects of an opiate overdose.
Naloxone is a prescription-only medication in Ireland and an amendment to current legislation would be required for it to be made available to opiate users .
“It is intended that Naloxone can be administered by non medical staff such as care workers, family members and addicts themselves and other people trained in the use of it,” he said.
“There’s no doubt the scale and nature of the drug problem in Ireland is constantly evolving. The emergence new pscyho active substances, the increased strength of cannabis and the prevalence of poly drug use represents serious challenges for our services,” he said.
Mr Varadkar said the area of drug use and deprivation and how it impacts on health is one he will take a personal interest in under his tenure as Minister for Health.
“Under the previous minister, the whole position – and this isn’t a bad thing – was delegated to the Minister for State.”
Mr Varadkar said that responsibility for drugs and drug policy will now full under his remit.
He said the “ social problems left untackled” were a burden on emergency departments and health services and “the cost of not dealing with these things is phenomenal”.
A robot Snake teaches Scientists how sidewinders move into sand dunes
ELIZABETH THE ROBOT SNAKE GAVE SCIENTISTS an INSIGHT INTO SAND DUNE TRAVEL.
Scientists have finally figured out how sidewinder snakes work their way up sand dunes — thanks to the help of a robot snake (yes, a robot snake) named Elizabeth.
For a study published recently in Science, researchers observed that sidewinding rattlesnakes flattened themselves on steep dunes to maximize body contact with sand, rather than dig their bodies deeper into the dune, the BBC reports.
Researchers took their observations and contacted a lab that develops robot sidewinders to further explore the movement. After a robot snake named Elizabeth was unable to scale a desert dune in Egypt, they brought Elizabeth to a fake dune in Atlanta, where “she” ultimately found more success after researchers applied the flattening technique to her movements.
Following that breakthrough, playing with Elizabeth’s settings gave the scientists insight into how sidewinders move so effortlessly. As it turns out, an out-of-sync combination of left-and-right motions and up-and-down movements working their way down the body helps keep the sand stable underneath the snake, to avoid slipping. The flattening motion helps keep the snake’s contact with the sand at the ideal, moderate amount. Too much contact and the snake can slip; too little, and it can’t successfully scale.
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