(466,'US dismantles huge child abuse website','<p>\r\n	The United States has announced it has dismantled a massive international child abuse online ring, one of the largest such operations ever uncovered.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Authorities said they arrested and charged 14 suspects in the secret, members-only online network, which had more than 27,000 subscribers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The website&#39;s juvenile victims, who numbered more than 250, reside in five foreign countries and 39 US states, officials said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Authorities said the victims were, for the most part, boys between the ages of 10 and 17.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Among the countries where victims were found are Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Belgium.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The organisation is &quot;one of the largest known online child exploitation operations in history,&quot; Department of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Among the suspects taken into custody was Jonathan Johnson, 27, the administrator of the website, which operated out of the southern US state of Louisiana.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If convicted, Mr Johnson faces 20 years to life in prison, said Kenneth Allen Polite, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;These indictments represent a strong coordinated strike... against child pornography and those who allegedly seek to harm our most vulnerable citizens, our young children,&quot; Mr Polite said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The illicit website operated on a hidden service board on the Tor network from about June 2012 until June 2013, when Mr Johnson was arrested.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Tor network is set up to conceal user&#39;s location, making it possible to maintain online anonymity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Authorities said at the time it was dismantled, the illegal website contained more than 2,000 shared webcam-captured videos of mostly juvenile boys enticed by the website&#39;s operators to produce sexually explicit material.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The investigation, which officials said is continuing, was carried out by DHS and the cybercrime unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the US Postal Inspection Services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0319/603145-child-abuse-/</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-19 11:20:37',NULL,'us-dismantles-huge-child-abuse-website'),(467,'Nursing home claims health official suggested passing funding cut on to residents','<p>\r\n	Irish Patients&rsquo; Association say suggestion amounts to &lsquo;sneaky stealth taxes&rsquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A private nursing home in Dublin has claimed health authorities suggested it start charging residents for social programmes in order to make up for a cut in its State funding.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Carysfort Nursing Home in Glenageary has written to residents and the Health Information and Quality Authority chairman Brian McEnery claiming Fair Deal funding for each patient is being cut by &euro;60 a week from next month.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Fair Deal scheme provides financial support to people who need long-term nursing home care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Under the scheme, patients make a contribution towards the cost of their care and the State pays the balance.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The letter, a copy of which has been seen by The Irish Times , claims the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which oversees the scheme, has offered a rate of &euro;1,050 a week for each Fair Deal resident &ndash; a &euro;60 reduction.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Edward Pakenham, who runs the nursing home, wrote: &ldquo;I am writing to you to answer the many questions that families have put to us over the past few weeks regarding of Fair Deal negotiations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The NTPF has offered us a rate of &euro;1,050 per week commencing April 1st, 2014, a reduction of &euro;60 per week for each resident.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Twice during statutory negotiations the NTPF official in charge of our file suggested we make up this shortfall by placing a charge to our residents for social programmes, as we currently do not charge.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I think it would be in your interest to contact NTPF chief executive Ian Carter to ask him why his officials are encouraging us to charge our residents for social programmes,&rdquo; the letter added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A statement from the National Treatment Purchase Fund did not address the matter of Mr Pakenham&rsquo;s claims regarding the charging of residents to make up the funding shortfall, but said &ldquo;private nursing homes may impose additional charges for incidentals/extras such as social programmes, transport, newspapers, hairdressing etc as these costs are not included in the cost of care&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Irish Patients&rsquo; Association chairman Stephen McMahon said the suggestion &ndash; if true &ndash; amounted to &ldquo;sneaky stealth taxes&rdquo;.<br />\r\n	&ldquo;If this is true, for many of the most vulnerable elderly members in our society, such increases are basically sneaky stealth taxes,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They are not negotiable and, unlike the minister for finance, do not have the backing of D&aacute;il &Eacute;ireann which approves of such taxation proposals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;One family advised us that prices in direct costs to the resident can cost up to &euro;3,600 for social activities while other homes have no charge,&rdquo; he added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/nursing-home-claims-health-official-suggested-passing-funding-cut-on-to-residents-1.1730118</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-19 11:22:31',NULL,'nursing-home-claims-health-official-suggested-passing-funding-cut-on-to-residents'),(468,'Torn between two worlds','<p>\r\n	Opinion: Undocumented migrants in Ireland face tough choices</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This is the hardest moment of my life. Three weeks ago, my father passed away suddenly, during a routine operation. The last time I saw him was in 2004, when I left the Philippines to come to Ireland for work. Since then, my parents have cared for my three children while I support them by working in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When I first left, my youngest was five. He kept asking when I was coming back, and if I would bring him chocolate. Then he just wanted me to promise I would be home for Christmas. It&rsquo;s been 10 years now and he&rsquo;s stopped asking. He says, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t make promises, dad; just come back&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He&rsquo;s 16 now. One day last year he asked me, &ldquo;dad, do I know you&rdquo;? That was hard to hear. He said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what it feels like to have a father&rdquo;. He dreams of bonding with me. Every Father&rsquo;s Day his school has father-son games; he&rsquo;s good at sports, he wants us to race together.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Good life<br />\r\n	Back in 2004, I looked at my children and asked myself, can I give them a good life, or will they be the same as me: working hard but getting nowhere? As a father, you want to give your children a good future. So I left the Philippines and came here.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I worked in a bank in the Philippines, but it wasn&rsquo;t enough to provide for my family. For my first six years in Ireland, I worked in maintenance &ndash; cleaning, painting, even unblocking septic tanks with my bare hands. A 3D job we call it: dirty, difficult and dangerous. I wasn&rsquo;t paid much but the employer promised me a work permit so I stayed. It wasn&rsquo;t until I came to the Migrant Rights Centre for advice that I discovered there had never been any chance of me getting a work permit.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	With the money I earn here, my two daughters have gone to college. One has a degree in IT, the other in midwifery. I put my sister-in-law through college and supported my parents when my father&rsquo;s poor health stopped him working.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	My youngest wants to be a pilot. The training is expensive, so my daughters told me they would help to pay for his course. My eldest daughter is like a little mother; they support each other. I&rsquo;ve missed them growing up, and now I&rsquo;m afraid I&rsquo;ll miss even more of their lives when they get married and have children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I don&rsquo;t know where my home is now. My family is in the Philippines, but it&rsquo;s 10 years since I left; I&rsquo;m a foreigner there. If I leave Ireland, I&rsquo;ll never be able to come back. That would break my heart.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This is where I live and work, I have friends here; it is safe and peaceful, but because I am undocumented I can&rsquo;t participate fully. I&rsquo;m the same as the Irish undocumented in the US. My story is their story. I just want to regularise my immigration status, to be recognised as part of the community. We&rsquo;re campaigning for a reasonable solution.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paying taxes<br />\r\n	Undocumented people would earn status through working, paying taxes and being involved in the community. We could pay a fine and be assessed on a case-by-case basis. It would be transparent, straightforward and fair.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	More than ever now, my children want me to come home. They are afraid something will happen to me and we&rsquo;ll never see each other again. They wanted me back for the funeral.<br />\r\n	&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll eat rice,&rdquo; they said, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll live on nothing, we just want our dad.&rdquo; But as my mother says, if you come back, what about your kids&rsquo; future? What then? So I watched my father&rsquo;s funeral on Skype, and then went back to my job here as a carer for an elderly man.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Jayson Montenegro is an undocumented migrant in Ireland. Through Justice for the Undocumented, a group supported by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, he is campaigning for the introduction of an earned regularisation scheme for the estimated 26,000- 30,000 undocumented migrants in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/torn-between-two-worlds-1.1729822</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-19 11:37:00',NULL,'torn-between-two-worlds'),(469,'Ban on takeaways near schools to fight obesity','<p>\r\n	An exclusion zone for new fast-food restaurants around schools and playgrounds is being considered by the Government.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The national battle against obesity is to be stepped up considerably with a &#39;no fry zone&#39; of 1.5km around schools, playgrounds and youth sports facilities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A quarter of 11-year-olds are now clinically obese and health experts have warned that Ireland faces a multi-billion euro healthcare nightmare by 2035 unless concrete steps are taken to reduce youngsters&#39; consumption of pizza, chips and burgers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A coalition of health groups, including medical experts and public health officials, is behind a push to stop fatty food being sold within a 15-minute walk of the schoolyard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	New Draft Local Area Plans (LAPs), which will dictate national planning for the next decade, are currently passing through the consultation stage, with the Government due to sign off on them in the coming months.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Irish Independent understands that the 1.5km &#39;no fry zone&#39; is currently at the centre of the consultation process &ndash; although this is likely to face stiff opposition from fast-food chains.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Children&#39;s Minister Frances Fitzgerald insisted that for the plan to be effective, the distances involved have to be &quot;meaningful&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said that the country must act quickly to avoid a future health catastrophe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The truth is that we are facing a very disturbing surge in obesity and this will have terrible long-term consequences for our children,&quot; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The time for action is now if we are to protect children and promote healthier lifestyles.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Cabinet will ultimately decide on the new LAPs later this year and they will be enforced by An Bord Pleanala.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Fitzgerald welcomed the &#39;no fry zone&#39; idea as a &quot;very positive approach&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Existing fast-food outlets will not be impacted unless they have to reapply for planning.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A recent health study found more than 15pc of Irish youngsters admitted to eating a takeaway more than twice a week.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Both Ms Fitzgerald and Health Minister James Reilly have expressed deep concern over spiralling levels of obesity, diabetes and high-blood pressure among Irish children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Health Minister James Reilly is absolutely correct that we do not want to be the first generation in Ireland to have to bury the generation growing up behind us,&quot; Ms Fitzgerald told the Irish Independent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	From boasting among the world&#39;s healthiest child body mass indexes just 25 years ago, Ireland has suffered one of the biggest increases in childhood obesity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The idea of tougher planning laws for fast-food outlets was first mooted in 2011 but it is now firmly on the Government&#39;s agenda.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When enacted, it will legally restrict new takeaways around schools and children&#39;s amenity areas on public health grounds.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Such a zoning change will largely hit new developments and, critically, mobile fast-food operators.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The proposed legislation warned new area plans must &quot;promote active and healthier lifestyles by ensuring that ... exposure of children to the promotion of foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar is reduced such as the careful consideration of the appropriateness and or location of fast-food outlets in the vicinity of schools and parks&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Three authorities &ndash; in Dublin, Wicklow and Cork &ndash; have already moved on fast-food operations near schools and playgrounds following submissions from health campaigners, parents and councillors.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Cork City Council is being asked by a fledgling health campaign group to pre-empt the regulations by imposing its own 1.5km radius ban on all new fast-food restaurant developments near schools.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	PROACTIVE</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I welcome the proactive approach being taken by local councils and ABP (An Bord Pleanala) in seeking to restrict takeaways opening near schools,&quot; Ms Fitzgerald told the Irish Independent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Examples of this including the motion being considered by Cork (City) Council and the decision of ABP to reissue planning permission for two takeaways next to schools, both in Lucan, Co Dublin and Greystones, Co Wicklow,&quot; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Experts warned Ireland faces a healthcare time bomb unless the damaging love affair with high-salt, high-sugar foods is tackled. A recent study found soaring high-blood pressure levels amongst 9-11 year olds because of their weekly reliance on fast-food.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Cork Food Policy Council (CFPC) argued such bans have proven very successful when introduced in the UK and US.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	CFPC chairman, Dr Colin Sage, said something has to be done to tackle Ireland&#39;s looming health crisis. &quot;We need to start thinking about how food systems are connected to health &ndash; we have to address the issue of people&#39;s well-being and dietary health.&quot;One study found that 60pc of Irish adults are either overweight or obese. It has been predicted that, because of Ireland&#39;s soaring sugar intake, the level of diabetes could treble in the space of the next 25 years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Earlier this month, a Cork study found that 25pc of children aged 9-11 were overweight.More than 50pc ingested far above the recommended daily salt intake due to their weekly reliance on processed and take-away foods. The study was conducted over 14 months across a sample of 1,075 children in 27 schools in urban and rural areas.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ban-on-takeaways-near-schools-to-fight-obesity-30109368.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-20 11:27:21',NULL,'ban-on-takeaways-near-schools-to-fight-obesity'),(470,'The alarm bells have been ringing for more than two decades on family court problems','<p>\r\n	I wanted to carry out research that puts a spotlight on our family courts, warts and all, to shake out the dust and debris accumulated from over 200 years of custom and practice.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The aim of my project was to carry out a holistic review of the family law system in Ireland, by examining the Circuit Court, which hears approximately 98pc of all divorces and judicial separations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It has been an interesting and, from time to time, a deeply distressing journey.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In this, the first substantial empirical family law research carried out in the Circuit Court, I have seen so much anger, frustration, fear and misery, for both men and women.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	And it was very difficult at times to continue to observe and remain detached.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I was not alone: most of the judges interviewed indicated an intense dislike for the emotional context of family law cases, finding disputes over the arrangements for children to be extremely difficult &ndash; and sometimes distasteful.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I have gathered clear information, both qualitative and quantitative, on how our family courts actually operate; profiled those who attended at court; documented all aspects of the process; heard the opinions of judges; and quantified the outcomes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I am grateful for the support and assistance of the judiciary, both in terms of a Canadian Irish Family Law conference I organised in 2010, and during my time observing cases in courts around the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While my thesis presumes knowledge of family law, little or no case law was actually argued in the courts, nor did the Constitution make its presence felt.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There was little complexity of law, the issues were uniform and a predictable range of human dynamics presented in almost every case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Until now, we have been unable &ndash; due to a weakness in existing data &ndash; to give meaningful answers to questions regarding the quality of the Irish family justice system.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This includes details about litigants and their circumstances, as well as the timing, costs and true outcomes of cases.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Records to date comprise of elementary statistics compiled in an Annual Report by the Courts Service, and reported judgments from the Superior Courts.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Courts Service Pilot Project in 2006-2007, co-ordinated by Dr Carol Coulter, was a starting point for my research.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Coulter&#39;s pilot project found that there was a need for the development of a statistics gathering system.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	My project has addressed that need and provides a good indicator of what is happening across all cases dealt with by the relevant family law circuits, eight in all, between October 2008 and February 2012.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Funded by the Irish Research Council, it uses a purpose-built database, including 187 anonymised family law case reports.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Significantly, this research found that the poorest outcomes were for men who were lay litigants (represented themselves), followed by non- national lay litigants.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It found that 22pc of all litigants had no legal representation and the formality and age-old traditions operated by the courts creates an uncomfortable and often incomprehensible forum for them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In no case were the views of any child heard directly by a judge. The children&#39;s views were often expressed through the primary carer (mostly the mother) or through court-ordered experts where there were allegations of abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I practised as a family mediator throughout my research, and was shocked by the incredibly small uptake of mediation, just eight cases, as an alternative to litigation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mediation was misunderstood as a reconciliation process, and some mediated agreements were criticised by judges as being poorly written and incapable of legal enforcement.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	These extensive findings support the need to establish a designated family court and ancillary services. Evidence-based reform is really necessary, and now that I understand the injustices of the Irish family law system, I, like many others in this arena, am fully committed to improving its outcomes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Justice Minister Alan Shatter noted that alarm bells started to ring in the 1985 Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Marriage Breakdown, which highlighted the difficulties experienced due to the onerous demands placed on the courts.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Those bells are still ringing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Shatter has already taken significant steps towards reform, the most far-reaching of which is his proposal to facilitate the development of a dedicated and integrated Family Court structure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We must now go beyond the traditional role of the court and develop a family justice system that effectively and meaningfully contributes to the cost-effective and timely resolution of family disputes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Going to court should be the option of last resort for those who are separating, not the port of first call.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	ROISIN O&#39;SHEA DIP, BA HONS (LAW) WAS A DOCTORAL SCHOLAR, THE IRISH RESEARCH COUNCIL 2009-2012, AND IN 2010 WAS JOINT WINNER OF THE &#39;IRISH INDEPENDENT&#39;/HIGHER EDUCATION AUTHORITY (HEA) MAKING AN IMPACT COMPETITION FOR POST-GRADUATE RESEARCHERS.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/roisin-oshea-the-alarm-bells-have-been-ringing-for-more-than-two-decades-on-family-court-problems-30100535.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-20 11:29:18',NULL,'the-alarm-bells-have-been-ringing-for-more-than-two-decades-on-family-court-problems'),(471,'Dealers target schools with drug sales at lunch breaks','<p>\r\n	Gardai are targeting drug dealing near secondary schools in a clampdown on the sale of illicit substances to teenagers at lunch breaks.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In what has been described as a &quot;worrying&quot; development, dealers are approaching teen-agers, who are pooling their resources to buy cannabis and other substances near the school grounds during recreational periods.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the past three weeks in Kerry alone, two such operations have been foiled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai say most of the students involved in buying the drugs were from what would be regarded as good homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last week, in Causeway in north Kerry, a 16-year-old and a 21-year-old were questioned following a raid by gardai.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sgt Declan Liddane, head of the divisional drugs unit, told the Irish Independent: &quot;There appears to be issues where older students, who have left various colleges or have been expelled, are targeting kids at lunch hour and we&#39;ve decided that we&#39;re going to take them on.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We&#39;ve done this at two schools already in Kerry but it&#39;s not unique to these two schools,&quot; Sgt Liddane said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	According to gardai, cannabis and other substances are available. In one instance, a group of four or five teenagers had pooled their resources to buy a &euro;50 bag of cannabis. However, they also believe some teenagers are becoming involved in dealing themselves.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	SUPERVISION</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;They might get their hands on &euro;50 worth but sell it out dearer and have their own supply for the week for nothing so they&#39;re getting into dealing themselves without even realising it,&quot; Sgt Liddane added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	General secretary of the TUI John McGowan said while it was a cause of dismay, it stood to reason that there would be an attempt by dealers to entice or force students to buy drugs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Through supervision arrangements, teachers do their best to ensure this problem does not penetrate the school grounds but what happens outside the school, in the community, is a matter the school cannot control except to advise the students and assist them... and involve the gardai as appropriate,&quot; Mr McGowan said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Stg Liddane said: &quot;It&#39;s the significance of the problem where a school should be a place exclusively for learning.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The students we spoke to who were in bother, their parents would be regarded as highly responsible and very involved.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Teachers&#39; unions say the development is worrying and schools would have to work closely with the gardai, but added that parents also needed to be involved.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A spokesperson for the ASTI said all schools were required to have policies on these issues and to educate their students about the misuse of drugs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/dealers-target-schools-with-drug-sales-at-lunch-breaks-30112314.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-21 12:45:12',NULL,'dealers-target-schools-with-drug-sales-at-lunch-breaks'),(472,'Government urged to end direct provision for asylum seekers','<p>\r\n	Rally against racism hears mental health of children and adults suffers in hostels</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Government has been urged to end the direct provision of hostel accommodation for asylum seekers because the system is having a detrimental effect on the mental health of adults and children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Noma Maye, a former asylum seeker, told a rally in Cork yesterday to mark World Anti-Racism Day that asylum seekers living in direct provision often suffer from depression as they are often living in cramped conditions with little control over their lives and children inevitably suffer in confined situations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;If the State cares so much for children, why are they allowed live in such inappropriate conditions - no one is illegal in any country - this is a free world especially for children and children have a right to grow up in a normal environment,&rdquo; said Ms Maye, to loud applause.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The rally which was organised by a number of groups and attended by around 100 people who marched through Cork city centre also heard from Muslim, Ali Hamou who urged people not to look beyond the stereotyping of Muslims by many in the media and politics.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Know me before you judge me - come and talk to me at the Cork Islamic Cultural Centre - I was treated really well in this society since I came to Ireland 13 years ago and I know Irish people are really good but the media and some other parties are vilifying us,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My message to every Irishman and woman here in Cork or anywhere - come talk to us, come and have a cup of tea with me and you&rsquo;ll find that I am just like you - people should not generalise about Muslims - no more than they should generalise about any group.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Brigid Quilligan of the Irish Traveller Movement said everyone, whether Travellers, Roma, asylum seekers or members of the Islamic faith, were entitled to the same basic human rights.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She condemned what she said was &ldquo;State racism&rdquo; towards Travellers. She instanced the recent rounding-up of horses in Cork by the local authorities and garda&iacute; as an attack on Traveller culture and she urged people to ask candidates in the forthcoming local and European elections to outline their position on Travellers&rsquo;s rights issues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/government-urged-to-end-direct-provision-for-asylum-seekers-1.1735225</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-24 09:52:13',NULL,'government-urged-to-end-direct-provision-for-asylum-seekers'),(473,'‘Prinking’ and car-bars show how drinking culture is changing','<p>\r\n	Industry criticised for spending more on marketing than promoting responsible drinking</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Activities such as &ldquo;prinking&rdquo; and having &ldquo;car-bars&rdquo; have become routine, showing how much our drinking behaviour has changed, a seminar on alcohol and youth heard at the weekend.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The seminar, organised by rural youth organisation Macra na Feirme, heard that pre-drinking, or drinking before going out, had become so common that it was referred to as prinking; car-bars referred to people bringing cheap alcohol in their cars when going out or away for the weekend, and returning to the car periodically to drink rather than buying the alcohol at the hotel or pub.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Macra na Feirme president Kieran O&rsquo;Dowd said he had recently noticed the trend of members bringing slabs of beer and bottles of spirits to the organisation&rsquo;s social events. &ldquo;Simple economics mean that if it&rsquo;s easy to get and it&rsquo;s cheap, it&rsquo;s a no-brainer that you would bring it with you.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The National Youth Council of Ireland&rsquo;s director Mary Cunningham said the volume of drinking involved in pre-drinking was the most worrying aspect. &ldquo;With pre-drinking, you are not drinking at home and then going out to have one [drink]. You are drinking at home and going out and drinking whatever you&rsquo;d have drunk anyway, and then maybe coming back [and drinking more].&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Advertising<br />\r\n	She said the alcohol companies were pouring millions into advertising and some of the television ads were stunning. Research had found that five of the top 10 most-remembered advertisements for young people were selling alcohol.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;And yes, the alcohol industry is putting money into promoting positive messages [about responsible drinking], but alongside that, it&rsquo;s spending close to 40 times that amount on advertising.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said alcohol-related harm in Ireland was costing the exchequer almost &euro;3.5 billion a year, three times the 2014 budget for the Department of Agriculture.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Cunningham said our alcohol problem was presented as something that affected a minority of people. &ldquo;But the majority of Irish people who drink &ndash; and there are significant numbers who don&rsquo;t drink at all &ndash; are drinking at levels that are damaging to their health.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But Kathryn D&rsquo;Arcy, director of Ibec&rsquo;s Alcohol Beverage Foundation of Ireland, said most people drank alcohol responsibly. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re drinking less now than we did 13 years ago and that trend is continuing. Our teens are drinking less than they were . . . six years ago and we actually drink less than the French do.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Tolerance of abuse<br />\r\n	She said the culture of tolerance for alcohol abuse must be addressed. &ldquo;The drinks industry does not benefit from misuse. What we would much prefer is a long-term sustainable industry with a future.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Prof M&aacute;irt&iacute;n &Oacute; Fathaigh, an organisational learning and development consultant, asked if our history of being ruled by the British was a factor in our abuse of alcohol. He pointed to other groups with alcohol and substance abuse problems, such as Aboriginal people, Native Americans and Maori people. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just wondering if it is part of a post-colonial legacy,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Macra na Feirme members attending the seminar in Limerick highlighted the difficulty for rural people who wanted to go out at night. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s absolutely no transportation,&rdquo; said one. &ldquo;So for the one time in the week or fortnight that you do get to town, that&rsquo;s where a lot of the binge drinking is coming in.&rdquo;<br />\r\n	Another said she deliberately drove to the pub some nights so she would not be pressurised into drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/prinking-and-car-bars-show-how-drinking-culture-is-changing-1.1735335</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-24 10:43:39',NULL,'‘prinking’-and-car-bars-show-how-drinking-culture-is-changing'),(474,'Report: Sex offenders system restrictive','<p>\r\n	A multi-agency body set up to manage convicted sex offenders in the community can only monitor a small percentage of them because of data protection limitations and lack of legal powers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The leaders of the unit &mdash; which brings together the garda&iacute;, the Probation Service, and the HSE &mdash; said it was &ldquo;restricted&rdquo; in what it can achieve. They also said their biggest problem was the lack of accommodation to house offenders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management system was set up to manage the risk posed to the community by convicted sex offenders, especially those assessed as high profile and/or posing a high risk of reoffending.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A report published by the National SORAM Committee provides little- publicised details on convicted sex offenders, which combines those who currently are subject to reporting requirements to garda&iacute;, those no longer subject, and those in custody. It shows:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* The total number of convicted sex offenders has increased from around 1,500 in 2008 to 2,400 in 2013;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* The number of offenders on reporting requirements has risen from around 1,100 to almost 1,300;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* Only 12% of the 1,300 (156) are subject to supervision by the Probation Service.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Writing in the Irish Probation Journal, the authors said SORAM was working. Offenders were being managed on a &ldquo;day-to-day basis&rdquo; and there was &ldquo;effective communication&rdquo; between all the agencies.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;SORAM pools resources that previously worked in parallel and were largely disconnected,&rdquo; the report said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, the report &mdash; written by Mark Wilson of the Probation Service, retired detective superintendent John McCann, and Robert Templeton of the HSE &mdash; said there were serious structural problems.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Without underpinning legislation, the SORAM model is limited to dealing with offenders who are both subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 and under the supervision of the Probation Service,&rdquo; said the report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Other sex offenders cannot be included due to data protection limitations. As such, the SORAM model is restricted in what it can achieve.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The authors said the &ldquo;most recurring and enduring barriers&rdquo; to managing offenders in the community was the absence of accommodation for sex offenders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Indeed, for higher-profile or higher-need offenders &mdash; including those assessed as not capable or living independently &mdash; there continues to be serious public safety issues requiring resolution,&rdquo; said the report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report said that, for SORAM to be effective at a local level, interventions targeting offender&rsquo;s internal controls were needed. It said this included treatment, constructive daytime activities, measures to tackle social isolation as well as mental health and addiction issues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/report-sex-offenders-system-restrictive-262973.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-24 10:50:44',NULL,'report-sex-offenders-system-restrictive'),(475,'The Samaritans is changing its phone number to a free one','<p>\r\n	The new phone number will replace the existing low-call number as part of a change being brought in across Europe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Samaritans is bringing in a new free phone number to replace its existing low-call number as part of a change being implemented across Europe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The new phone number &ndash; 116 123 &ndash;&nbsp; means people who are struggling to cope will no longer have to pay anything to access the service.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The change is part of a plan by the European Commission to make some helplines easy to remember and free of charge using the format 116 + 3 digits.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Samaritans was assigned the emotional support helpline by communications watchdog ComReg.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The helpline received more than 380,000 calls last year, with many of the calls happening late at night.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Samaritans said the issues brought up the most by callers were family and relationship problems, depression and mental health issues, loneliness and stress or anxiety.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The new phone number will be launched later today&nbsp; by Ministers Pat Rabitte and Kathleen Lynch.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.thejournal.ie/samaritans-free-phone-number-1378637-Mar2014/</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-25 10:47:42',NULL,'the-samaritans-is-changing-its-phone-number-to-a-free-one'),(476,'Children aged two accessing explicit content','<p>\r\n	Children as young as two have been caught accessing explicit content online, according to a new survey.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The research showed three million UK families had discovered their children viewing violent, explicit or pornographic material on the internet, with the youngest age quoted being two.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The survey &ndash; carried out by website uSwitch.com &ndash; found that three-quarters of parents were unable to name any parental control tools that can be applied to internet-ready devices, and four in 10 said they had none installed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In an increasing number of cases, parents were resorting to secretly monitoring their children in order to establish what they looked at online.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Claire Lilley, head of child safety online at children&#39;s charity the NSPCC, called the findings of the report &quot;chilling&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/children-aged-two-accessing-explicit-content-30121504.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-25 10:49:15',NULL,'children-aged-two-accessing-explicit-content'),(477,'28% harmed by other’s drinking, HSE report finds','<p>\r\n	More than one in four people in Ireland have been harmed because of someone else&rsquo;s drinking. A report by the HSE found that 28% of people have experienced at least one or more of the negative consequences of someone&rsquo;s else&rsquo;s drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Such consequences include family and financial problems, assault, having property vandalised and being a passenger with a drunk driver.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One in six women experienced family problems, while one in nine men reported assaults because of other people&rsquo;s drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Young men had the highest rate of assaults at one in five and the highest number of incidents of being a passenger with a drunk driver at one in six.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Young women had the highest rate of reported family problems, at one in five, due to others&rsquo; drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Children were badly affected, with one in 10 parents and guardians saying that their children were hurt, either mentally or physically, in the past 12 months because of someone else&rsquo;s drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Children suffered verbal and physical abuse, were left in unsafe situations and witnessed serious violence in the home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Parents who were regular risky drinkers were more likely (one in eight) to report that their children were exposed to harm.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It also found that the proportion of Irish workers reporting harm from a colleague&rsquo;s drinking was twice as high as that of their Australian counterparts.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Those from lower income groups were more vulnerable to family problems, at almost one in five, because of someone else&rsquo;s drinking, a situation that is also contributing to the health inequality gap.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, the report &mdash; Alcohol&rsquo;s Harm to Others in Ireland &mdash; found that little progress has been made in the last two decades in implementing effective policies to reduce alcohol-related harm, despite many reports.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report, based on responses to previous national drinking surveys between 2006 and 2011, says alcohol policy from now on needs to be focused on the protection of young adults, women and children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The HSE&rsquo;s national director for health and wellbeing, Stephanie O&rsquo;Keeffe said that the report was commissioned in response to the growing recognition of alcohol-related harm and how it extends from the person who is drinking and those around them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister of State for primary care Alex White said the report confirmed what many people already suspected, that the harm caused by alcohol use extended far beyond the drinker.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said the findings of the report strongly supported the Government&rsquo;s Public Health (Alcohol) Bill currently being drafted to address key areas of alcohol-harm reduction, including the pricing, marketing and availability of alcohol.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Alcohol Action Ireland said pricing, marketing and availability needed to be regulated. AAI chief executive Suzanne Costello said self-regulation of the alcohol industry had proven to be wholly ineffective with regard to public health.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Main findings</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-More than one in four of the population have experienced at least one or more negative consequences because of someone else&rsquo;s drinking &mdash; family problems, being a passenger with a drunk driver, physical assaults, vandalised property, and money problems.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-Women (one in six) are more likely to experience family problems, and men (one in nine) are more likely to report assaults.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-More young men (one in six) said they were a passenger in a vehicle with a drunk driver than any other group.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-Almost one in five of those from lower income groups were more vulnerable to family problems due to another person&rsquo;s drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	CHILDREN</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-One in 10 parents said their children had suffered over the past 12 months because of someone else&rsquo;s drinking. Children were verbally abused, left in unsafe situations, and witnessed serious violence and physical abuse in the home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-Heavy-drinking parents were more likely to admit that children experienced one or more of the alcohol-related harms.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-If a heavy-drinking parent is in the house with another drinker, the harm experienced by the children could be substantial.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	WORKPLACE</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-One in 10 Irish workers experienced at least one or more negative consequences due to a colleagues&rsquo; heavy drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-Men (one in seven) and workers in the youngest age group (one in six) are most likely to experience negative consequences.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-One in six young men said their ability to do their job was affected and one in nine said they had to work extra hours because their co-workers were heavy drinkers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	-Reported physical injury and mental damage in the Irish workforce were double that found in Australia.-</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/28-harmed-by-others-drinking-hse-report-finds-263041.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-25 10:50:13',NULL,'28%-harmed-by-other’s-drinking-hse-report-finds'),(478,'Students ‘speak out’ on the social issues at Mansion House','<p>\r\n	Presentations on issues ranging from teen suicide, mental health and child poverty</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Students from schools across the country gathered at the Mansion House in Dublin yesterday to &ldquo;speak out&rdquo; on the social issues that concern them as part of the Young Social Innovators&rsquo; &ldquo;All Ireland Speak Out&rdquo; tour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They are all participating in the Social Innovation Action programme organised by Young Social Innovators which gives young people the skills and know-how to examine social problems and bring about the changes they wish to see in their communities and wider society. The audience heard interactive presentations from students on local, national and global issues ranging from teen suicide, diabetes, mental health, child poverty, homelessness, internet safety and disability rights.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Confidence and verve<br />\r\n	Speaking at the launch of the YSI awards yesterday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that extra- curricular activities carried out by young people would stand to them in later life. &ldquo;Our young people would make you very proud because of the confidence, verve and their ability to stand on any platform and compete with their peers around the world,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Who are we as Irish people? We&rsquo;re various, curious and inquisitive. We&rsquo;re the best connectors on the planet and the fact that there&rsquo;s 4&frac12; million of us at home and 70 million worldwide leads us to understand the power of the community we have as Irish people,&rdquo; he said. Mr Kenny said the young social innovators &ldquo;have started something that can&rsquo;t be stopped&rdquo; and that they should be supported in all their endeavours.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, co- founder and director of Young Social Innovators, said YSI is a powerful movement of young people who bring fresh perspectives and innovative practical solutions to social problems. Sr Stanislaus said she believed young people can help &ldquo;fix society&rdquo; if given the opportunity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;Just society&rsquo;<br />\r\n	&ldquo;I have great hope for a fairer and more just society when I see young people so it is up to us to give them encouragement,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Vodafone Ireland chief executive Anne O&rsquo;Leary said it was vital that companies step up at what she described as a &ldquo;challenging time&rdquo; for charities. (Vodafone Ireland is a charity partner of YSI.) &ldquo;Unfortunately the sector as a whole has been impacted by some isolated incidents which has in turn meant that 66 per cent of the Irish population are less likely to donate time and money; a real blow to a sector already experiencing strain,&rdquo; said Ms O&rsquo;Leary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This year&rsquo;s programme culminates with the Annual Showcase of Young Social Innovators on May 7th in CityWest.<br />\r\n	Last year, more than 350 student-led projects were undertaken, with the &ldquo;Organ Donation in Education&rdquo; team from Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Co Meath, taking the &lsquo;&lsquo;Young Social Innovators of the Year 2013&rsquo;&rsquo; title.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/students-speak-out-on-the-social-issues-at-mansion-house-1.1738069</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-26 11:09:33',NULL,'students-‘speak-out’-on-the-social-issues-at-mansion-house'),(479,'4 in 10 young people still can\'t afford to move out of home','<p>\r\n	More than four in ten young people live at home with their parents &ndash; with cuts in social welfare and high levels of youth unemployment making it difficult to flee the nest.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has called on the Government to remove the age factor and pay young people the same welfare rates as other groups.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	NYCI&#39;s deputy director James Doorley says many young people trapped in a &#39;Catch 22&#39; situation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Young people are stuck. They can&#39;t afford to move out &ndash; but in many cases they are not able to contribute to the household income,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He added that rising rents due to a housing shortage in parts of the country were also having an effect.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An analysis from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has painted a picture of the social situation of young people aged from 18 to 29 across the EU.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It found that 42pc of young people in Ireland were living with their parents in 2011. This was down slightly from 45pc in 2007 &ndash; but that is likely down to many youngsters opting to move abroad to study or work as the recession took hold.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Another issue highlighted was that 51pc of youths reported a difficulty in accessing healthcare for financial reasons. Some 18pc experience deprivation including being unable to keep their house warm, being unable to buy meat or fish at least every second day, and opting to buy second-hand clothes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Doorley said the NYCI accepted the Government was working to create jobs through schemes but it needed to act at a &quot;faster pace&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Junior Minister for European affairs Paschal Donohoe said there was &quot;no doubt&quot; the personal consequences for young people of being out of work or not having training opportunities were negative.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;With the money that is available to the Government at the moment we&#39;ve had to make choices regarding supporting different parts of society,&quot; Mr Donohoe said in relation to cuts to social welfare payments, which saw some young people reduced to &euro;100 a week.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	OPPORTUNITIES</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The most important choice that we&#39;ve made for young people is to put funding in place to increase the number of training and work opportunities that is available to them.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Meanwhile, Marie-Claire McAleer, the NYCI&#39;s senior research officer, pointed out the lack of availability of free healthcare in Ireland compared to other parts of the EU, and the rising cost of health insurance, were proving a &quot;significant barrier&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She pointed out that those most at risk of deprivation were young people living in large households with their parents, and also their partner or children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/four-in-10-young-people-still-cant-afford-to-move-out-of-home-in-jobs-crisis-30125322.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-26 11:20:07',NULL,'4-in-10-young-people-still-cant-afford-to-move-out-of-home'),(480,'Children who refuse to stay in school','<p>\r\n	School refusal is defined as refusal to attend or difficulty in staying in school for the full day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It&rsquo;s a nightmare for parents and chronic school refusal has serious implications for a child&rsquo;s long term education, social and emotional wellbeing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It needs to be dealt with immediately. Go to the school principal and the GP in the first instance who will make a referral to local child and adolescence mental health services (CAMHS). School refusal is seen as a priority by these services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Underlying school refusal is an anxiety about something. The challenge is to find out where the anxiety is coming from &ndash; eg internal; - learning disorders, poor social skills, or poor problem solving strategies; external &ndash; bullying, peer pressure, or conflict with teachers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Intervention</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This involves the family working with a member of CAMHS and the school to learn how to manage anxiety and return the child school quickly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A psychologist from CAMHS will assess the child&rsquo;s anxiety, examine the broader relevant issues, and develop an intervention program, typically involving:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for anxiety management</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; Parent training</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; Collaboration with the school</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; Tips for parents and teachers to manage refusal</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The longer a child is allowed to refuse to attend, the deeper the avoidance behaviour becomes and the more difficult to change.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It may be necessary initially to allow some &lsquo;slack&rsquo; in relation to what is expected of the child when at school as long as they attend (the goal then becomes to increase active participation in expected school activities).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	panic attack</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If a child has a tantrum or panic attack when entering school, it is best to calmly deal with this without taking the child home. This may take hours, however if an anxiety attack results in going home the child is learning that the only way to decrease their anxiety is to flee.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If the child can feel their anxiety decreasing whilst staying at school, the need to flee decreases over time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	how to calm a child</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If a child is highly anxious and distressed (above a 5/10 on the anxiety scale):</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; DO NOT attempt to reason with them or talk them through it &ndash; their brain is in no state to process such information, the anxious brain has little capacity to use reasoning, logic or rational thinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Instead use calming strategies &ndash; this is much easier if the child has learnt calming techniques or if the parent/teachers know what the child finds calming.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; DO NOT over power the child or force them. Lack of control increases anxiety, give them space and time. Communicate in a calm, clear and supportive way (&ldquo;I can see you are upset. Let&rsquo;s move over here and sit down for a bit&rdquo;). Take things one small step at a time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Only when the child is calmer (under a 5/10 on the anxiety scale) can you can use reasoning, logic and rational thinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; DO NOT tell the child to calm down, instead help the child to be calm, e.g. remove them from the &lsquo;fuss&rsquo; and chaos of early mornings at school, speak in a low voice, move slowly around them, appear like you know what to do and that it&rsquo;s all good.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&bull; DO NOT provide re-assurances such as &lsquo;everything will be fine&rsquo; &lsquo;you&rsquo;ll be okay&rsquo;, instead (if anything) provide support and confidence &lsquo;this is hard for you, we will find a way to make it okay&rsquo; &lsquo;it&rsquo;s okay for this to take a bit of time&rsquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It is crucial that the reasons for the child feeling anxious about school are understood so that they can be appropriately addressed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/children-who-refuse-to-stay-in-school-1-5958381<br />\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-26 11:21:24',NULL,'children-who-refuse-to-stay-in-school'),(481,'‘Children as young as six’ seeking help from Pieta House','<p>\r\n	CHILDREN as young as six have sought support from suicide awareness charity Pieta House, founder Joan Freeman has said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the launch of its annual Darkness into Light fundraiser, Ms Freeman said that 4,000 people have attended the charity&rsquo;s nine centres nationwide last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Last year alone, we saw over 4,000 people. We saw children as young as six years of age to people in their 80s. That is wonderful news, as it means there are these 4,000 people who went to a place for help, and received it,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The annual Darkness into Light walk will take place for a fifth year in a row in Limerick, kicking off at 4.15am from Thomond Park on Saturday, May 10.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	After almost 6,000 people took the six mile walk last year, Ms Freeman has challenged the local committee to bring that figure to more than 10,000 people.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Entry to the walk costs at most &euro;25, and all the money raised will go to funding Pieta House&rsquo;s centre in Mungret.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Freeman was joined at the launch of the walk in the Clarion Hotel by Mayor Kathleen Leddin, the Unity Gospel Choir, and members of Limerick&rsquo;s football and hurling panels.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Hurling forward Seanie Tobin said: &ldquo;It is a fantastic event to raise awareness of suicide. The more work that goes into it, the better it is going to be.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said he would be taking part in the walk, which is taking place in both Limerick City and Newcastle West this year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mayor Leddin was full of praise for the charity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They have done a huge amount of work. Joan Freeman is a very inspirational lady. They have worked very hard for the last couple of years. It will be an amazing event. I might be there at the start, but I hate to say, six miles is too much for me,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Darkness into Light begins in darkness, and significantly, the walk finishes as dawn breaks.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Pieta House is this year linking with the Mind Our Men campaign, which aims to reduce male suicide.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They are asking participants to bring a male friend or relative with them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This time next week, ten more people will have died by suicide, and eight of them will be men. That&rsquo;s somebody&rsquo;s brother, someone&rsquo;s father, or someone&rsquo;s best friend,&rdquo; Ms Freeman said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	For more information on the walk, telephone 061 484444.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local-news/children-as-young-as-six-seeking-help-from-pieta-house-1-5961017</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-27 11:14:58',NULL,'‘children-as-young-as-six’-seeking-help-from-pieta-house'),(482,'Sex-buyers mostly well-educated, 42yrs+ men in relationships, study finds','<p>\r\n	&euro;250m is made from sex-trafficking in Ireland annually, a new report reveals, and almost all buyers of sex are over 42.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report published by the European Commission shows that the buyers of sex here are mostly well-educated men in relationships.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Some 92% are over the age of 45, earning more than &euro;20,000 per year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One in five said they had come across young girls who had been trafficked. There has never been a prosecution under Ireland&#39;s anti-human trafficking laws.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Immigrant Council of Ireland will hold a &quot;Stop Trafficking Conference&quot; in Dublin today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Chief executive Denise Charlton said up to 1,000 women are for sale in Ireland at any given time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Because most of the sex for sale in Ireland is done through the internet, you can actually buy a young woman and have her delivered to your apartment or house or hotel room in any town or city in Ireland,&quot; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;the buyers who participated in this research were primarily from cities, but we know from our work directly with victims that they are exploited throughout the country.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/sex-buyers-mostly-well-educated-42yrs-men-in-relationships-study-finds-626177.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-27 11:16:28',NULL,'sex-buyers-mostly-well-educated-42yrs+-men-in-relationships-study-finds'),(483,'Care worker appeals dismissal for taking newspaper from patient (93)','<p>\r\n	A nursing home care worker was fired after he upset a 93-year-old dementia patient by taking her newspaper, allegedly to read on his break, a tribunal has heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Roy Hogan (40), from Dublin, had worked as a care assistant at Highfield Healthcare nursing home and psychiatric hospital in Whitehall, Dublin 9 since February 2010.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He took a case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal for unfair dismissal after he had been fired from his job for gross misconduct in October 2012.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It is alleged that on August 28, 2012 Mr Hogan took a newspaper off a 93-year-old woman suffering from end-stage dementia, who has since died, causing her to become agitated.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Counsel for Mr Hogan said he took the newspaper from the woman in order to wash her hands.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Activity therapist Kevin Doyle witnessed the incident and gave evidence to the tribunal. He described the elderly woman as &quot;a high-dependency resident&quot; with limited movement and speech.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said she read the newspaper every morning.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Doyle told the tribunal, chaired by Peter J O&#39;Leary, that the woman became &quot;quite agitated&quot; when the newspaper was taken from her and &quot;pulled it back towards her&quot; but nonetheless Mr Hogan then &quot;took the newspaper and went on his break&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said the son of another patient also witnessed the event and was shocked and very annoyed. Mr Doyle said that he considered the act to be &quot;psychological abuse&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Hogan was subsequently fired for gross misconduct. His appeal was unsuccessful.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Doyle rejected suggestions that Mr Hogan took the newspaper in order to wash the woman&#39;s hands.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Another instance of neglect was laid against Mr Hogan for failing to clean up the same woman after she had vomited on a different occasion a few months previously.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	That incident was witnessed by the woman&#39;s daughter who did not report it at the time, the tribunal was told.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	INVESTIGATION</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	HR manager Melanie Eustace said when the incident involving the newspaper was investigated, Mr Hogan didn&#39;t seem to take the allegations seriously and he gave no defence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Counsel for Mr Hogan, Ann Sheridan, put it to her that the incident with the newspaper did not amount to gross misconduct, seeing as Mr Hogan was offered alternative employment within the company, in the laundry, rather than being fired on the spot.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Chief executive Stephen Eustace also gave evidence to the tribunal. He said there may have been minor procedural errors in the investigation process but added that the hospital had &quot;zero tolerance for elder abuse&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The tribunal will continue on September 4 when Mr Hogan will be able to give evidence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/care-worker-appeals-dismissal-for-taking-newspaper-from-patient-93-30130022.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-27 10:59:03',NULL,'care-worker-appeals-dismissal-for-taking-newspaper-from-patient-93'),(484,'Constitutional right to privacy has to be considered in adoption tracing Bill - Minister','<p>\r\n	Privacy should not be &lsquo;way above&rsquo; the rights of children to their identity - Clare Daly</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A law to facilitate the tracing of relatives for those affected by adoption must take account of the &ldquo;strong constitutional&rdquo; right to privacy of the birth mother, Minister for Children&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Frances%20Fitzgerald&amp;article=true\">Frances Fitzgerald</a>&nbsp;has told the D&aacute;il.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said the initial outline or heads of the legislation, the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill, &ldquo;are close to completion&rdquo; and would be dealt with by the Oireachtas health and children committee. The starting point of the Bill &ldquo;has been to provide as much information as possible&rdquo;, the Minister said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But Ms Fitzgerald stressed: &ldquo;I will be bound and am bound . . . to provide for a balancing between the strong constitutional provision relating to privacy and the right to identity.&rdquo; The Minister was responding during D&aacute;il question time to Independent TD&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Clare%20Daly&amp;article=true\">Clare Daly</a>, who said the Minister appeared to be adamant that the right to privacy has priority &ldquo;way above the rights of children to their identity&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	<strong>Legal advice</strong></p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Daly challenged a&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Supreme%20Court&amp;article=true\">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;judgment that was considered in legal advice for the forthcoming Bill. The&nbsp;<em>IO&rsquo;T vs B</em>&nbsp;case concerned a fostering arrangement where an adoption order was not made. The majority of the court held that a natural child had an implied constitutional right to know the identity of his or her mother but this had to be balanced against the right of the natural mother to privacy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Dublin North TD said the judgment in that case &ldquo;made the assumption that a natural parent would not want to be contacted. That does not have any basis in reality however because most adoptions were forced adoptions. Some of those from the past were not proper adoptions at all.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She suggested the advice of Minister for Justice&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Alan%20Shatter&amp;article=true\">Alan Shatter</a>&nbsp;should be sought on the issue. Ms Daly said that 11 years after the&nbsp;<em>IO&rsquo;T vs B</em>&nbsp;judgment, Mr Shatter said, when in opposition, that the issue was &ldquo;not rocket science&rdquo;. &ldquo;He said it had been addressed in neighbouring jurisdictions and that someone who was adopted across the Border in Northern Ireland had substantially greater rights than someone had in this State and that it could be addressed here.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	<strong>Scenario</strong><br />\r\n	Ms Fitzgerald said a certain amount of the scenario Ms Daly had painted could be dealt with in the legislation, including where a birth mother had no objection to being contacted or where a birth mother was deceased or where the mother could not be traced but it was reasonable to assume she was deceased.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But she pointed out that the right to privacy had been firmly established as a constitutional right through a number of cases starting with the 1974 judgment on marital privacy in&nbsp;<em>Magee vs the Attorney General</em>.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Fitzgerald stressed that in Ireland &ldquo;we are in a different position to other countries that do not have a constitution&rdquo;. She said the judgment Ms Daly referred to did not involve an adoption order but where one was made it severed parental rights and duties, and &ldquo;a birth mother&rsquo;s right to privacy may have more force&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/constitutional-right-to-privacy-has-to-be-considered-in-adoption-tracing-bill-minister-1.1740965\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/constitutional-right-to-privacy-has-to-be-considered-in-adoption-tracing-bill-minister-1.1740965</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-28 10:52:17',NULL,'constitutional-right-to-privacy-has-to-be-considered-in-adoption-tracing-bill-minister'),(485,'Courts lack system to assess risk to children in unsafe homes','<p>\r\n	Children are being forced to stay in &ldquo;unsafe&rdquo; contact with parents suspected of child abuse and domestic violence because there is no system for family courts to adequately assess the concerns.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The crisis has been revealed by an independent two-year pilot review of court supports during family separation cases. However, the review itself has since been scrapped due to a lack of funding.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The major review, conducted by children&rsquo;s charity Barnardos and single parent family group One Family, discovered half of the children assessed were being ordered by the courts to stay in contact with parents they no longer live with and, furthermore, a &ldquo;current risk of domestic violence or child abuse&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It found that, despite the serious issues involved, judges are effectively being told to decide on cases &ldquo;blindfolded and deafened&rdquo; because vital ancillary supports are not available.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	According to the detailed pilot review, available at www.irishexaminer.com, under the current family courts system, judges cannot access information on potential domestic violence, child protection notifications and the &ldquo;parenting capacity&rdquo; of those involved.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This is because a &ldquo;professional&rdquo; support service to assess the concerns has never been in place in Ireland, despite the fact it is widely available in other European and north American countries.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While a private service can be requested under a Section 47 order, this costs the parents involved thousands of euro and is considered &ldquo;ad hoc&rdquo; as it does not involve specialist, accredited assessors.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Between October 2011 and April 2013, Barnardos and One Family opened two pilot projects in north and south Dublin to assess the scale of the problem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A total of 128 families were referred by the courts to the Child Contact Centre pilots &mdash; which have received widespread backing from judges including family law committee chair and High Court judge Michael White &mdash; with 56 ultimately being assessed after all parties agreed to the process.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It found 50% of families had &ldquo;a current risk of domestic violence&rdquo; and 59% had &ldquo;a current risk of child abuse&rdquo; involving at least one parent with whom a child was court-ordered to stay in contact.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The pilot said the serious hidden problem in the justice system can only be addressed if 37 centres are rolled out nationwide at a cost of &euro;3.5m a year to the Department of Justice and Department of Children and Youth Affairs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, despite the findings, &euro;200,000 in funding needed to continue the pilots was instead no longer made available this year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The courts need access to professionally conducted family assessments in order to make child-centred decisions that will be safe and enforceable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This will ensure children do not experience unsafe court-ordered contact visits,&rdquo; said One Family chief executive, Karen Kiernan.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When asked by the Irish Examiner if the current system is putting children at risk, she said: &ldquo;Yes, children do spend time with parents who are unsafe and unsuitable. It happens all the time.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Those behind the pilot reviews have urged Justice Minister Alan Shatter to include the reforms in the Children and Family Relationships Bill.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The draft legislation is currently under public consultation, and can be found at www.justice.ie.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/courts-lack-system-to-assess-risk-to-children-in-unsafe-homes-263567.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/courts-lack-system-to-assess-risk-to-children-in-unsafe-homes-263567.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-31 09:47:07',NULL,'courts-lack-system-to-assess-risk-to-children-in-unsafe-homes'),(486,'Carers to lobby TDs on ‘exploitative’ hours','<p>\r\n	Staff in HSE-funded residential homes will this morning be asked to lobby TDs over the situation which sees them routinely having to work 15 hours over the legal maximum.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Impact trade union is holding one of a series of information meeting for the staff at the Killarney Court Hotel in Kerry at 11am today as part of a campaign to end what it sees as exploitation by employers in the sector.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the end of last month, the union lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission on behalf of its members, who care for children, homeless people, and those with disabilities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Along with Siptu, it claims residential care staff are routinely expected to work 63-hour weeks even though the legal maximum is 48 hours. They contend health employers and management are, in some cases, continually breaching the 1993 EU Working Time Directive and also failing to respect a decade-old European Court of Justice ruling on working time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The unions say management accepts it is in breach of the legislation, but extensive talks on the issue last year came to nothing. The unions subsequently referred the matter to the Labour Court, which directed the parties to return to Labour Relations Commission-facilitated talks to try and resolve the issues no later than May 31.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Una Faulkner of Impact called for a 39-hour week &mdash; excluding &lsquo;sleepover&rsquo; duty whereby workers are in-situ at residential facilities overnight &mdash; with any extra hours beyond this paid as overtime.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/carers-to-lobby-tds-on-exploitative-hours-262967.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/carers-to-lobby-tds-on-exploitative-hours-262967.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-31 09:48:32',NULL,'carers-to-lobby-tds-on-‘exploitative’-hours'),(487,'Teens develop drink habits before college years','<p>\r\n	Students starting university have already developed disturbing patterns of alcohol use, according to the head of student health at University College Cork.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Michael Byrne said that drinking was become &ldquo;more and more prevalent&rdquo; among incoming students, and the feedback from secondary school principals indicated that both Leaving Certificate and 5th year pupils were drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Byrne is spearheading a movement across the UCC campus, backed by the student&rsquo;s union and the university itself, geared at raising awareness about the harm alcohol can do and encouraging students to take ownership of their own health. He said a &ldquo;regular and consistent&rdquo; part of his work is treating students for the unintended consequences of drinking too much.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The campaign includes giving students the option of alcohol-free residences with a marginally discounted rent. Dr Byrne said there was no take-up the first year of the initiative, but that six residences have already been booked for the upcoming academic year and he expects the number to hit around 20 come September. He said bookings had been taken from both Irish and overseas students.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We sort of laughed at the idea first,&rdquo; said Dr Byrne. &ldquo;It was more of a concept, yet it grabbed the national headlines. However, there are other institutions looking at it now and I&rsquo;m expecting the demand to grow.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Byrne, who is speaking on Wednesday at the Alcohol Forum Conference which takes place jointly with the National Healthcare Conference at the Dublin Convention Centre, said there was observational evidence that the median number of drinks consumed by students had decreased between 2010 and 2012. This information was gleaned from UCC&rsquo;s e-Pub initiative, an online tool all students are encouraged to fill out as a means of getting them to reflect on their own drinking habits.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said there was no doubt the economic downturn had influenced student alcohol consumption, but he was &ldquo;hopeful&rdquo; they were also influenced by the self-assessment tool, which provides personalised feedback and estimates the harm alcohol intake is causing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Byrne said more than 90% of the student population drank alcohol.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said some had got involved in the recent social media phenomenon of &lsquo;neknomination&rsquo;, where participants film themselves downing a pint of alcohol in one go and then nominating someone else to do likewise. He said that, in this instance, he received advance warning about the game after receiving a call from a former UCC welfare officer now based in Australia. Dr Byrne said the tip-off gave the Students Union a window to warn students about the danger of the game and encourage them not to take part before it hit the national headlines.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I think we were lucky, but I also think it was partly because the message went out peer-to-peer that this was not a safe thing to do,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Byrne said he believes UCC is &ldquo;setting the agenda&rdquo; when it comes to tackling alcohol harm on campus, despite the risk of damage to reputation. He has been invited to speak at national and overseas events as a result of the UCC successes, including this week, where his presentation is entitled &lsquo;UCC innovative approach to tackling alcohol&rsquo;s harm on campus&rsquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/teens-develop-drink-habits-before-college-years-263705.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/teens-develop-drink-habits-before-college-years-263705.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-03-31 09:49:43',NULL,'teens-develop-drink-habits-before-college-years'),(488,'Garda warnings about abuser ignored despite conviction','<p>\r\n	Abuse continued with &lsquo;hundreds of attacks&rsquo; on four boys</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Donegal child sex abuser Michael Ferry (58) was allowed continue working as caretaker at an Irish language summer school despite being convicted of indecently assaulting a boy, a review has found.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He pleaded guilty in 2002 to abusing the boy at Ard Scoil Mhuire in Gweedore.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In July 2011 he was jailed for 14 years for sexually assaulting four more boys at the school and last December received another seven year concurrent sentence after pleading guilty to abusing a fifth boy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Following the 2011 convictions, Minister for Justice Minister Alan Shatter ordered an investigation into the handling of the case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A subsequent report found garda&iacute; had alerted both the school&rsquo;s directors and the then North Western Health Board (now HSE) about Ferry&rsquo;s first conviction shortly after it occurred in 2002.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The internal review by the Child and Family agency Tusla, looked at how the case was handled by the North Western Health Board and the HSE.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It also found the health board was contacted twice in 2002 by garda&iacute; expressing concerns Ferry was still working in a caretaking role at the school and other children might be at risk of abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It has also found initial responses by the Health Board did not comply with State&rsquo;s Children First guidelines.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Another Garda warning in 2005 to the HSE was also ignored with no action taken and no investigation carried out. It was not until 2010 that a proper review of the case took place after new victims came forward.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ferry is serving 14 years of an 18-year sentence after admitting hundreds of attacks on four boys. He was given the second seven year sentence for attacks on a fifth victim when he pleaded guilty to new charges last December at the Circuit Court in Donegal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai had already investigated directors at the school who had been contacted in 2002, 2005 and 2006 about Ferry&rsquo;s child sex abuse to establish whether reckless endangerment was involved. A file was sent to the DPP, who did not bring charges. School directors have always denied any wrongdoing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A director of the school in 2002 had confirmed that Ferry had no access to children when contacted by garda&iacute; and the case was subsequently closed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Tusla review said Ferry&rsquo;s conviction in 2002 should have alerted the health board to the risk he posed to children and it was not enough to take the word of the school that he no longer had access to children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The review also found no attempt was made to gather information on Ferry&rsquo;s family or whether he might have been involved in other areas of work with access to children. It noted he had two sisters with children but they were not spoken to.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, the review found there was a strong contrast between the response in 2002 and that of 2010 when garda&iacute; again contacted the HSE to tell them Ferry had made admissions to allegations of abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2010, the review stated: &ldquo;The HSE put in place a comprehensive plan to ensure that any adults coming forward following the conviction of the man would be referred to the appropriate services.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Child and Family Agency has said their report will be available to those abused by Ferry. Its chief executive Gordon Jeyes said the agency was committed to being transparent and accountable in all its dealings.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This review has been undertaken by local services in Donegal in order to ensure that all those involved in working with children and families engage in reflective practice and continue to improve the quality of services being offered,&rdquo; he told the Donegal Daily. He commended staff &ldquo;for the open and honest way in which they engaged with this process and believe that service to children in the area has greatly improved since the tragic events of 2002 and subsequently.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It behoves all of us as professionals to constantly review our working standards to ensure that the injustices of the past do not continue. The events surrounding this review also remind us of our collective, societal obligations to keep children safe,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;There is no intention to keep this internal document secret from victims and any request from victims to my office for a copy of the report will be facilitated. It is not normal practice to publish internal staff review documents and it is for this reason that there are no plans for wider publication.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/garda-warnings-about-abuser-ignored-despite-conviction-1.1748998\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/garda-warnings-about-abuser-ignored-despite-conviction-1.1748998</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-04 10:48:25',NULL,'garda-warnings-about-abuser-ignored-despite-conviction'),(489,'High Court refuses to halt man\'s trial for allegedly indecently assaulting 10 children','<p>\r\n	The High Court has refused to stop a man&#39;s trial for allegedly indecently assaulting ten children because of prejudicial publicity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 64-year-old man was charged last year with abusing the children in the 1970s and 1980s and is awaiting trial before the Circuit Criminal Court.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While he has been granted bail, he has been unable to take it up and remains in custody.&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He can only be referred to as &quot;XY&quot; by order of the High Court.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He claimed he would not receive a fair trial because of the amount of pre-trial publicity including references to him as a paedophile and child abuser.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He is pleading not guilty and his ability to maintain his innocence is very much prejudiced by the publicity his case had received, he claimed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The DPP opposed his challenge saying he had failed to establish a risk of not receiving a fair trial.&nbsp; It was in the interests of justice and the community that the trial should go ahead and any issues about prejudicial publicity could be dealt with by directions from the trial judge, it was argued.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Yesterday, Ms Justice Marie Baker refused to stop his trial saying that while the publicity had been sensationalised and highly emotive in tone, she was satisfied his right to a fair trial could be vindicated by directions from the judge who will hear the criminal case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She also believed this case would benefit from the &quot;fade factor&quot; - the theory that the&nbsp; further away in time a media report has been, the less likely a juror is to be affected when the case is heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It was 12 months since the last report on the man of any substance and it would probably be another year before his trial gets on, she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/incoming/high-court-refuses-to-halt-mans-trial-for-allegedly-indecently-assaulting-ten-children-30153090.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-04 10:55:29',NULL,'high-court-refuses-to-halt-mans-trial-for-allegedly-indecently-assaulting-10-children'),(490,'Increase in domestic abuse applications in courts ‘only the tip of iceberg’','<p>\r\n	There was a 20 per cent increase in applications for safety and protection orders but one group said women in dating relationships who are abused do not qualify for these protections.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Applications for safety and protection orders by victims of domestic abuse increased by 20 per cent in 2012, newly released figures show.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In total, 12,655 domestic violence applications were made in 2012, compared to 10,652 the year before.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Chief Justice Susan Denham said there was a general drop of three per cent in civil matters across the system in 2012 but there was a 34 per cent increase in safety orders and a 23 per cent rise in protection orders sought.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2012, spouses still represented 51 per cent of all applicants for barring orders, 55 per cent for interim barring orders, 41 per cent for safety orders and 42 per cent for protection orders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Margaret Martin, Director of Women&rsquo;s Aid said today that it was encouraging to see an increase in people using the &ldquo;forward looking protective orders provided by the State&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;However, the increase in applications is also a stark reminder of how vital these protections are for so many,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Women&rsquo;s Aid answered 11,729 calls in 2012, and we know that this is only the tip of the iceberg.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Recent EU research showed that under reporting is significant, with only 33 per cent of partner violence being reported to police.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Martin pointed out that for thousands of women who experience abuse in dating relationships, legal protection from domestic violence &ldquo;doesn&rsquo;t go far enough, and they do not qualify for these protective orders&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In total, there were were 14,792 incidents of domestic violence disclosed to the Women&rsquo;s Aid helpline in 2012. A charity offer support to abused men also said in 2012 that it has been its busiest year of service.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/domestic-violence-courts-1402363-Apr2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/domestic-violence-courts-1402363-Apr2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-07 04:00:00',NULL,'increase-in-domestic-abuse-applications-in-courts-‘only-the-tip-of-iceberg’'),(491,'Abused husband was ‘knocked out’ and had knife ‘lunged’ at him','<p>\r\n	One man told TheJournal.ie of years of abuse and of how he will be forced to spend this Christmas away from his youngest daughter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Many male victims of domestic abuse who are separated from their partners and wives face a lonely holiday season without their children, a charity has said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	AMEN, a charity supporting men who have been victims of abuse in the home, said women often use their custodial status to punish fathers by refusing access to children over the</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Christmas period.<br />\r\n	One father of four shared his story with TheJournal.ie, describing three years of violence against him by his wife.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We were married for a good number of years and she gradually just changed and started to get violent,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought she was just going through a phase but it only got worse and eventually I had to leave the family home with the children&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man said most of the abuse happened when he was standing up for his children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;I had a knife lunged at me&rsquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I got knocked out once when I was hit on the back of the head and I also had a knife lunged at me &ndash; I have scars on my hands from that,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He eventually reached out to Amen for help but before that he said he &ldquo;felt ashamed about it&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It was making that phonecall, to get the initial help &ndash; that&rsquo;s the big thing.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A lot of people don&rsquo;t understand when a woman is hitting a man, not many think that would happen. I didn&rsquo;t think they would believe me.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His youngest daughter lives with his wife in the house on his family&rsquo;s farm, which he still runs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He rarely gets to see her as he is not allowed inside the house and though he has his three other children for Christmas, he said he doubts he will even get to give the youngest her present in person.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;Lonely&rsquo;<br />\r\n	&ldquo;It can be a very lonely time for men and to think that you&rsquo;re not at fault and you still can&rsquo;t see your children &ndash; it&rsquo;s crazy,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Amen said this is just an example of the many fathers who will be spending Christmas away from their children.<br />\r\n	From January to October this year, the charity helped 1,997 individuals contacting the service using a range of methods including the helpline, one to one meetings, court accompaniments, emails and text messages.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Manager Niamh Farrell commented:<br />\r\n	Many fathers are now dreading spending Christmas without their children. They feel lonely, frightened, isolated and helpless. Mothers who use their custodial status to punish their former partners in this way should stop and think about the damage they are also doing to their children.<br />\r\n	Farrell said demand on services is ever increasing and this can be attributed to a number of factors.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Many men are now retiring and their wives or partners feel no longer able to live with them everyday, financial situations are becoming more difficult with unemployment and a rise in everyday living costs,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;Many of the men who contact the helpline can no longer deal with the abuse by themselves. The abuse that these men have and are suffering could be ongoing for years.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Farrell said women should be &ldquo;judged by the same standards as men, and women who are violent should be held legally responsible&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Domestic violence is an issue that hurts every member of a family,&rdquo; she added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If you are affected by the topic of this article, you can contact Amen on 0469023718 or email info@amen.ie.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.thejournal.ie/domestic-abuse-husband-1201719-Dec2013/</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-07 11:07:36',NULL,'abused-husband-was-‘knocked-out’-and-had-knife-‘lunged’-at-him'),(492,'Why drug users should be decriminalised','<p>\r\n	Opinion: Drug dealing and drug taking on the street has become a frightening public health issue</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A couple of days before St Patrick&rsquo;s Day I took a short cut up though a laneway in Temple Bar. Beyond the network of laneways that leads to the quays the area was thronged with tourists revelling in what has become a spring break for the booze-hungry. Two men lost in conversation were walking down the laneway. One, unsteady on his feet, bashed into me. When he pulled away I saw he was holding a syringe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The only remarkable thing about this incident is how unremarkable it is. Every day in inner-city Dublin replica montages of The Wire unfold. Dealers swap cash for drugs, queues gather waiting for the latest delivery, impatient addicts dodge into doorways to shoot up, undercover garda&iacute; slouch against walls in tracksuits. It&rsquo;s an open-air market.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This layer of augmented reality lies over the hustle and bustle of ordinary street life. Drug dealing and drug taking in Dublin city centre is so open, so prevalent, so part of the fabric of the city that eventually we deploy the same subconscious blinkers that we use to sidestep homeless people curled on cardboard or to breeze past chuggers as if they were ghosts. We use the term &ldquo;junkie&rdquo; to dehumanise addicts. Once we have dehumanised them we don&rsquo;t need to deal with their realities. We don&rsquo;t need to empathise or understand, because they are not of us, they are other. This daily coping mechanism ignores a frightening public health problem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Theatreclub<br />\r\n	Recently, the young Dublin theatre company Theatreclub, in association with Depaul Ireland, ran a three-day public conversation event called Addiction at the Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. The level of research that precedes many of Theatreclub&rsquo;s projects is something of a method approach. For Addiction the company worked in Depaul hostels for about a year for Addiction, running drama workshops with long-term and younger drinkers. Previously the company met Rachael Keogh &ndash; whose plight as a former heroin addict became a huge &ldquo;story&rdquo; for Sky News Ireland in 2006 &ndash; through researching their award- winning production Heroin .</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Drug addicts don&rsquo;t vote,&rdquo; says Theatreclub&rsquo;s Grace Dyas, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not registered to vote. Their families aren&rsquo;t registered to vote. In terms of getting more funding at a departmental level it goes by the wayside. In 1996 there was a huge amount of investment after Veronica Guerin was shot and Josie Dwyer was killed in Rialto, and really, f*** all else after then.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Decriminalisation<br />\r\n	Dyas says Keogh&rsquo;s insights into drug policies are especially relevant because she has lived those policies. In Portugal, where the company has performed Heroin , drug users were effectively decriminalised in 2000 when the government changed the criminal charge of drug possession to an administrative charge.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The proactive approach was in response to a staggering rate of HIV among injecting drug users, nearly five times the European average, as well as up to 100,000 heroin users in a country of 10 million people. Approaching drug use as a public health issue as opposed to a criminal one brought innovations such as new needle exchange facilities in 2,500 pharmacies; expanding drug-treatment programmes and aftercare; and increasing public awareness. The number of HIV diagnoses, adolescent drug users and drug-related deaths have all decreased.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It&rsquo;s not cut and dried but it is a success story of sorts. &ldquo;The details of it are one thing but it&rsquo;s the shift in consciousness that&rsquo;s big,&rdquo; says Dyas about Portugal&rsquo;s approach.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Now Keogh and Dyas have started a petition to ask the Government to decriminalise drug users. There are an estimated 16,000 drug addicts in Ireland and 27 detox beds. Methadone, ideal only as a short-term intervention, has become a cul de sac. And it&rsquo;s killing people. In 2011 methadone was implicated in 113 deaths, compared with 60 in 2010. In Dublin the so-called greying of methadone shows addicts are getting older and methadone has become a treatment dispensed well into old age. People aren&rsquo;t getting clean. Without available detox treatment they&rsquo;re stuck in limbo, with one opioid replacing another. Even when facilities are available, red tape is hampering their effectiveness. Last August, the Journal reported that Keltoi Rehabilitation Unit in Phoenix Park has a 50 per cent success rate (which is huge) in keeping former addicts drug- free. But due to HSE staffing restrictions just eight of its 20 beds were in operation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In terms of cuts, the voluntary and community sector in Ireland is being filleted. Due to misplaced conservatism, there is little political collateral to be gained in decriminalising drug users. But the social and human benefits are huge. Like Theatreclub, this petition starts a conversation. It&rsquo;s time to talk seriously about it. It&rsquo;s at ow.ly/v89QD</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/why-drug-users-should-be-decriminalised-1.1752911</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-07 11:14:43',NULL,'why-drug-users-should-be-decriminalised'),(493,'Everyone knows someone who is in mental distress','<p>\r\n	We must challenge the stigmas surrounding mental health issues, warns Prof Jim Lucey</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Over the past 25 years the most compelling lessons I have learned have come from my patients. These men and women are the real mental health experts and their words are authentic because they speak from personal experience as they travel on their road to recovery.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The word patient signifies one who is suffering, but these experts can teach us all an even bigger truth. We will all be patients at some stage. That is why the alienation of those with mental distress is so harmful and so unjust. The experience of this injustice is what we call stigma.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Whether stigma is overt or covert, external or internal, its effect is the most harmful aspect of the experience of mental suffering. It is a silent exclusion and patients feel it as an additional wound.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Everybody knows someone who is in mental distress. Every family on this island has someone with a mental health problem right now, and one in four of us will have a mental health problem at some stage in our lifetime. In our hearts each of knows that this distress is real, but most of us never talk about it.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We skirt around the issues of mental health. We act as if &quot;least said is soonest mended&quot;. This silence about an aspect of our real human experience appears at odds with the perennial public debate on mental health issues which rumbles on, often stoked by the historical disputes between differing factions within mental healthcare.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	These disagreements between proponents of biological treatments or enthusiasts for social remedies or advocates for various psychotherapies may be as bitter as those between warring zealots.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In all of this noise, in my experience, the people who really matter find it hard to get a hearing. That&#39;s the real tragedy. People with mental distress want to be heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Listening to patients teaches us that mental suffering does not define any person. In truth mental disorder is most frequently episodic and frequently it can be resolved. It is not limited to any particular group in our society. It occurs in men and women of every economic group, every sexual orientation and every race, and it is experienced as real pain.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Our mental health is the biggest unmet challenge of our age. Depression is the largest single cause of illness across Europe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Yet despite the scale of the problem the average delay in seeking help for people with these common and treatable mental health problems is more than ten years, and three quarters of adults with mental health problems experienced symptoms before they reached the age of 25.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Why is there such a delay? Why are so many years of distress experienced by so many? The reason is this. People with mental distress and disorder suffer silently because they believe no one will listen to them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Huge progress has been made in mental health awareness. Greater focus has led to greater openness about depression and anxiety. But much more needs to be done.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We need a culture of mental health in which we can communicate the reality of recovery more effectively. Building this culture of mental health begins with a conversation and a willingness to listen to each other.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When the men and women in my room asked me to write about their distress they wanted an account that truthfully reflected their experience. Their voice is paramount since through these stories they reveal that recovery is possible.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	New strides in treatment and psychotherapy and mindfulness mean that effective recovery happens every day. People with mental distress can learn to live and love and work again. The expectation of recovery is not just a wish, it is a right. If we made our mental health a priority we could begin to build a new culture of real mental wellness.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The patients who revealed their stories &#39;In My Room&#39; said they did not want to be let down. They wanted to be heard. We can listen and learn from them. Once we start the conversation we will begin a journey to personal and national recovery.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Jim Lucey Medical is Director of St Patricks Mental Health Services and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin. His new book &#39;In My Room; The Recovery Journey as Encountered by a Psychiatrist&#39;, is published by Gill and Macmillan.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	www.InMyRoom.org.uk #Talkmental</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/everyone-knows-someone-who-is-in-mental-distress-30157966.html\">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/everyone-knows-someone-who-is-in-mental-distress-30157966.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-08 08:45:39',NULL,'everyone-knows-someone-who-is-in-mental-distress'),(494,'Increase in Roma children not being vaccinated, report finds','<p>\r\n	The removal by garda&iacute; and the Health Service Executive of two blonde Roma children from their families last year has prompted more Roma mothers not to get their children vaccinated, according to a new report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It found the resulting increase in Roma distrust of the authorities is adding to what it calls &quot;systematic failures on the part of the State to protect vulnerable Roma children&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2012, Pavee Point, which advocates for Roma people in Ireland, convened focus groups involving garda&iacute;, HSE personnel and others working with Roma.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A report from last year on the discussions said many social workers were fearful that many Roma have such meagre statutory entitlements and supports that taking children into care could seem like the &quot;best&quot; option.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It explained that many families, originally from Central and Eastern Europe, cannot satisfy the Department of Social Protection&#39;s habitual residency condition and therefore do not qualify for child benefit, medical cards and other supports.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This had resulted in deprivation, including hunger, which shocked many of the focus group professionals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In another report published today on maternal health, Pavee Point said the controversial removal of the two blonde Roma children, and their subsequent return to their families, has exacerbated Roma distrust of officialdom.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The organisation said it is leading many mothers of newborn babies to hide from public health nurses, thus depriving their babies of vaccinations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report also said that many expectant Roma mothers significantly delay accessing medical care, in some cases until they are already in labour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It calls on the Government to develop a progressive National Traveller Roma Integration Strategy, noting that the European Commission has criticised the current one for meeting only four out of its 22 criteria.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0410/607936-more-roma-children-not-being-vaccinated/</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-10 10:31:37',NULL,'increase-in-roma-children-not-being-vaccinated-report-finds'),(495,'‘Lives at risk due to cuts in drugs services’','<p>\r\n	The Government is putting hundreds of lives at risk by slashing drug addiction prevention budgets by more than a third since it came to power.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The claim was made by drug service workers, opposition politicians, and former addicts at a major conference of the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign group yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the latest in a series of meetings attempting to force the issue back onto the political agenda before next month&rsquo;s local and European elections, the group said more than 600 people are dying of drug addiction every year &mdash; almost two deaths a day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, spokesperson for the group, Anna Quigley, said services meant to be there to help those directly at risk are seeing their funding slashed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The current Government has implemented cuts of 37% to the drugs initiative budget and cuts of over 45% to community and voluntary sector groups. It has never explained why these cuts are far greater than the average level of cuts to public spending [which is 7.1%],&rdquo; said Ms Quigley.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;All the evidence confirms our communities are now coping with an increasingly complex and chaotic drug problem that includes a mix of legal drugs, illegal drugs and alcohol.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Heroin use is continuing to grow in communities outside Dublin, along with high levels of poly-drug [multiple drugs at the same time] use... The risks attached to using and mixing drugs is reflected in the annual figures for drug-related deaths.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Those elected in May should be lending their voice to the call for a review of the so-called &lsquo;war on drugs&rsquo; approach.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;All the evidence points to the failure of the current approach and the need for an open and informed debate on decriminalisation and legislation.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	During a two-hour meeting at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin City, concerns were raised over how the country&rsquo;s drug problem is now a national crisis which is no longer confined to urban areas. One speaker from the floor said &ldquo;one in every 10&rdquo; families in Sligo is affected and are &ldquo;living in fear&rdquo; of local dealers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a video statement to the conference, long-time community campaigner Fr Peter McVerry alleged the issue is further compounded by a &ldquo;sort of institutional racism&rdquo;, which is discriminating against people from poor areas seeking help.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The meeting was attended by People Before Profit Alliance TD Richard Boyd Barrett, Sinn F&eacute;in TD Aengus &Oacute; Snodaigh, Independent TD Maureen O Sullivan. Also present was Labour TD Robert Dowds , who criticised coalition partner Fine Gael for its lack of attention to the issue.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, despite representatives from all parties being asked to attend on a number of occasions over the past three weeks, Fine Gael and Fianna F&aacute;il sent no officials to the event.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While the conference organisers were given no explanation by Fine Gael, it is understood Fianna F&aacute;il health spokesperson, Billy Kelleher, was due to attend, but had to cancel yesterday morning.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/lives-at-risk-due-to-cuts-in-drugs-services-264917.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/lives-at-risk-due-to-cuts-in-drugs-services-264917.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-10 10:33:19',NULL,'‘lives-at-risk-due-to-cuts-in-drugs-services’'),(496,'Bid to stamp out racism on city transport','<p>\r\n	Racism will not be tolerated on public transport around Dublin city under a new initiative for buses, trains, trams and stations across the city.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A partnership between Dublin City Council, the National Transport Authority, transport providers and the Immigrant Council of Ireland is behind a major awareness campaign, which will be launched at 1,000 sites in the capital.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Posters on the public transport network will encourage commuters to report incidents they either experience or witness.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	DISCRIMINATION</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Our message could not be clearer&quot; says Gerry Murphy, chief executive of the National Transport Authority. &quot;There&#39;s no room on board for racism and discrimination.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;By taking a unified stand, we are letting the travelling public know that abuse of any kind is unacceptable and it will not be tolerated,&quot; he added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The campaign is being backed by the city&#39;s Lord Mayor Oisin Quinn who says the campaign is &quot;an opportunity to further increase awareness about racism, not just on public transport but in the wider community.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;By acting together, we are delivering the strongest possible message that racism is not acceptable in Dublin in 2014.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Denise Charlton, chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, says the campaign is aimed not just at keeping the issue of racism on the political agenda, &quot;but more importantly it reaches out to victims and lets them know that there is nothing to fear in coming forward&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She suggests that the initiative with the &quot;robust procedures&quot; to ensure teams are fully trained to respond and record incidents when they occur &quot;should be replicated in other sectors&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Murphy echoes the importance of internal training by the transport partners and follow-up support for victims from the Immigrant Council as &quot;both key to ensuring success in the coming weeks.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The public transport sector is proud to take a lead with this initiative and together we are determined to ensure that our passengers and staff will be able to travel without fear of abuse or discrimination.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.herald.ie/news/bid-to-stamp-out-racism-on-city-transport-30170563.html\">http://www.herald.ie/news/bid-to-stamp-out-racism-on-city-transport-30170563.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-10 10:35:39',NULL,'bid-to-stamp-out-racism-on-city-transport'),(497,'Tape assault nurse isn\'t threat to other patients, court told','<p>\r\n	A nurse who admitted taping the mouth of a patient wasn&#39;t a threat to other patients and it would be &quot;a severe blow&quot; if he was banned from the profession, a psychiatric report has found.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Filipino native Bimbo Paden (39) admitted one count of assault following the incident at St John&#39;s hospital in Sligo.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The victim, Kevin Quinn, (49), from Ballymote, Co Sligo, has been a patient there for 13 years after suffering a brain haemorrhage.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A previous court hearing heard how Mr Paden had been 90 minutes into his shift on June 26 last year, helping nine patients on his own, when Mr Quinn was shouting and upsetting a patient with throat cancer.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	STRESS</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The nurse said he had placed the tape over Mr Quinn&#39;s mouth &quot;for a few seconds&quot; after failing to calm him by rubbing his shoulders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At Sligo District Court yesterday Judge Kevin Kilrane asked Paden&#39;s solicitor Mark Mullaney to read out a psychiatric report prepared on his client.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In her clinical assessment Dr Patricia Noone said she found the nurse had suffered enormous distress as a result of his actions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Paden, she said, was ashamed about his actions, and had suffered stress and depression as a result.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Noone described the nurse as &quot;gentle, caring, quiet and pleasing.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said that although he was entitled to two 20-minute breaks each day, he rarely took these because of the pressure he was under at the hospital.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She reported that Mr Paden&#39;s &quot;natural tendency was to put up with it&quot; when it came to work and she concluded lack of staff had contributed to the taping incident.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was particularly anxious that there was no lasting effect on Mr Quinn as a result of his actions, Ms Noone&#39;s report said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Since the incident he rarely left his home, fearing he would be attacked in the street but found when he did so, he had the support of his neighbours and parish priest.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His 10-year-old daughter had been asked about her father by schoolfriends, said the report, and Paden was devastated about the effects of the case on his wife and family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was particularly anxious that his elderly parents never found out about the assault.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As Mr Paden sat sobbing in court, Mr Mullaney told the hearing that Dr Noone believed his client &quot;would not be an ongoing risk in his work as a nurse in the future. It is my opinion that it would be a severe blow to himself (Paden) and his family if he should be deprived of his career.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Mullaney said his client, from River Road in Sligo, was keen to have the case concluded yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, Judge Kevin Kilrane said he wanted to consider the report alongside that of a damning internal HSE investigation, which found the hospital was under-staffed and under-supervised.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sentence was adjourned until later this month.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/tape-assault-nurse-isnt-threat-to-other-patients-court-told-30176149.html\" style=\"font-size: 12px;\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/tape-assault-nurse-isnt-threat-to-other-patients-court-told-30176149.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-11 09:20:49',NULL,'tape-assault-nurse-isnt-threat-to-other-patients-court-told'),(498,'\"My son Jack suffered a stroke when he was just five years old\"','<p>\r\n	Today is Stroke Survivors Day and, after a fall at home, Jack is one of the lucky ones.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When Brian Hersee noticed that his five-year-old son&#39;s face was sloping to one side, he ignored an inner voice which identified the symptoms of stroke. It seemed impossible that a little boy could be inflicted with a life-threatening disorder so usually associated with the elderly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	That Friday morning in September 2010, young Jack had accidentally fallen down the stairs and, after a medical examination, was diagnosed with bruising.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But Brian&#39;s instincts were correct and the father-of-two still regrets not speaking out as his son spent the best part of the following year re-learning to walk and talk.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Today is Stroke Survivors Day &ndash; part of National Stroke Week &ndash; and the Irish Heart Foundation is recognising the courage displayed by the thousands who have overcome the devastation a stroke can bring to victims and their families.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;When I heard the thud that morning four years ago, I thought Jack had thrown something really heavy down the stairs &ndash; so it was a big shock seeing him lying there,&quot; says Brian, who works as a transmission rigger for RTE.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;After getting the all-clear from the doctor, my wife Sharon and I brought him to the park to take his mind off his sore back. But looking at him in the playground I thought his face seemed slightly strange and asked him if he was okay. Shortly afterwards he suddenly started crying and then collapsed with his eyes rolling. He looked like a different child as we called an ambulance which took him to Crumlin hospital.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While their daughter Leah (then just six) was being looked after by family, Sharon went with her son in the ambulance while Brian followed in the car. On arrival, doctors tested him for spinal injuries and meningitis, but his father recognised the symptoms of stroke.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We were only in Crumlin for an hour before doctors decided to send Jack to Temple Street as they thought he may have had spinal injuries,&quot; says Brian. &quot;I could have kicked myself afterwards but I had a suspicion that it might be a stroke because the left side of his face was drooping and he was slurring his words, but I didn&#39;t want to appear stupid in front of the doctors, so I said nothing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;They strapped Jack onto a stretcher before taking him in another ambulance. We weren&#39;t allowed to go with him as a nurse had to be there so it was really awful being stuck in traffic as we watched them race past.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;At Temple Street, they did a CT scan and discovered he had a tear in his main artery so was kept in for a few days while they did further tests. But as soon as they realised he was unable to stand up, they rushed him to Beaumont as they then began to suspect he may have had a stroke.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;He had an MRI straight away and then a stent was put into the main artery as they hoped it would heal itself. When our suspicions of stroke were confirmed, he was put on a drip and a blood-thinning drug.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As Jack&#39;s diagnosis was confirmed and as the road to rehabilitation started, the full impact of the accident sank in.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;When Jack was first taken to hospital, we were both devastated and terrified at the same time. But we were too busy to really think about it properly as our main preoccupation was getting him better,&quot; says Brian. &quot;Then when he was diagnosed with a stroke &ndash; which only affects one child a year here &ndash; I was furious with myself for not mentioning my suspicions earlier.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;But we had to put all this aside and concentrate on his recovery. As the medication and stent began to work he was transferred back to Temple Street where he spent seven to eight weeks. He had to learn to walk and talk again as the left side of his body was badly damaged so he was referred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire where he stayed for over two months having physiotherapy, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Considering all he has been through, Jack is doing fantastically well. He is still weak on the left side and can&#39;t play any contact sport but he is able to run around and is a really happy little boy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We are so proud of what he has achieved and what he will hopefully achieve into the future. My hero is my son and always will be.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	VISIT WWW.IRISHHEART.IE OR CALL 1890 432 787</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/my-son-jack-suffered-a-stroke-when-he-was-just-five-years-old-30172084.html\">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/my-son-jack-suffered-a-stroke-when-he-was-just-five-years-old-30172084.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-11 09:23:22',NULL,'my-son-jack-suffered-a-stroke-when-he-was-just-five-years-old'),(499,'Roma children ‘missing out’ on vaccinations due to fears children could be taken into care — report','<p>\r\n	Roma parents may be more reluctant to have their children vaccinated as a result of the two cases last year in which Roma children were mistakenly removed from their families, according to a report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Pavee Point, the Travellers&rsquo; rights group, yesterday published three reports into the Roma community in Ireland and its access to and use of social and healthcare services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One of the reports, entitled &lsquo;Challenging barriers and misconceptions &mdash; Roma maternal health in Ireland&rsquo;, outlines how a parent&rsquo;s fear of having their children taken into care can lessen the likelihood of children receiving vaccines.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Follow-up home visits after birth can be understood as an opportunity for authorities to take Roma children into care or to seek payment for hospital services,&rdquo; the report states.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;As a result, public health nurses often experience difficulties with tracking mothers of newborn babies when mothers make themselves inaccessible upon visits. This can mean children do not get vaccinations.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A spokesperson for Pavee Point said the situations in Tallaght and Athlone last year, in which children were removed from their families in error only to be returned to their care shortly afterwards, would have &ldquo;exacerbated&rdquo; this fear.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Both cases were investigated by the Children&rsquo;s Ombudsman.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The other reports published outline other issues, including the lack of reliable data available about Roma in Ireland, disadvantages in accessing education, health, employment and adequate housing, and experiences of racism, exclusion. and poverty.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/roma-children-missing-out-on-vaccinations-due-to-fears-children-could-be-taken-into-care-report-265024.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/roma-children-missing-out-on-vaccinations-due-to-fears-children-could-be-taken-into-care-report-265024.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-11 09:24:41',NULL,'roma-children-‘missing-out’-on-vaccinations-due-to-fears-children-could-be-taken-into-care-—-report'),(500,'\'I was spending over €300 a day on Lotto tickets\'','<p>\r\n	Shane wasn&#39;t the average gambling addict.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He bet on the National Lottery&#39;s Lotto jackpot and never showed any interest in horse-racing, poker or casinos.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I often said that I didn&#39;t have a gambling problem &ndash; I just couldn&#39;t win the bloody Lotto, no matter how much I spent.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Shane, a Waterford-based shopkeeper, ended up spending over &euro;300 a day on Lotto tickets.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The machine would go live from 7am and that&#39;s when I&#39;d start buying tickets. Believe it or not, I once won &euro;200,000 but my gambling spiralled out of control from then on,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Shane attended addiction recovery centre Aiseiri for treatment and now attends weekly meetings of Gamblers Anonymous.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Playing the Lotto is gambling and that needs to be said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The important thing for people to realise is that there is help out there.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Shane added that he feels it is important for people to speak out about gambling so others can get help.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He paid particular tribute to a number of sports stars who spoke about their gambling problems.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Offaly GAA star Niall McNamee quit gambling after he realised that betting was crippling his life.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It had got to a stage that I was no longer able to leave a bookies unless all of my money was gone, or the nice lady behind the counter was turning off the TV because they were closing,&quot; Niall said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;There were times when I would have turned the smallest amount of money into a huge sum in the space of a couple of hours. That was the problem for me, no matter how much I had lost, I still had the belief that I could win it all back.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Armagh GAA legend Oisin McConville admitted his gambling spiralled out of control after the county&#39;s famous 2002 All-Ireland triumph.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At one point, he had run up debts of over &euro;120,000.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But, after seeking help, he turned his life around.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star, Keith Gillespie, revealed last year that his gambling habit got so bad he once bet &euro;130,000 in a single day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Over an 18-year career spent at top clubs including United and Newcastle United, Gillespie estimated that he lost over &euro;9m.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;You&#39;re always chasing the next winner. I would have bets on every race going in the bookies,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It didn&#39;t matter what the stake was ... it was the buzz of winning.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/case-study-i-was-spending-over-300-a-day-on-lotto-tickets-30182746.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/case-study-i-was-spending-over-300-a-day-on-lotto-tickets-30182746.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-14 09:13:45',NULL,'i-was-spending-over-€300-a-day-on-lotto-tickets'),(501,'Social Care Training Ireland\'s new Professional level TCI trainer','<p>\r\n	Social Care Training Ireland are delighted to announce that after years of hard work, studying and submissions, our Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) trainer Bernie Breen has secured her Professional level TCI accreditation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Bernie is now the 4th Professional TCI trainer in Ireland. This development means that Social Care Training Ireland can now offer TCI training to members of the public and we will be offering the course through our website.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	SCTI&#39;s Training and Practice Manager Vivian Molloy said: Bernie has put a tremendous amount of effort in over the past few years and this success is fully deserved. The road to Professional level status is not an easy one and the amount of submissions, study and video recordings it requires rivals many level 8 college courses in Ireland. Cornell University are incredibly proud of TCI and as such, each submission must be perfect in order to proceed to the next stage.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We will be publishing our TCI schedule on our website mid-week along with times, locations and costs. For more information on our TCI training, email paidi@socialcaretraining.ie</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Well done Bernie!</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-14 09:35:46',NULL,'social-care-training-irelands-new-professional-level-tci-trainer'),(502,'Cases of children and teenagers hearing voices ‘quite common’','<p>\r\n	Teams from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are being trained on how to deal with children and young people claiming they are hearing voices.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A public talk taking place today in University College Cork will be told the issue of young people hearing voices is often not indicative of a mental health issue.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Rachel Waddingham of London-based organisation Mind In Camden is the key speaker at the event and she said scenarios in which children and teenagers say they are hearing voices are quite common and not always cause for alarm.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Instead, she said, in many cases, the phenomenon was simply linked to stress, and that once that is addressed, the problem can disappear.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;A lot of people hearing voices will not have a mental health problem,&rdquo; Ms Waddingham said, adding that, in other cases, there may be an underlying issue.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It could be OCD, anxiety disorder, depression, an eating disorder, autism, or any emotional difficulty,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;anything that involves a degree of stress.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;But some do not meet the criteria for any mental health difficulty at all.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said various studies have indicated that the phenomenon of young people hearing voices is quite prevalent, with one study indicating that between 7% and 8% of teenagers in Britain may hear voices at some point, to another study conducted in south London that claimed 30% of nine- to 12-year-olds had heard voices at some point.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Waddingham said parents did not need to panic if their child tells them they are hearing voices, but she said getting advice from a GP was advisable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, she said a psychological approach should be tried ahead of a medical approach and medication should only be utilised at low doses for short periods.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services workers have been undertaking training provided by Mind In Camden on setting up peer support groups that would &ldquo;create safe places&rdquo; in which issues like hearing voices could be discussed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said her organisation also answered emails from people around the world with questions about hearing voices.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	*Monday&rsquo;s free public talk takes place between 6.30pm and 8pm in Boole 4 lecture theatre, UCC. For more, see www.voicecollective.co.uk or contact via email atinfo@voicecollective.co.uk</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cases-of-children-and-teenagers-hearing-voices-quite-common-265260.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cases-of-children-and-teenagers-hearing-voices-quite-common-265260.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-14 09:54:27',NULL,'cases-of-children-and-teenagers-hearing-voices-‘quite-common’'),(503,'Children First bill published, 15 years after it was first mooted','<p>\r\n	Minister Frances Fitzgerald had promised in early March that the bill would be published soon.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Children First bill has been published, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald announced today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The legislation will put Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children [2011] on a statutory footing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This is a Programme for Government commitment and was recommended in the 2009 Ryan Report implementation plan.<br />\r\n	In March, Fitzgerald noted that the bill &ldquo;has been talked about by Fianna F&aacute;il since 1999&Prime;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Guidelines<br />\r\n	This is the first time that key elements of Children First Guidelines will be put on a statutory footing since they were first published in 1999.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The bill will form part of a suite of child protection legislation which already includes the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act, 2012.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister Fitzgerald said that the proposed new law &ldquo;represents an important and necessary addition to the child welfare and protection landscape in Ireland, seeking, as it does, to ensure that child protection concerns are brought to the attention of the Child and Family Agency without delay&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Bill provides for a number of key child protection measures, including:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A requirement on mandated persons to report child protection concerns to the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) including: medical practitioners; registered nurses; teachers; social workers; gardai; psychologists; members of the clergy</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A requirement on mandated persons to assist the Child and Family Agency in the assessment of a child protection risk, if requested to do so by the Agency;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Organisations providing services to children required to to comply with best practice in child protection as set out in the Children First Guidelines and to produce a Child Safeguarding Statement;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Minister said that a significant provision in the legislation is the statutory basis given to the Children First Interdepartmental Group.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This Group, which will include a representative of all Government Departments, will be required to keep under review, the implementation of this legislation and the Children First Guidance, and to report on an annual basis to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. This will ensure a continued focus on the implementation and compliance task until best practice becomes the absolute norm.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The new legislation will operate in tandem with the existing Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children [2011].</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/children-first-bill-published-1414564-Apr2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/children-first-bill-published-1414564-Apr2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-14 16:56:03',NULL,'children-first-bill-published-15-years-after-it-was-first-mooted'),(504,'Head of social workers group ‘not sure’ if new child abuse laws beneficial due to lack of resources','<p>\r\n	The chairperson of the IrIsh Association of Social Workers Ineke Durville has expressed concern that new child abuse laws will not be effective due to lack of resources.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The government has introduced legislation obliging anyone working with children who suspects abuse is being carried out to report it.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very early days to know how it will be different. Except to say the working load of social workers in this area is already very large&rdquo;, she told RTE&rsquo;s Morning Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Despite new people being brought in to the sector, there is still a high turnover.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;In reality, new people do come in, but al lot of people go very quickly, so there is a constant turnover of social workers, which has proved to be very difficult to fill&rdquo;, she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Countries which have introduced similar legislation have seen a spike in the number of reports of abuse &ndash; however Ms Durville warned that a lack of resources in the sector could mean any benefit of the legislation is lost.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The number of referrals went up hugely. In a service which is already overloaded in Ireland I&rsquo;m not sure if that would be of benefit to children.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She also questioned what the definition of abuse would be under the legislation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;What is a suspicion of abuse? Does it mean if someone sees somebody give a child a slap is that serious abuse? Will there be a full investigation? Does it need to be referred?</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Up until now people have made judgements around some of those things. Now I&rsquo;m not saying it&rsquo;s always right to do those things, we need to be aware that we have a very overstretched system as it is, so it does need proper resources.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She called for an increase in social worker numbers, adding that Ireland currently has a third of internationally recommended levels.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s very difficult to get a number. The reality of it is we are at one third of the numbers of international levels.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I think it needs to be borne in mind that we&rsquo;re trying to do something with a service which is under resourced.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;None of us are saying it&rsquo;s not a good ambition to have this type of very comprehensive service. The problem is in the present climate it&rsquo;s very difficult to achieve.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/head-of-social-workers-group-not-sure-if-new-child-abuse-laws-beneficial-due-to-lack-of-resources-30187368.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/head-of-social-workers-group-not-sure-if-new-child-abuse-laws-beneficial-due-to-lack-of-resources-30187368.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-15 09:19:22',NULL,'head-of-social-workers-group-‘not-sure’-if-new-child-abuse-laws-beneficial-due-to-lack-of-resources'),(505,'OPINION: Are we complicit in the damaging system we keep asylum seekers in?','<p>\r\n	The continued existence of a system which isolates, institutionalises and traumatises families echoes all too familiarly our history of failing to care for those most vulnerable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Some years ago a new hotel was built opposite the Arts centre on the main street of Newbridge, Co.Kildare. It&#39;s sleek modern architecture, and the promise of employment it created, sent ripples of spirited gossip throughout the town.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the height of the Celtic Tiger the hotel was a proud symbol of the ever changing landscape on a main street populated by small businesses. However, overnight, the spirited chatter stopped. As a teenager watching at the time the positivity seemed to be replaced by an uncomfortable and complex mixture of anger, frustration and pity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Some people were aggressive about it, others lamented the loss of the new business and many were just sympathetic to the situation and went on about their lives. It was the early noughties and the promising hotel had been converted into one of Ireland&#39;s many privately run Direct Provision centres.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The hotel was now being used to house asylum seekers and refugees who were waiting to have their status determined. While there was great kindness in the town, in some places, the undercurrent of disgruntlement showed. Looking back if it was visible to us it must have been tremendously difficult for the people who had just begun living in the centre.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It was explained by parents and teachers alike that these people had to leave their homes because something bad was happening in their own countries. Imagine if that was you, they would say, think of leaving everything you know in search of shelter from unimaginable threats. We tried to understand.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Occasionally young people who lived in the converted hotel joined our open youth theatre and we worked together on exercises in breaking down cultural barriers and examining the xenophobia they encountered daily in town. We realised quickly the reality behind the hotels shiny modern facade. In direct provision there was little personal space or privacy. Meal times were set and if you missed one then you didn&#39;t get another.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We learned that some rooms and bathrooms were shared between families and non relatives from different countries. People lived together with different beliefs and numerous traumatic experiences. The arts centre was the only real place of creativity available for our new friends.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In theatre workshops we dealt with the complexities of having power and authority over someone else&#39;s life and conversely how it makes you feel individually and collectively when you have no control over your own. Most days we went home exhausted. But, we went home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There are currently over 6,000 people in Ireland in direct provision and one third of these are children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;There is no particular system looking at the vulnerabilities of children or adults who may be housed with other people where their may be a conflict of religion or language or anything&#39;, says Sue Caonlan, CEO for the Refugee Council of Ireland .</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;The space in which children live is often sharing with older children and parents. Sometimes children demonstrate sexualised behaviour often at an early age because of what they are exposed to&#39;, she said. &ldquo;People are effectively living in one room, it&#39;s not a house,therefore they are exposed to behaviour that should be kept private&#39;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She says one of the biggest challenges is the sense of inferiority children feel. &#39;Particularly when they go to school. The system affects children&#39;s development and when people do get out it has a detrimental effect on them and the can be unable to adjust&#39;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Education is only provided up until the leaving certificate and even then books and school trips must be provided for by a weekly allowance of &euro;19.10 per parent and &euro;9.60 per child. The psychological, social and physical impossibilities this lifestyle inflicts are obvious.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It&#39;s 14 years since Direct Provision was set up as a temporary response to an acute housing shortage. Rent allowance and normal social welfare levels were phased out for asylum seekers forcing Direct Provision as the only solution. In 2003 the right to work became no longer an option. Therefore the conditions are augmented by the lack of ability to have any control over life. Basic freedoms are taken away by the system.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mental toll of the system was emphasised in a blogpost on HumanRights.ie last week. It&#39;s written by a father whose family are from Pakistan and are living seven years in Direct Provision although not in Newbridge.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;The main problem with direct provision is the length of time that people spend without knowing when they will have their own freedom. When their children can invite their friends to their birthday parties and when they can say to their friends that we are also the same like you.&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He says he is so grateful to Ireland for our help. He has been in the system seven years and has had mental health problems for which he has been receiving medication the past three years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;Our mobile homes are very old. So due to the poor quality we have to keep the mobile home warm by using the heaters most of the time. The children&rsquo;s bodies are getting so much used to the heated atmosphere inside the mobile homes that if they go out in the cold, they get sick. It has a negative effect. Mould and dampness is another problem. Noise is yet another problem. We can&rsquo;t sleep properly due to the rain or the wind blowing outside, because our mobile homes are shaken by the wind and rain falling on the mobile homes makes noise.&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Families wait on average up to three years to have their case heard but some like this family are marking their seventh year in the Irish system.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last year campaigners in Ireland were given a glimmer of hope when a High Court in Northern Ireland ruled in favour of a family who were seeking asylum in Northern Ireland. Under EU law the UK border agency sought to return them to Ireland where they had originally sought asylum but the applicants challenged the decision.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While the presiding judge ruled that it was not a &#39;systemic failure&#39; on Ireland&#39;s part, he did find that in Northern Ireland the children in question could &#39;develop their own sense of belonging and separate identity&#39;, but that this would not be the case in direct provision centers in the Republic. The family would also have their own accommodation and budget with the ability to cook meals living across the border. The judge also ruled there are significant physical and mental health issues among asylum seekers Ireland&#39;s system due to the significant amount of time they spend in the system.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The ruling speaks volumes on Ireland&#39;s attitude towards populations and minorities perceived as problematic. As a country we continue to deal with many of our problems by ignoring them. The continued existence of a system which isolates, institutionalises and traumatises families echoes all too familiarly our history of failing to care for those most vulnerable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In bustling towns around Ireland direct provision centres are quietly ongoing some on the outskirts away from everyday life. The issues are evident and we are doing little to change the system that created them. Unless there is a dedication to reform the system, it is possible in years to come we will look back remembering the inhumane and damaging system we were complicit to.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/opinion/are-we-complicit-in-the-damaging-system-we-keep-asylum-seekers-in-30187318.html\">http://www.independent.ie/opinion/are-we-complicit-in-the-damaging-system-we-keep-asylum-seekers-in-30187318.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-15 09:20:52',NULL,'opinion-are-we-complicit-in-the-damaging-system-we-keep-asylum-seekers-in'),(506,'Junior Minister for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch rules out review of suicide claims','<p>\r\n	The mental health minister, Kathleen Lynch, will not set up an &ldquo;urgent&rdquo; review into claims that people are dying by suicide despite seeking medical help, as there is &ldquo;no evidence&rdquo; they are sent home by doctors &ldquo;too early&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking after the Psychiatric Nurses Association warned that dozens of people are dying needlessly due to the issue every year, the Labour TD said she has met with the HSE to discuss the &ldquo;concerns&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, despite the medical union calling for an &ldquo;urgent&rdquo; review to examine what they claim is a hidden crisis, and calls for a new category in suicide reports to properly count these specific deaths, Ms Lynch said this &ldquo;may not be practical&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A spokesperson said the review is not warranted as there is currently &ldquo;no evidence that people die by suicide because they have been discharged too early&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She added that the large number of sources &mdash; including the coroner&rsquo;s courts, Garda, and the medical cause of death certificate &mdash; mean it may not be feasible under the existing system to adequately categorise the deaths even if such a review were to take place.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The stance is likely to anger Psychiatric Nurses Association members, who last week warned dozens of people are dying every year after attempting to seek help from doctors or being sent home early from facilities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the medical union&rsquo;s annual delegates meeting last Friday, PNA general secretary Des Kavanagh said the group is aware of 14 such suicides in the past 18 months in the Carlow-Kilkenny-South Tipperary area alone.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Warning that anecdotal evidence suggests the issue is being repeated across the country, he said the matter has to be tackled before more lives are lost.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We have a situation where there is no system for identifying the number of persons who are denied admission to acute units or are discharged prematurely and later complete suicide,&rdquo; Mr Kavanagh warned at the time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The latest official figures from the HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention annual report, released last September, show 495 people officially died by suicide in 2010, the most recent period available. However, it is not known how many of these people have died after cries for help.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A Department of Health spokesperson said that &ldquo;best available research already suggests the majority of people who complete suicide visit a doctor in the weeks and months preceding a tragedy&rdquo;, and that all unexplained deaths of mental health service users are &ldquo;notified, managed and thoroughly investigated&rdquo; under rules implemented in 2012.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Furthermore, in the interest of openness and transparency all incidents in relation to the death of a service user are reported to the Mental Health Commission, which was not a requirement until very recently,&rdquo; the spokesperson said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* Console: 1800-201-890</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* 1Life suicide prevention help line (manned 24/7 by medical experts): 1800-247-100</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* HSE suicide prevention helpline: 1800-742-745</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/minister-rules-out-review-of-suicide-claims-265608.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/minister-rules-out-review-of-suicide-claims-265608.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-17 04:00:00',NULL,'junior-minister-for-mental-health-kathleen-lynch-rules-out-review-of-suicide-claims'),(507,'Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to call for Traveller ethnicity to be recognised','<p>\r\n	Ethnic status could create &lsquo;mutual respect&rsquo; between Travellers and settled communities</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An Oireachtas committee will today recommend that Travellers be recognised as an ethnic minority.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, in a report, will say it is &ldquo;no longer tenable for this State to deny Traveller ethnicity&rdquo; and that it is &ldquo;long past time for this State to honour our responsibilities to the international conventions on human rights&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It will call on Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to make a statement in the D&aacute;il announcing the State&rsquo;s recognition of Traveller ethnic minority status and says the Government should then contact relevant international bodies confirming this recognition.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The recommendation comes after a long campaign by Travellers for such recognition, support by human rights organisations, including the United Nations and the Irish Human Rights Commission.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The justice committee held a series of hearings on the issue last year and produced the &ldquo;Report on the Recognition of Traveller Ethnicity&rdquo;, written by its rapporteur on the issue, Padr&aacute;ig Mac Lochlainn TD.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Mac Lochlainn, from Donegal, is the first member of the D&aacute;il to come from a Traveller background and last year introduced legislation in private members&rsquo; time, which, if passed, would have recognised Traveller ethnicity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His report will call on the Government, once the first recommendations have been implemented, to build on them by engaging with Traveller groups about how to progress them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Shatter, in a response to a parliamentary question on the issue earlier this year, said: &ldquo;I have no immediate plans to introduce such legislation though, as I have indicated in the past, serious consideration is being given to this issue.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2011, he also told the United Nations he was &ldquo;seriously considering&rdquo; conferring ethnic minority status on Travellers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	All the main Traveller groups argue Travellers constitute an ethnic minority, given their shared history and culture, their preference for nomadism and their language, albeit now little used.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Recognition of their ethnicity, they say, would confer a sense of pride and value among Travellers, when the overwhelming message they get from wider society is one of disrespect and even hostility.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Proponents have also argued it would give Travellers a sense of responsibility to live up to the status and so, over generations, a mutual respect between the Traveller and the settled communities could be achieved.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ethnicity would also strengthen the argument to provide Travellers with culturally appropriate housing, healthcare and positive support in accessing education and employment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/oireachtas-committee-to-call-for-traveller-ethnicity-to-be-recognised-1.1764422\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/oireachtas-committee-to-call-for-traveller-ethnicity-to-be-recognised-1.1764422</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-17 04:00:00',NULL,'joint-committee-on-justice-and-equality-to-call-for-traveller-ethnicity-to-be-recognised'),(508,'Men being treated for eating disorders up 67% in the last five years','<p>\r\n	Bodywhys says the misconception that eating disorders are a &lsquo;female issue&rsquo; can sometimes make it harder for a man to acknowledge there is a problem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Eating Disorders Association of Ireland, Bodywhys said there has been a 67 per cent increase in the number of men being treated for an eating disorder in the last five years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The group said that it is estimated that 10 per cent of all anorexia and bulimia cases are men, stating that it is a misconception that eating disorders only affect women.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Muscle Dysmorphia is becoming increasingly common, said the group.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This is a condition where a person with this disorder may become obsessed with the belief that they are not muscular enough.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Exercise<br />\r\n	Often the person will engage in intensive over-exercising and other harmful behaviours in an effort to develop their physique.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While eating disorders may present somewhat differently in men, in terms of treatment and the recovery process, anyone experiencing an eating disorder needs help and support to embark on, and continue with, the journey of recovery.<br />\r\n	It is important to remember that the earlier treatment is sought, the earlier a person may move towards recovery, said Bodwhys.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Bodywhys want to make people aware, they said, that the reality is that eating disorders affect both men and women, boys and girls.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Support<br />\r\n	&ldquo;The misconception that eating disorders are a &lsquo;female issue&rsquo; can sometimes make it harder for a man to acknowledge it to himself or others that there is a problem of this nature. This in turn can mean that a man is less likely to seek support and help for an eating disorder or related issue,&rdquo; they said.<br />\r\n	Speaking about the eating disorders and men, Bodywhys CEO Jacinta Hastings said there is a great need to combat the stigma attached to having an eating disorder and &ldquo;generate an understanding that an eating disorder is a serious mental health issue that develops for numerous reasons and is not just about food, weight and appearance, it is also of great importance to remember that people can and do recover,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Bodywhys is the national voluntary organisation supporting people affected by eating disorders. For more information visit their website</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/men-eating-disorders-ireland-1419183-Apr2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/men-eating-disorders-ireland-1419183-Apr2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-17 09:37:38',NULL,'men-being-treated-for-eating-disorders-up-67%-in-the-last-five-years'),(509,'Siblings are taken into state care over abuse allegations','<p>\r\n	Two young siblings are in state care following allegations that their mother and father sexually abused them repeatedly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A court heard a recorded interview an older brother, who said he witnessed both parents abusing his younger siblings when they were just two and four years of age.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On one occasion he said he intervened and told his mother to abuse him instead of his sister.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He also described instances of neglect where he was forced to eat faeces with ketchup.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While the 11-year-old boy has been in care for over a year, he only made these disclosures last month to a specialist garda interviewer.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She described the claims about the younger siblings, who are now aged for and seven, as credible &ndash; and among the most extreme she had ever heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The allegations are now being investigated by gardai.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	District Court judge Colin Daly has ordered that they be placed in the care of the Child and Family Agency for the next 28 days while steps are taken to assess the credibility of the claims and the risk posed by the parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The children&#39;s mother admitted that there was domestic violence at home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But the parents strenuously deny all allegations of abusing their children and contested the CFA&#39;s attempts to secure an interim care order.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/siblings-are-taken-into-state-care-over-abuse-allegations-30214257.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/siblings-are-taken-into-state-care-over-abuse-allegations-30214257.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-24 10:15:55',NULL,'siblings-are-taken-into-state-care-over-abuse-allegations'),(510,'Unsuitable treatment for children in mental health units','<p>\r\n	The structure of one ward was described as &ldquo;not suitable for residents&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A report into mental health services in Ireland has revealed a lack of appropriately trained nurses, children being kept in unsuitable conditions, and wards &ldquo;not suitable for residents&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Most hospitals were found to be largely compliant with regulations set out in 2001 legislation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, a litany of errors were highlighted.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The latest set of inspection reports from the Mental Health Commission describe the structure of a ward in&nbsp; St Joseph&rsquo;s Hospital in Limerick as &ldquo;not suitable for residents&rdquo; and highlighted issues around privacy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, it was praised on individual care plans set out for patients.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Therapeutic services&rdquo;<br />\r\n	&ldquo;The range of therapeutic services and programmes was impressive,&rdquo; the report detailed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Inspectors found that due to difficulties in accessing a child and adolescent mental health service in-patient unit at Eist Linn in Cork, children were instead being admitted to Department of Psychiatry in Waterford.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This resulted in children being kept in an adult in-patient unit, in contradiction of government legislation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Staff shortages<br />\r\n	Although several staff shortages were brought to the attention of authorities, such as at Cois Mara at Spanish Point were there was just one appropriately trained nurse despite &lsquo;all residents having an intellectual disability&rsquo;, an adequately staffed unit at Letterkenny General Hospital was criticised for their lack of engagement with patients.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Although all sector teams were now reported to be adequately staffed with health and social care professionals, from examination of the clinical files,&rdquo; the report reads, &ldquo;there was very little documentary evidence of involvement by these health and social care professionals in the care of residents.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/mental-health-services-ireland-report-1429163-Apr2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/mental-health-services-ireland-report-1429163-Apr2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-24 10:18:38',NULL,'unsuitable-treatment-for-children-in-mental-health-units'),(511,'Suicide by 14 patients sparks probe of HSE care','<p>\r\n	The Inspectorate for Mental Health Services is carrying out a review after it was revealed that 14 people have committed suicide in the past 18 months while under the care of the HSE in Carlow, Kilkenny, and South Tipperary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The move comes after Des Kavanagh, the general secretary of the Psychiatric Nurses&rsquo; Association, highlighted the level of suicide among psychiatric patients under the care of the HSE.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said nurses in several services are raising concerns, and in one service, Carlow, Kilkenny, and South Tipperary, 14 people have died by suicide in the past 18 months, three in-patients, six following discharge, and the remainder who had some involvement with the mental health services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A spokesperson for the Mental Health Commission confirmed that &ldquo;the Inspectorate for Mental Health Services has been to Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary Mental Health Services to carry out a review&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This review is in the process of being completed and the inspectorate will inform the commission of its findings in due course,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The Inspector of Mental Health Services reported to the Mental Health Commission a number of unexpected deaths. On the back of this, the commission asked the inspectorate to carry out a review of service users&rsquo; safety.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Once this review has gone through fair process, the commission will determine whether or not it&rsquo;s appropriate to publish the findings,&rdquo; a spokesman said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A HSE spokesman said &ldquo;serious incidents that occur in any mental health treatment facility are reported to the relevant authorities and a review is carried out as a matter of priority.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Kavanagh had addressed the issue at the annual delegate conference.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;There is no doubt that in order to provide a modern Mental Health Service where patients are cared for in the least restricted way possible, risks must be taken and casualties will occur, but surely 14 in 18 months is too much. Surely this points to system failures which need to be reviewed,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My concern is that the system is not working, the system is failing people, and we need to learn from such failures in the best interests of our people going forward so that our services can be more successful in preventing such suicides in future.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/suicide-by-14-patients-sparks-probe-of-hse-care-266307.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/suicide-by-14-patients-sparks-probe-of-hse-care-266307.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-24 10:19:58',NULL,'suicide-by-14-patients-sparks-probe-of-hse-care'),(512,'Water charge aid likely for elderly and carers','<p>\r\n	Pensioners, carers, and people with disabilities could be given financial assistance to pay for household water usage under a compromise being considered between the Coalition parties over the proposed charge.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Talks between Labour and Fine Gael are expected in the next 48 hours to try to reach agreement on water charges ahead of Wednesday&rsquo;s Cabinet meeting.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, significant differences remain, and final details are not expected to be agreed before ministers meet after the Easter break.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Labour Party wants the proposed &euro;50 standing charge &mdash; paid regardless of water usage &mdash; to be taken out of the overall bills, which are expected to average around &euro;240 a year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, in the event of the standing charge remaining, Labour wants provision under the existing social welfare system to cut costs for &ldquo;vulnerable groups&rdquo;, including pensioners, people with disabilities, and carers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This would require extra money for Joan Burton&rsquo;s Department of Social Protection &mdash; something Fine Gael ministers are likely to resist because it would reduce the overall &euro;500m expected to be gained for the exchequer by water charges.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A figure is not yet available, but its believed the sum needed by the Department of Social Welfare would not be huge in the context of its overall budget, and would be in the region of tens, rather than hundreds, of millions of euro.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The payment could be made by adding a small sum to the Household Benefits Package &mdash; worth around &euro;35 a month per household to cover electricity or gas bills. The benefit is available to everyone over 70, and those over 65 who are widowed or caring for another person, or living alone and in receipt of a state pensions. It is also available to under-65s who are entitled to disability allowance.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Asked about the possibility of more money being given to the Department of Social Protection to fund the charge for vulnerable people, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said: &ldquo;That will be discussed at Cabinet; these are difficult decisions.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The possibility of funding the water charges via the exceptional needs payment &mdash; given to less well-off families for one-off costs &mdash; is also being considered.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Independent TD Catherine Murphy said there are &ldquo;a huge number of people who are at breaking point already ad this extra bill pushes them over the line&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said householders are worried about what they will be paying for, especially when &ldquo;gigantic sums&rdquo; go to consultants and staff bonuses at Irish Water.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/water-charge-aid-likely-for-elderly-and-carers-266733.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/water-charge-aid-likely-for-elderly-and-carers-266733.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-28 09:38:02',NULL,'water-charge-aid-likely-for-elderly-and-carers'),(513,'How to tell when your child wants to talk','<p>\r\n	YOUR child arrives home from school. &ldquo;Did you have a good day?&rdquo; you ask. The answer&rsquo;s a monosyllabic &ldquo;yes&rdquo; or &ldquo;no&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When he was aged four to six, he chatted eagerly. Since becoming a tween things are different. How can you get him to talk about his school day?</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Your motivation is key to a good conversation, says parent coach Val Mullally. Do you want to really connect with your child or hear their experience? Or are you ticking the boxes, wanting to know are they top of the class or did they get an A in a particular subject?</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Children sense where you&rsquo;re coming from. If they sense you want to genuinely hear about their day and experiences, they&rsquo;re far more likely to open up. If they feel you&rsquo;re trying to tick all the boxes, they&rsquo;ll probably get reticent and shut down.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	What Mullally calls &ldquo;closed&rdquo; questions &ndash; &lsquo;did you have a good day at school?&rsquo; &ndash; are likely to yield &lsquo;yes&rsquo; or &lsquo;no&rsquo; answers, whereas &lsquo;how was school today?&rsquo; is likely to invite a larger response. &ldquo;One of my favourite tools is the phrase &lsquo;tell me more&rsquo; and then holding that listening space &ndash; the moment you jump in with a solution or judgment about what the child should have done, you shut down their thinking and the conversation.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It&rsquo;s well to accept that kids have their own lives &ndash; they don&rsquo;t necessarily want to share every detail. &ldquo;What matters is providing a safe space &ndash; they know if they need it, you will listen well and non- judgmentally,&rdquo; says Mullally.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mindful parenting will ensure you&rsquo;re alert to cues that your child wants to talk (downcast eyes, tension in the body) and to cues that he doesn&rsquo;t (dismissive sigh/tone of voice, attention elsewhere). &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a saying &lsquo;the more you insist, the more I resist&rsquo;,&rdquo; says Mullally.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The best time to ask the child about his day is the time that&rsquo;s good for him. &ldquo;Children have their own individual rhythms. Some may want to talk while you&rsquo;re busy in the kitchen or going for a walk and they&rsquo;re alongside you. For others, it&rsquo;s when they&rsquo;re snuggling into bed, in those last few cosy minutes. This is why bedtime routines are important &mdash; the child is settling into bed, relaxed &mdash; often it&rsquo;s the time you&rsquo;ll hear what&rsquo;s going on in their mind.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* Val Mullally&rsquo;s audio prelude to her forthcoming book, Behave! What to Do When Your Child Won&rsquo;t, will be released shortly. www.koemba.com</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	TIPS</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&brvbar; The time you want to listen is not necessarily the time your child wants to talk.<br />\r\n	&brvbar; Create agenda-free space, where you do art, craft, jigsaws or walk with your child.<br />\r\n	&brvbar; Use open-ended questions; say &lsquo;tell me more&rsquo;.<br />\r\n	&brvbar; If a usually very chatty child suddenly stops talking, investigate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/parenting/how-to-tell-when-your-child-wants-to-talk-266421.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/parenting/how-to-tell-when-your-child-wants-to-talk-266421.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-28 09:38:48',NULL,'how-to-tell-when-your-child-wants-to-talk'),(514,'“I was abused as a child, but I grew up with the scarsâ€','<p>\r\n	It&rsquo;s now 50 years since Kate Walmsley stood at what she describes as &ldquo;the giant doors&rdquo; of the Nazareth House Care Home in Derry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate&rsquo;s mother had abandoned the family and disappeared. Her father brought his three children back to Northern Ireland from Glasgow but unable to find anywhere to live at that time, he was forced to check into a mens&rsquo; hostel. Kate and her sister were left at Nazareth House on Bishop Street.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate walked through those doors as a child with, as she recalls, &ldquo;lovely long hair.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Within days, any sense of a childhood had disappeared, as had her long hair. She&rsquo;d been stripped, scrubbed with Jeyes Fluid and had her hair cut, as a matter of protocol.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Waiving her anonymity as a witness at the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in February, Kate opened the floodgates, and has since spoken to many people who opened up to her privately about their own stories of neglect and abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Now she wants to let people in the North West know that as a member of SAVIA (Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse), she is here to listen to their stories.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate&rsquo;s own story doesn&rsquo;t have a tidy ending. She still fights her personal demons everyday, a legacy from the unimaginable trauma she endured as a child in a church run care home here in the city.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My life was destroyed. I didn&rsquo;t want to go on. I&rsquo;ve thought so often that I wish they&rsquo;d just killed me right there and then,&rdquo; she said this week, looking around her at the city where she grew up too soon.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve felt disgusted with myself my entire life. The effects of all this didn&rsquo;t end when I grew up, it&rsquo;s haunted me my whole life. That&rsquo;s what people forget when they think about a child who has been abused, it doesn&rsquo;t just stop when you grow up. Those feelings don&rsquo;t just go away.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The cruel rituals which became part and parcel of Kate&rsquo;s every day existence as a child have played out in her mind ever since. As an eight year old, her &ldquo;job&rdquo; every morning in the Nazareth House Care Home was to clean the toilets. She was told to unblock toilets too, picking excrement off with her fingernails.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I could still smell it when I went back to class. I felt like nothing, I felt like less than nothing,&rdquo; says Kate. &ldquo;That feeling stayed with me and as I grew up I became bulimic. I just hated myself,&rdquo; she says.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One nun called Kate &ldquo;a child of the devil.&rdquo; and sent her to confessions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Once again, a pattern of violent abuse began. Kate, who had barely approached puberty, was sexually abused by a priest, on a weekly basis.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The priest would take her to an office and lock her inside. She sustained consistent sexual abuse at his hands from the time she was 8 until she was 12 years old. He began by asking her to take her pants off and sit in front of him as he performed a sexual act.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It was only when Kate went to a local secondary school that things changed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to do PE. I&rsquo;d be sore sitting in class after I&rsquo;d been abused and I didn&rsquo;t want to be changing my clothes in front of other people. I saw that other girls were bringing in notes about having their periods and noticed that this meant they didn&rsquo;t have to do PE. I started faking notes but I didn&rsquo;t even know what a period was, nobody had ever told me. I was bringing in notes every week and a teacher had noticed that this wasn&rsquo;t normal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I think at that stage questions started to be asked and before I knew it I was sent off from the Nazareth House to a Convent of Mercy in Newry,&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	That, she recalls, was a world away from the life she had led in the Derry care home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I always remember being sent there because it was the year that Dana won the Eurovision. And because I had come from Derry they were always asking me to sing &lsquo;All Kinds of Everything.&rsquo; As if I felt like singing,&rdquo; says Kate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The Convent of Mercy was totally different to Nazareth House. Nobody really bothered you there in the ways they would in Nazareth House.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate was 15 when she eventually came out of the care system. Up until then she had been, she says &ldquo;moved from pillar to post.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Any contact she&rsquo;d had with her older sister, who had also been sent to Nazareth House, was gone.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	These days, it&rsquo;s this part of her story which breaks Kate&rsquo;s heart the most.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The siblings were separated when they were sent to Nazareth House.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;When I was 15 and out of care I headed straight for Derry, that was the last place I&rsquo;d seen my daddy,&rdquo; says Kate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My sister was there too but there was just no relationship left. She&rsquo;d moved on in her life. My daddy had gotten a flat but nobody wanted me. I was just left to fend for myself. We were all like strangers to one another. That was hard, I just had nobody and I felt worthless,&rdquo; she says.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate says she will always wonder what might have been if her abusers had allowed her to keep her bond with her sister. But they didn&rsquo;t.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Nuns at Nazareth House had kept Kate and her sister apart. Along with the numerous other injustices done on her, Kate has to deal with the fact that for the rest of her life what should have been a loving and supportive relationship will remain forever fractured.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At 16, forced to do what she could to survive, Kate got married in Derry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t for love,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;He had a flat, It was a roof over my head and somewhere I could have a bath and soap to keep clean. In the end it didn&rsquo;t last anyway,&rdquo; she says.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I had to shoplift just to eat. I&rsquo;m not ashamed to say that. I had no benefits, if I didn&rsquo;t do that, I&rsquo;d starve.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Eventually, Kate got the boat to England. She managed to track her mother down, but there was no happy ending in sight there either,</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;She was well gone on the drink by then,&rdquo; says Kate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate married for a second time in England, but admits that maintaining a normal relationship was impossible for her.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I never had any confidence. I felt so dirty. Sex made me feel like I was being raped all over again. I didn&rsquo;t want to be touched.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know what love was because I&rsquo;d never experienced it. I could never bring myself to explain what had happened to me.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Kate returned to Derry and continued to be plagued by mental scars from the abuse she&rsquo;d received as a child.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I was a shell of a person,&rdquo; she says.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Now however, the 57-year-old mother of two says she is rebuilding her life and considers herself a survivor.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She credits much of this to her friendship with Belfast woman Margaret Guckin, a founder member of SAVIA.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been able to tell my story and share my story and it has helped me in the process,&rdquo; says Kate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;But I know for a fact there are many more people in Derry who have been through similar experiences, and they deserve to see the people who did those things be called to answer for what they  have done.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Visit survivorsni.org for more information on the support available.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.derryjournal.com/news/features/i-was-abused-as-a-child-but-i-grew-up-with-the-scars-1-6021843\">http://www.derryjournal.com/news/features/i-was-abused-as-a-child-but-i-grew-up-with-the-scars-1-6021843</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-28 09:39:58',NULL,'“i-was-abused-as-a-child-but-i-grew-up-with-the-scarsâ€'),(515,'Suspended sentences for rapes \'sends out wrong message to victims\'','<p>\r\n	Campaigners are warning about the message sent out when a sex offender gets a suspended sentence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dublin Rape Crisis Centre was reacting to the punishment handed down to a Wexford businessman for an attack on a young woman in Killarney in August 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The now 48-year-old dragged his victim into the spare bedroom of a Bed and Breakfast where he assaulted her.<br />\r\n	Handing down sentence yesterday, the judge at Tralee Circuit Court noted the &quot;hugely traumatic effect&quot; the ordeal had on the victim, but also noted the man&#39;s guilty plea.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The judge suspended a two-year jail term for two years and the offender he was also put on the sex offender&#39;s register.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	CEO of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Ellen O&#39;Malley Dunlop says when an entire sentence is suspended, victims often feel they haven&#39;t got justice.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &quot;That doesn&#39;t give out a good message for victims, but we do hope that any current victims that is in the system will stay the course.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Now this man, he has been named and he is on the sex offenders&#39; register for the next five years and I do hope that the victim, in this case, feels that she has got some justice.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/suspended-sentences-for-rapes-sends-out-wrong-message-to-victims-629062.html\">http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/suspended-sentences-for-rapes-sends-out-wrong-message-to-victims-629062.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-29 09:47:35',NULL,'suspended-sentences-for-rapes-sends-out-wrong-message-to-victims'),(516,'No more excuses... bill may force Spanish kids to do chores','<p>\r\n	Spanish teenagers who shirk from doing the dishes or mowing the lawn may think twice about avoiding irksome chores after a draft law says they will be legally obliged to help with family domestic duties.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	No penalties, legal or otherwise, will be established for those under-18s who fail to follow the new legislation. But the new Child Protection Bill nonetheless states that children will have a joint responsibility to help at home and maintain the upkeep of the family residence &quot;in accordance with their age and regardless of their gender&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Perhaps in a nod towards parents fed up with teenagers shutting themselves in their bedrooms for hours, it also insists that youths participate actively in their family&#39;s life, &quot;showing respect for their parents and siblings&quot; and &quot;any other relatives or people with a stable relationship with the core family unit&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The number of local canines discovered to have mysteriously consumed lazy scholars&#39; homework may well plummet in Spanish education, with the draft laws stating that pupils should respect their teachers, study as required and follow school rules.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The law also states that Spain&#39;s youth should take a responsible attitude towards public property and the environment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a country with a tradition of closely knit family units, reactions to the draft law appear to be mixed, with a poll on the Huffington Post website drawing almost equal votes &ndash; roughly 45pc each &ndash; in favour and against.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I think it&#39;s a good idea for kids to be aware of their responsibilities as well as their rights, but this law maybe is a bit too heavy-handed in the opposite direction,&quot; Roberta Megias, a working mother with two young children said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It&#39;s something that families should handle and children should know about without having to be told to do it.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In addition, the new law also brings in sweeping improvements of the rights and protection of minors, so that they are now covered by the law against domestic violence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The law also ensures that all job applicants wanting to work with children have to provide a copy of their criminal record, and establishes a list of convicted paedophiles to ensure they are barred from working with children. Adopted minors will have a right to know the identities of their biological parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/no-more-excuses-bill-may-force-spanish-kids-to-do-chores-30230084.html\">http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/no-more-excuses-bill-may-force-spanish-kids-to-do-chores-30230084.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-30 09:09:22',NULL,'no-more-excuses-bill-may-force-spanish-kids-to-do-chores'),(517,'Appeal against ruling on children taken into care withdrawn','<p>\r\n	Court ruled poor mother had same right as wealthy person to hire lawyers, rather than seek legal aid</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The HSE has withdrawn its Supreme Court appeal against a significant ruling that an impoverished mother whose children were taken into care has the same right as a wealthy individual to hire private lawyers, rather than seek legal aid, in an effort to get her children back.<br />\r\n	The HSE, which previously said the High Court ruling has &ldquo;catastrophic&rdquo; costs implications for the public finances, has indicated it may pursue, in an appropriate case, arguments that costs orders should almost never be made against it in cases concerning the welfare of children.<br />\r\n	The Chief Justice, Ms Justice Susan Denham, also granted an application by John Rogers SC, with Margaret Farrelly BL, for the mother, for costs of the appeal against the HSE. The HSE had appealed Ms Justice Iseult O&rsquo;Malley&rsquo;s decision on legal issues which arose after the mother&rsquo;s lawyers asked the District Court for costs against the HSE of proceedings which ultimately resulted in her children being returned to her care.<br />\r\n	The HSE secured an ex parte (one side only represented) emergency care order at a District Court hearing in late April 2011 which the mother had no notice of.&nbsp; She was notified the HSE would be seeking an interim care order in early May 2011 when she attended court, represented by Eamon Bennett Solicitors, which represented her at nine more hearings before a final supervision order expired in March 2012.<br />\r\n	When her lawyers sought their costs against the HSE in the District Court, the HSE argued the mother would have been entitled to legal aid and should have applied for that, and not hired private lawyers. The District Court asked the High Court to decide whether the District Court could take into account, when considering the costs application, that the mother may have been entitled to legal aid.<br />\r\n	In April 2013, Ms Justice O&rsquo;Malley ruled the District Court cannot take into account that the mother may have been entitled to legal aid. She also found no statutory basis for the HSE&rsquo;s claim there is a legislative policy that costs should generally not be awarded against the HSE in child care proceedings. From the Civil Legal Aid Act, the contrary appeared to be the case, she said.<br />\r\n	The mother was entitled to choose her own lawyer, was not obliged to apply for legal aid and her eligibility for legal aid, whether established or presumed, had no bearing on her entitlement to seek her costs against the HSE, the judge ruled.<br />\r\n	The HSE and Attorney General appeared to oppose the mother&rsquo;s claim for costs of the District Court child care proceedings on the basis of her being poor, the judge added. Such arguments effectively meant persons of limited means would have to justify their choice of lawyer in a way wealthier people would not despite, or because of, the fact they were not seeking State assistance.<br />\r\n	While an inquiry into a person&rsquo;s means might be justified where they did seek legal aid, there was &ldquo;no justification for such an intrusive process&rdquo; when a person did not see legal aid, she said.<br />\r\n	The appeal against those findings opened today before a five-judge court which heard that, since the High Court ruling, the District Court had granted the mother&rsquo;s lawyers their costs. That costs order, plus 24 similar orders made in other cases, have been appealed by the HSE to the Circuit Court.<br />\r\n	At the outset of the appeal, several of the Supreme Court judges made clear the issues before the court were confined to the particular facts of this case and there was no factual basis for the claims by the HSE concerning the mother&rsquo;s entitlement to legal aid, including no evidence before the District Court the mother would have qualified for legal aid.<br />\r\n	Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman remarked this appeal was being run at public expense, but the issue the HSE wanted decided was not set out in the case stated from the District Court.<br />\r\n	After those interventions, counsel for the HSE asked for, and secured, a short time to take instructions, following which the appeal was withdrawn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/appeal-against-ruling-on-children-taken-into-care-withdrawn-1.1777856\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/appeal-against-ruling-on-children-taken-into-care-withdrawn-1.1777856</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-30 09:10:19',NULL,'appeal-against-ruling-on-children-taken-into-care-withdrawn'),(518,'No more excuses... bill may force Spanish kids to do chores','<p>\r\n	Spanish teenagers who shirk from doing the dishes or mowing the lawn may think twice about avoiding irksome chores after a draft law says they will be legally obliged to help with family domestic duties.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	No penalties, legal or otherwise, will be established for those under-18s who fail to follow the new legislation. But the new Child Protection Bill nonetheless states that children will have a joint responsibility to help at home and maintain the upkeep of the family residence &quot;in accordance with their age and regardless of their gender&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Perhaps in a nod towards parents fed up with teenagers shutting themselves in their bedrooms for hours, it also insists that youths participate actively in their family&#39;s life, &quot;showing respect for their parents and siblings&quot; and &quot;any other relatives or people with a stable relationship with the core family unit&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The number of local canines discovered to have mysteriously consumed lazy scholars&#39; homework may well plummet in Spanish education, with the draft laws stating that pupils should respect their teachers, study as required and follow school rules.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The law also states that Spain&#39;s youth should take a responsible attitude towards public property and the environment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a country with a tradition of closely knit family units, reactions to the draft law appear to be mixed, with a poll on the Huffington Post website drawing almost equal votes &ndash; roughly 45pc each &ndash; in favour and against.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I think it&#39;s a good idea for kids to be aware of their responsibilities as well as their rights, but this law maybe is a bit too heavy-handed in the opposite direction,&quot; Roberta Megias, a working mother with two young children said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It&#39;s something that families should handle and children should know about without having to be told to do it.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In addition, the new law also brings in sweeping improvements of the rights and protection of minors, so that they are now covered by the law against domestic violence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The law also ensures that all job applicants wanting to work with children have to provide a copy of their criminal record, and establishes a list of convicted paedophiles to ensure they are barred from working with children. Adopted minors will have a right to know the identities of their biological parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/no-more-excuses-bill-may-force-spanish-kids-to-do-chores-30230084.html\">http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/no-more-excuses-bill-may-force-spanish-kids-to-do-chores-30230084.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-30 09:33:28',NULL,'no-more-excuses-bill-may-force-spanish-kids-to-do-chores'),(519,'Woman charged with assisting suicide to go on trial next year','<p>\r\n	A Dublin woman charged with assisting the suicide of another woman will go on trial in April next year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gail O&rsquo;Rorke (42) of Kilclare Gardens, Tallaght is charged at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court with aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the suicide of Bernadette Forde between March 10 and June 6, 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She is the first person in the State to be prosecuted under Section 2 (2) of the Criminal Law (Suicide) Act 1993.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last month it emerged that her defence team has sought details from the Director of Public Prosecutions as to why a case is being taken.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Anne Rowland BL, defending, said on March 23rd last that the DPP had been asked to supply &ldquo;criteria&rdquo; for prosecution and that depending on the response, it may be necessary to start proceedings elsewhere.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Rowland said she has received eight volumes of disclosure relating to the case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Mary Ellen Ring had adjourned the matter to today/yesterday (WED) adding that a trial date should be set as soon as possible.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Ring today/yesterday (WED) set a trial date for April 13, 2015. The trial is scheduled to last for two to three weeks. The accused must appear&nbsp; before the court on March 13 for a pre-trial hearing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/woman-charged-with-assisting-suicide-to-go-on-trial-next-year-30231925.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/woman-charged-with-assisting-suicide-to-go-on-trial-next-year-30231925.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-04-30 12:05:41',NULL,'woman-charged-with-assisting-suicide-to-go-on-trial-next-year'),(520,'Parents urged to express love daily','<p>\r\n	Parents are being urged to tell their child that they love them every day to help them succeed at school.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A new leaflet drawn up by headteachers and a charity also said that mums and dads should not swear, shout or smoke in front of their children and make sure they had regular health checks and immunisations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The advice comes amid concerns that modern life puts parents under so much pressure that they forget to do &quot;little things&quot; that can boost their son or daughter&#39;s self-esteem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Other tips in the leaflet, the latest in a series of guides published by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and Family Action, included talking to youngsters about personal hygiene - such as showering regularly, having a clean PE kit and using deodorant, and encouraging them to eat healthily.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The organisations argued that research had shown there was a direct link between a child being happy and healthy at home and their ability to learn at school.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The leaflet offered pointers on subjects such as emotional wellbeing, managing behaviour and raising self-esteem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a section on relationships, it said that parents should &quot;tell your child that you love them every day&quot; and advises &quot;be a positive role model for your child; don&#39;t shout and swear in front of them, it is rarely effective&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The guide went on to say that parents should praise their child&#39;s efforts as well as their achievements, tell them it is okay to make mistakes and tell them if they have done something wrong, but focus on how they could do better next time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Children should also be allowed to help prepare family meals to help teach them about food, be encouraged to eat a balanced diet and to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Tips on raising a child&#39;s self-esteem included &quot;teach your child not to give up and keep trying&quot; and &quot;when things are difficult, help your child to see it as part of life and learning and that it happens to all of us&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	And in a section on body matters, the guide advises parents to book regular appointments for their child with the optician and dentist, as well as frequent health checks and immunisations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It added: &quot;Exposure to cigarette smoke is damaging to your child&#39;s health; think before lighting up in front of them.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	NAHT president Bernadette Hunter said: &quot;Modern life is so highly pressured for parents that it can be easy to forget to do the little things that can make a real difference to a child&#39;s self-esteem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;For instance, sometimes we assume our children know that we love them but children need to hear the words.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;If children feel happy and healthy at home then they come into the classroom free from worries and ready to learn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I believe parents are the best partners schools can have in helping pupils make the most of their education.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The NAHT said it was distributing the leaflet to its 28,500 members who were being encouraged to share it with parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Family Action chief executive David Holmes said that everyone wanted to see children who were healthy and ready to learn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot; If the practical advice in this simple leaflet makes a parent pause just for a second and reflect on the wellbeing of their child then it will have done a good job,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The two organisations have produced five leaflets in total as part of an ongoing campaign.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Previous leaflets have focused on building children&#39;s communication skills, urging parents to take more responsibility for making sure that their children arrive for lessons ready to learn - for example by getting a good night&#39;s sleep and eating a decent breakfast - and advice on how parents can help their youngsters to continue learning after the school bell rings.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/parents-urged-to-express-love-daily-30237627.html\">http://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/parents-urged-to-express-love-daily-30237627.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-02 09:40:03',NULL,'parents-urged-to-express-love-daily'),(521,'Nearly two-thirds of residents in nursing homes are women','<p>\r\n	Nearly two-thirds of the residents of nursing homes are female &ndash; highlighting their longer life-expectancy compared to men, according to a Department of Health report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The census of nursing home residents and the older population living at home also revealed there are twice as many women over 85 years old as men.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Life expectancy for men was 77.9 years in 2010 and is expected to rise to 85.1 years by 2046. Women&#39;s life expectancy is currently 82.7 years and it should be 88.5 years by 2046.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Among pensioners, widows outnumber widowers. Nearly one-in-four women in this age group has lost a spouse, compared to one-in-eight men.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Within the State, 11.7pc of the population is 65 or older, but this varies from 10.5pc in Dublin and the north-east, to 13pc in the west.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;However, in absolute numbers, the southern region has the lower number (146,189) of people aged 65 or over, with Dublin and the north-east at the lowest with 107,225.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Over two-thirds of residents in long-stay nursing homes are over 80. The percentage over 95 is 6.2pc. Just over two-thirds (66.3pc) of patients are in the high and maximum dependency category.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	More than half of admissions to nursing homes during 2012 were people who lived at home. They ranged from 69.1pc admitted to HSE-run homes, to 36.7pc to private nursing homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The largest proportion of admissions to private nursing homes came from acute hospitals, at 50pc. Almost half of admissions to long-stay beds were people in acute hospitals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It pointed out that according to Eurostat, in 2012, the Irish older population made up 11.9pc of the total population.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This compares to an EU average of 17.8pc, a proportion that Ireland is not due to reach until sometime between 2026 and 2031.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	FEES</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Meanwhile, Health Minister James Reilly has defended the decision by many nursing homes to charge extra for services not covered under the Fair Deal scheme. He said all residents under the scheme make a contribution towards the cost of their care based on their means. This applied irrespective of whether the nursing home was public, private or voluntary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The scheme covers the cost of the standard components of long-term residential care, including nursing and personal care appropriate to the level of care needs of the person, bed and board, basic aids and appliances necessary to assist with the activities of daily living.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;A person&#39;s eligibility for other schemes, such as the medical card scheme or the drugs payment scheme, is unaffected by participation in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme or residence in a nursing home.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The minister pointed out that the legislation stipulated that the registered provider of the nursing home must agree a contract with each resident within one month of their admission.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This contract must include details of the services to be provided to that resident and the fees to be charged.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/nearly-twothirds-of-residents-in-nursing-homes-are-women-30234619.html\">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/nearly-twothirds-of-residents-in-nursing-homes-are-women-30234619.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-02 09:43:00',NULL,'nearly-two-thirds-of-residents-in-nursing-homes-are-women'),(522,'Child and Family Agency ordered to arrange psychiatric assessment for 10-year-old boy','<p>\r\n	&lsquo;Surely when a child with these needs is in the care of the State something should happen quicker,&rsquo; guardian tells court</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A judge at the Dublin District Family Court has ordered the Child and Family Agency (CFA) to carry out a psychiatric assessment on a 10-year-old boy in its care after hearing of delays in the case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Separately, Judge Brendan Toale made an order that three children who had been living with their parents under the supervision of the agency be taken into care last night following evidence of neglect.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	More than 15 childcare cases were listed to be dealt with in Court 20, Dolphin House, in Dublin yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Developmental problems<br />\r\n	Among them was one involving a 10-year-old boy with developmental problems and a history of violence, who had not had any access visits from family since last year following difficulties he had dealing with the visits. He had been deemed suitable for transfer from a residential care unit abroad, where he had been sent for assessment, to a unit in Ireland in January, but the move did not take place until early April, the court heard. The overseas unit had also recommended the boy be given a psychiatric assessment as soon as he arrived back in Ireland, but that assessment had not been carried out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The boy&rsquo;s social worker said there had been delays in getting a referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Cahms). But a letter had now gone from the boy&rsquo;s GP to Cahms and an appointment would issue in four to six weeks.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The boy&rsquo;s guardian said he found it very frustrating that the service had first required a formal discharge letter from the overseas unit, even though the child was obviously in Ireland, and then said it required a referral from a GP.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Surely when a child with these needs is in the care of the State something should happen quicker,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He also said it was the first time in his professional career that he stood over a decision not to allow family access.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Toale described the case as &ldquo;extraordinary&rdquo; and said the position regarding Cahms was &ldquo;continually frustrating&rdquo;.<br />\r\n	He made an order directing the CFA to make the psychiatric assessment and adjourned the case to June.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Separately, the parents of three boys consented to an interim care order for their three children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker in the case said the CFA had been involved with the family since 2011, and had obtained a supervision order for the children last year, but now believed the children needed to be taken into care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She told the court the mother had tested positive for regular opiate use, there had been some concerns about school attendance and around the hygiene and care of the children. On some occasions food was not available for them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Under cross-examination by a legal representative for the children&rsquo;s father, the social worker conceded improvements had been made to the home. If the mother provided clear urinalysis for six weeks the agency would develop a reunification plan for the family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Having read a letter handed into the court by the father, the judge said the potential positives in the case were considerably more than in many other cases that came before the court. He granted the interim care order for 28 days.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/child-and-family-agency-ordered-to-arrange-psychiatric-assessment-for-10-year-old-boy-1.1780840</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-02 09:48:18',NULL,'child-and-family-agency-ordered-to-arrange-psychiatric-assessment-for-10-year-old-boy'),(523,'HSE & Gardai investigate abuse of 20 children in one family','<p>\r\n	Gardai and the HSE are investigating the physical and sexual abuse of 20 children from one extended family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Irish Independent can reveal that one of the largest child-abuse investigations in recent years has been ongoing for more than a year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai and HSE officials obtained emergency care orders to remove the children, ranging in age from toddlers up to 14, from three closely-related families who live near each other in the northeast of the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It is understood that the alarm was raised when a child confided her abuse to a schoolteacher and the gardai were called. When gardai and care workers moved to take the children, their parents tried to hide them in nearby fields.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Officers were forced to coax some of them down out of trees in what one source described as &quot;heartbreaking&quot; scenes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	HEARTBREAKING</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A major multi-agency investigation involving gardai and various HSE agencies has been continuing for over a year, as the children have revealed more details of what happened to them. The children are now all in foster care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Irish Independent can reveal that gardai and the HSE are compiling evidence on scores of offences, including physical abuse, sexual assault and rape.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The first files from the investigation are to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision on whether members of the families concerned should face criminal charges.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In one case, young children have alleged that they were forced by their fathers and uncles to engage in bare-knuckle boxing with each other. They were also subjected to regular beatings by the men.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One of the children, who revealed that he had been abused by adult relatives, then went on to abuse one of his younger cousins. Another young girl revealed that she had been regularly abused by her father until she reached puberty.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	BEATINGS</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A source with knowledge of the inquiry said: &quot;This is a very sensitive and disturbing case and probably one of the biggest of its type in recent times.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The extent of the revelations given so far is staggering and horrific. This was systematic child abuse on a frightening scale.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Irish Independent understands that the parents of the children unsuccessfully challenged the emergency care orders before a special court sitting last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The courts have since granted the HSE a full care order, allowing the children to be committed to the care of the agency on a permanent basis while the investigation continues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a separate development, gardai are investigating criminal damage to a car belonging to one of the care workers involved in the case. Gardai suspect there is a link between the incident and the investigation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/hse-gardai-investigate-abuse-of-20-children-in-one-family-30243987.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/hse-gardai-investigate-abuse-of-20-children-in-one-family-30243987.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-07 08:24:36',NULL,'hse-gardai-investigate-abuse-of-20-children-in-one-family'),(524,'Disability groups voice fears over charges’ effect on families','<p>\r\n	The disability sector said they fear people with disabilities and their families will still be penalised by water charges, despite the concessions announced yesterday, while advocacy groups for older people gave the preliminary water charges scheme a cautious welcome.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Inclusion Ireland is seeking further information on how a disabled child or person&rsquo;s water needs will be calculated as part of the families&rsquo; overall water bill.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Under the scheme, people with high water usage due to particular medical conditions will have their bills capped &ldquo;at the relevant assessed charge&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Meanwhile, people with disabilities, carers and pensioners who are entitled to the means-tested household benefits package will also be entitled to an estimated &euro;100 allowance off their water bill.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	CEO of Inclusion Ireland, Paddy Connolly, said there are already &ldquo;huge issues&rdquo; for families around the cost of disability as many have greater sanitation and laundry requirements.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;How will medical conditions be measured to see if a person is entitled to a capped water bill? And what will be considered high water usage? For a great many people this is just another charge following an accumulation of cuts that is making it increasingly difficulty for families to live the life they want,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Older person&rsquo;s charity, Age Action gave a guarded welcome to the water charges, but noted that the full impact will not be known until all details of the tariff package have been decided.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;As with any national scheme, the devil will be in the detail and we need to see how these charges will pan out, but we note that the plan announced today includes a number of key principles which, if properly implemented, should provide greater protection against poverty for older people,&rdquo; spokesperson Eamon Timmins said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Age Action welcomed the decision to drop plans for standing charges, which would have hit low income households and older people living alone.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It also welcomed the decision to pay &euro;100 annually to carers and recipients of the State pension and disability pension.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;However, whether this &euro;100 will be sufficient to protect older people &mdash; especially those living alone &mdash; against large water bills will depend on the unit price of water,&rdquo; Mr Timmins said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/disability-groups-voice-fears-over-chargesrsquo-effect-on-families-267738.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/disability-groups-voice-fears-over-chargesrsquo-effect-on-families-267738.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-07 09:13:26',NULL,'disability-groups-voice-fears-over-charges’-effect-on-families'),(525,'More exercise for elderly can fend off depression — report','<p>\r\n	Physical exercise can help elderly people fend off depression, even if they experience pain in old age, according to a study.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report, entitled &lsquo;Does pain mediate or moderate the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in older people?&rsquo; analysed data from three sources: The Healthy Ageing Research Project, the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the Northern Ireland Health Survey 2010/11.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It sought to investigate whether pain mediates or moderates the association between physical activity and depression/psychological distress in Irish adults aged 50 years or more.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report said international research has shown that &ldquo;physical activity has been shown to be an effective, yet under-utilised, treatment for depression&rdquo; among the elderly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The study discovered that:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	nOverall, across the three studies, older adults living in the Republic participated in higher levels of regular physical activity and also reported lower levels of recent pain compared to their counterparts in the North;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	nNo mediating or moderating effects of pain were found in the association between physical activity and depression;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	nHigher levels of physical activity were found to be independently associated with lower depression while higher levels of pain significantly increased the likelihood of depression;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	nThe absence of anysynergistic effect between physical activity and pain suggests that clinicians and health service providers should continue to promote physical activity as a treatment for depression, irrespective of the pain levels of their patients.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The research was funded by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland. Report co-author Frank Doyle said: &ldquo;While it has been known for some time that physical activity protects against depressive symptoms, and that pain increases depressive symptoms, it was unknown how these variables interacted with each other.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We found that pain did not mediate the protective association between physical activity and depression. The findings suggest that clinicians should consider recommending increased physical activity in older people, irrespective of pain levels.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	International research has suggested that by 2020, depression could be the second leading cause of &ldquo;disease burden&rdquo; worldwide and that it could disproportionately affect older adults.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Older adults are recommended to engage in 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity at least five days a week but, according to the report, &ldquo;evidence suggests that the proportions of older adults meeting these minimum levels of physical activity are negligible&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/more-exercise-for-elderly-can-fend-off-depression-report-267697.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/more-exercise-for-elderly-can-fend-off-depression-report-267697.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-07 09:18:28',NULL,'more-exercise-for-elderly-can-fend-off-depression-—-report'),(526,'Quarter of all sex attacks on women \'at hands of partner\'','<p>\r\n	Almost one-quarter of the perpetrators of sexual violence against adult women in Ireland are either partners or ex-partners.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) and Women&#39;s Aid have launched a new campaign after a survey revealed one in 20 Irish women have experienced sexual violence in their relationships &ndash; with one-third being attacked numerous times.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The European-wide survey delivered shock results with more than half of these women reporting being raped by their partner at least once but one-quarter were too &quot;ashamed or embarrassed&quot; to report the crime or seek help.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The DRCC said almost one-quarter of the perpetrators of sexual violence against adult women in Ireland are either partners or ex-partners.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The DRCC and Women&#39;s Aid moved on the back of the hard-hitting survey results to launch a new campaign &ndash; &#39;Not Happily Ever After&#39; &ndash; to highlight the support available to Irish women.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The European-wide survey was carried out by the European Fundamental Rights Agency, and 42,000 women between the ages of 18 and 74 years old were interviewed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The DRCC CEO, Eileen O&#39;Malley Dunlop, said: &quot;The campaign plays on the fairy-tale notion of &#39;happily-ever-after&#39; to call attention to sexual violence within relationships.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It questions the common misconception that sexual violence is mainly perpetrated by strangers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;This campaign aims to challenge the culture of victim-blaming that leaves women silenced and ashamed, while violent perpetrators remain outside the criminal justice system.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Margaret Martin, the director of Women&#39;s Aid, said the research proves there is significant &quot;under-reporting of sexual violence in relationships&quot;. and that Irish women show &quot;particularly low levels of help seeking&quot;. She said that this campaign aims to help women &quot;overcome the shame and fear associated with this crime&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;There has only been one marital rape conviction in nearly a quarter century, since the law has been on the statute books,&quot; Ms O&#39;Malley Dunlop added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;In reality, women are at risk of sexual violence from their partners, exes or someone they know. Both physical injuries and long-term psychological consequences are common and reflect the repeat victimisation in relationships where there is sexual violence, coercion and control.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We hope this campaign will encourage women to pick up the phone and speak to someone they can trust, who will understand and support them, in complete confidence.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/quarter-of-all-sex-attacks-on-women-at-hands-of-partner-30258711.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/quarter-of-all-sex-attacks-on-women-at-hands-of-partner-30258711.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-09 12:11:05',NULL,'quarter-of-all-sex-attacks-on-women-at-hands-of-partner'),(527,'Child protection reviews to be published today','<p>\r\n	Completes reviews of all dioceses, includes Dublin and Cloyne</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The fifth tranche of reviews by the Catholic Church&rsquo;s child protection watchdog will be published today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Their publication will complete the first round of reviews, which involve all 26 Catholic dioceses on the island of Ireland.<br />\r\n	Conducted by the church&rsquo;s National Board for Safeguarding Children, the reviews published today will include those for the four remaining dioceses to be audited: the archdiocese of Dublin and the Cloyne, Meath and Killaloe dioceses.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dublin and Cloyne were investigated by the Murphy commission on their handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations. Its report on Dublin was published in November 2009 and on Cloyne in July 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Today&rsquo;s reviews will also include audits of child protection measures in four religious/mis- sionary congregations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Handling of allegations<br />\r\n	Each tranche of reports from the board to date has addressed current practice in the institutions investigated, as well as their handling of all allegations received since January 1975.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Presenting the board&rsquo;s annual report on May 1st, its chief executive, Teresa Devlin, said it had undertaken 18 such reviews in the year to the end of March and, overall, had done so where the 26 dioceses and 10 religious congregations/mission- ary societies were concerned.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the coming year it hoped to complete reviews of 40 to 50 of the smaller congregations, she said. Altogether, taking into consideration dioceses, religious congregations and missionary societies, there are 162 independent Catholic institutions in Ireland, and each has to be reviewed by the board.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The great majority yet to be reviewed are small in terms of membership and, particularly where congregations and missionary societies are concerned, they comprise people whose average age is 73 to 74.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/child-protection-reviews-to-be-published-today-1.1791509\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/child-protection-reviews-to-be-published-today-1.1791509</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-12 10:01:33',NULL,'child-protection-reviews-to-be-published-today'),(528,'Limerick man who abused young boy to be sentenced','<p>\r\n	A LIMERICK man who sexually abused a young boy more than two decades ago will be sentenced later today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	During a sentencing hearing last week, the presiding judge was asked to consider applying the Probation Act in the case of the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The accused, who was 16 at the time, is now married and living in America and the Central Criminal Court was told that any conviction could prevent him returning there.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If the Probation Act is applied, a conviction will not be recorded allowing the accused man to retain a clean criminal record.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The now 37 year old pleaded guilty to attempted rape on the basis of full details of the offending being heard by the court.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The abuse occurred during the summer of 1993 in a wooded area near the man&rsquo;s home on the outskirts of Limerick city.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His victim was between six and seven at the time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Maurice Coffey BL, prosecuting, said the victim still suffers night terrors as a result of the abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;He has caused an irreparable amount of damage to my life&rdquo;, he wrote in a victim impact statement adding that his abuser was &ldquo;aggressive, manipulating, dominating and most of all, a predator.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A local garda told the court the abuse started when the boy found the accused reading a pornographic magazine in the woods. The accused then put his hand on the child&rsquo;s genitals, causing him to run away.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On another occasion the accused brought the boy into the wooded area where he had laid down a blanket, molested him and tried to orally rape him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Isobel Kennedy SC, said after the victim went to garda&iacute; in 2012 her client voluntarily came back to Ireland and made full admissions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said he is deeply remorseful and later wrote a letter to his victim apologising for the abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Kennedy added that the man&rsquo;s wife is very worried he won&rsquo;t be able to return to the US with her as a result of the case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	After hearing Ms Kennedy&rsquo;s submission, Mr Justice Paul Carney asked: &ldquo;If I apply the Probation Act what do you think every rape crisis centre and tabloid newspaper in the country is going to do?&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;And they&rsquo;re not going to go after you Ms Kennedy,&rdquo; he continued.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The judge indicated he will impose sentence this morning.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local-news/limerick-man-who-abused-young-boy-to-be-sentenced-1-6050537\">http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local-news/limerick-man-who-abused-young-boy-to-be-sentenced-1-6050537</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-12 10:28:15',NULL,'limerick-man-who-abused-young-boy-to-be-sentenced'),(529,'Calls to end electroshock therapy, it can be carried out on people “unwilling or unableâ€ to consent','<p>\r\n	In 2011, 25 out of 332 programmes of ECT were given to patients who were either unwilling or unable to give consent to the treatment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A protest was held in Cork over the weekend against the current practise of electroshock therapy or ECT.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speakers who had received electroshock spoke of the severe memory loss and cognitive dysfunction they experienced.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The protest also highlighted that ECT was used on &ldquo;twice as many women as men, the oldest a woman of 92&Prime;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It was organised by MindFreedom Ireland, a Cork based psychiatric survivor organisation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	ECT is administered in 68 approved and registered centres across the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Figures from The Irish Mental Health Commission for 2012 stated that 2152 single treatments were given to a total of 244 people.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	MindFreedom Ireland do not consider that ECT can be therapy, they say that &ldquo;it causes brain damage and therefore it should be abolished.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Doctors should not use brain damage as a &lsquo;treatment&rsquo;. It shows how deprived our &lsquo;mental health&rsquo; services are when electroshock is still offered to people in severe emotional distress.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Unwilling or Unable<br />\r\n	Article 59b of the 2001 Mental Health Act allows ECT for a person &ldquo;unwilling or unable&rdquo; to consent, it&rsquo;s still in force today despite the Mental Health Commission wanting its removal.<br />\r\n	The Commission reported that in 2011, 25 out of 332 programmes of ECT were given to patients who were either unwilling or unable to give consent to the treatment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Minister with responsibility for mental health Kathleen Lynch said the law will be changed so that unwilling patients will no longer be forced to receive ECT.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She told TheJournal.ie last year that &ldquo;I know for a fact that we are taking out &lsquo;unwilling&rsquo; from the ECT piece. That to me always did seem outrageous, so that is going to go.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The protest on Saturday was calling for a total ban on the procedure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/protest-electroshock-therapy-1460418-May2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/protest-electroshock-therapy-1460418-May2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-12 10:29:57',NULL,'calls-to-end-electroshock-therapy-it-can-be-carried-out-on-people-“unwilling-or-unableâ€-to-consent'),(530,'No jail for attempted rape of boy aged six','<p>\r\n	A Limerick man who repeatedly sexually abused a child 21 years ago has avoided a prison sentence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a three-year suspended sentence at the Central Criminal Court.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Counsel for the accused, who was 16 at the time of the abuse, said he is now married and living in the US and that any conviction could prevent him from returning. She had asked the court last week to consider applying the Probation Act.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Applying the Probation Act means no conviction is recorded against an accused, allowing them to retain a clean criminal record.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Justice Paul Carney yesterday said that although the defence counsel had made a very forceful plea on the man&rsquo;s behalf, he refused to &ldquo;massage&rdquo; the sentence in such as way as to deceive the US authorities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He ordered the man, now aged 37, to enter a bond of &euro;1,000 and keep away from the victim forever. He also declared him a registered sex offender.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man pleaded guilty to attempted rape on the basis of full details of the offence being heard by the court.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The abuse occurred in the summer of 1993 in a wooded area near the man&rsquo;s home. His victim was aged between six and seven at the time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Prosecuting counsel Maurice Coffey read from the complainant&rsquo;s victim impact statement who wrote that he still suffers night terrors as a result of the abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;He has caused an irreparable amount of damage to my life,&rdquo; the victim wrote. He called his abuser &ldquo;aggressive, manipulating, dominating, and, most of all, a predator.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Defence counsel Isobel Kennedy said that after the victim went to garda&iacute; in 2012, the accused voluntarily came back to Ireland to be interviewed. She said he made full admissions, was deeply remorseful, and later wrote a letter of apology to his victim. Ms Kennedy said he pleaded guilty on the earliest possible date.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	After the hearing last week, the judge said the normal practice would be to remand the man in custody pending sentence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, he said he was remanding him on continuing bail because putting him in custody might &ldquo;pre-empt his position vis &agrave; vis the US&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Yesterday, the judge said the mitigating factors included that the offences were of very great antiquity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said the accused was 16 at the time and had been experiencing considerable bullying. The judge also said the accused was not likely to reoffend. &ldquo;However, the gravity of this offence must not be lost sight of in any way,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/no-jail-for-attempted-rape-of-boy-aged-six-268352.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/no-jail-for-attempted-rape-of-boy-aged-six-268352.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-13 10:03:57',NULL,'no-jail-for-attempted-rape-of-boy-aged-six'),(531,'Almost 3,600 homeless helped by McVerry trust','<p>\r\n	Families losing homes &lsquo;more than doubles in last year&rsquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Peter McVerry Trust, which works with homeless young people in the Dublin area, helped almost 3,600 last year, an increase of 17 per cent on 2012, according to figures published yesterday morning.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	And while the majority of those it helped were young men, it has also seen an increase in the number of homeless couples and families.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The figures mirror the increases being reported across the homelessness sector, with Focus Ireland reporting &ldquo;an unprecedented increase in the number of families experiencing homelessness&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It says that the number of families &ldquo;losing their homes has more than doubled&rdquo; over the past year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The most recent rough-sleeper count in November 2013 found 139 people sleeping rough in Dublin &ndash; the largest number sleeping rough since the count began in 2007.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Yesterday morning the Peter McVerry Trust announced it supported 3,586 in Dublin last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Its chief executive, Pat Doyle, said that nearly all of the services that the trust provided recorded increases in the number they supported, with 1,001 people receiving support and advice.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/almost-3-600-homeless-helped-by-mcverry-trust-1.1792691\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/almost-3-600-homeless-helped-by-mcverry-trust-1.1792691</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-13 10:11:40',NULL,'almost-3600-homeless-helped-by-mcverry-trust'),(532,'Mental health inpatients decrease by 88pc in 50 years','<p>\r\n	The latest census of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals shows 2,401 patients were resident on the night of the survey. The newly-published report, based on the March 31, 2013 census, points out that this contrasts with a figure of 19,801 in 1963.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This represents a reduction of 88 per cent since 1963 and a reduction of 14 per cent since 2010,&quot; the Health Research Board revealed. &quot;The death of older long-stay patients and their non-replacement by new long-stay patients is a contributory factor in the decline in in-patient numbers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;In 2012 alone, there were 153 deaths in Irish psychiatric units and 59 per cent of the individuals concerned were aged 75 years and over.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Almost half of these deaths occurred following a length of stay of five years or more in hospital. In the period 2010&ndash;2012 there were 411 deaths in total in Irish psychiatric units and hospitals.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Men accounted for over half (55 per cent) of all in-patients on the latest census night.There has been no real change in the gender breakdown of patients over the last 50 years, with males typically accounting for 55 per cent of patients, said the report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One-third of in-patients were aged 65 years and over on census night; 17 per cent were aged 55&ndash;64 years; an additional 17 per cent were aged 45&ndash;54 years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There were 15 per cent aged 35&ndash;44 years; 12 per cent were aged 25&ndash;34 years; 3.5 per cent were aged 20&ndash;24 years, and 1.6 per cent were aged 18&ndash;19 years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;There was one person under 18 years of age resident in adult psychiatric units and hospitals on census night. There were an additional 63 children and adolescents resident in child and adolescent units .&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It found that the 75 year and over age group had the highest rate of hospitalisation, at 180.4 per 100,000, followed by the 65&ndash;74 year age group, at 125.3 and the 55&ndash;64 year age group, at 87.4.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 20&ndash;24 year age group had the lowest rate of hospitalisation on census night, at 28.6 per 100,000. Nearly six in ten of all residents on census night were single, 20.5 per cent were married, six per cent were widowed and three per cent divorced.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the report, Dr Dermot Walsh, the former inspector of mental hospitals, said that in 1963 the bulk of in-patients were long-stay, with over 70 per cent there for over two years and over 60 per cent for over five years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;In contrast, only 37 per cent of patients in 2013 had been in hospital for more than one year (long stay), with 15 per cent of these in the new long-stay category (between one and five years) and 22 per cent for over five years (the old long stay),&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said that in 1963, excluding the 2,232 in-patients labelled as &#39;mental deficiency&#39;, schizophrenia accounted for 62 per cent of in-patients.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;By 2013 this proportion had fallen to 31 per cent but still accounted for, by far, most in-patients. Additionally, schizophrenia accounted for 41 per cent of all long-stay in-patients, that is those resident for over one year, and for 44 per cent of those hospitalised for over five years &ndash; the old long-stay.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Walsh said predicting when older public hospitals will finally close is hazardous and dependent on major local initiatives. In addition, some long-stay patients remain in units other than the old 19th century buildings, and their need for rehabilitation and more appropriate placement, community-based, as recommended in the latest policy document, A Vision for Change, remains an unachieved objective.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;As far as the private hospitals are concerned, the two largest are committed to acute care only and, with the remainder specialising in care for the elderly, the issue of reduction in long-stay does not arise,&quot; he added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/mental-health-inpatients-decrease-by-88pc-in-50-years-30262212.html\">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/mental-health-inpatients-decrease-by-88pc-in-50-years-30262212.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-13 10:20:37',NULL,'mental-health-inpatients-decrease-by-88pc-in-50-years'),(533,'Politicians are not allowed to talk to people seeking asylum in Ireland','<p>\r\n	Thousands of people in asylum centres are allowed to vote &ndash; but they&rsquo;re not allowed to hear from politicians in the run up to the local elections.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Politicians have been forbidden from canvassing for votes in Ireland&rsquo;s asylum centres &ndash; even though thousands of residents are allowed to vote in the upcoming local elections.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The management at the direct provision centres around the country have ruled that politicians are not allowed to talk to residents about their issues and concerns, or give them political leaflets.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a statement, the Department of Justice said that asylum accommodation centres are a &ldquo;politically neutral environment&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One local election candidate in Cork had planned to canvas at a centre later this week but was firmly turned away when he rang ahead in advance.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They were polite but there was definitely no equivocation,&rdquo; Donnchadh &Oacute; Laoghaire of Sinn F&eacute;in told TheJournal.ie.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I gave my name and details and said I was looking to make arrangements to come up and canvas on Friday and they said no, absolutely not, they don&rsquo;t have anyone in canvassing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I said I didn&rsquo;t think that was very fair, that these people are entitled to vote and they should have the opportunity to&nbsp; meet their candidates, but they [the management of the centre] said no politician is allowed in to canvas&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At least 152 people at the Kinsale Road centre in Cork are on the electoral register, &Oacute; Laoghaire said.<br />\r\n	Source: Donnchadh &Oacute;Laoghaire/Twitter</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The centres are privately run by contractors, but are overseen by the Reception and Integration Agency which falls under the Department of Justice.&nbsp; Almost 5,000 people are being held in the so-called reception system for people looking to claim asylum in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The RIA referred requests for comments this evening to the Department Justice, who defended the policy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Residents are, of course, entitled to their own political views and are free to communicate with political representatives,&rdquo; a spokesperson for the Department told TheJournal.ie.<br />\r\n	But in the same way that Public Service offices operate in a politically neutral environment, so also must accommodation centres be free from any party political associations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The spokesperson said that party political leaflets, posters or circulars are not displayed or circulated in centres and that &ldquo;politically orientated meetings&rdquo; are not allowed to be held.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Criticism of the system<br />\r\n	&ldquo;These people [in the centres] see the posters but beyond that they know very little,&rdquo; said &Oacute; Laoghaire. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t know what politicians&rsquo; policies are, there&rsquo;s no opportunity to meet them and ask their positions&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This is a very vulnerable category of people and they&rsquo;re being further marginalised by not having access to candidates&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The direct provision system has been criticised by national and international groups in recent years for its approach to keeping asylum seekers in centres where they are not allowed to work.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A recent ESRI report found a number of problems with the system, including overcrowding, lack of privacy, and insufficient facilities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Denise Charlton, the head of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, called for a review of the ban.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/direct-provision-politicians-not-allowed-canvas-1463456-May2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/direct-provision-politicians-not-allowed-canvas-1463456-May2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-14 08:32:17',NULL,'politicians-are-not-allowed-to-talk-to-people-seeking-asylum-in-ireland'),(534,'Community childcare centre may be forced to close due to lack of funding','<p>\r\n	Ireland&#39;s largest community childcare centre could be forced to close in the coming weeks because of a cash flow problem, which it says has been caused by funding cuts.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Darndale/Belcamp Integrated Childcare Centre in Dublin, provides cr&egrave;che and after school care for 260 children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The service, which has 98 staff, has advised parents that closure is imminent unless the Government restores funding.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Centre Manager, Kelda Barnes said &quot;In the past five years we found ways to try and solve the problems ourselves.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We&#39;ve taken pay cuts, increased parents fees, change the layout of the centre to maximise space, and last year we raised &euro;112,000 in fundraising.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;This year we&#39;ve run out of options, we&#39;ve done everything we can do in the centre. We are now asking the government to please support us.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The majority of children at the centre are availing of subsidised childcare schemes and worried parents say without the facility, they would have to give up their work or education.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Michelle Curley, whose daughter attends the centre, said &quot;this subsidised cr&egrave;che is a lifeline to me, it allows me to go to work so that I can make ends meet in my household.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Another parent, Suzanne Webster who works for a charity, said if the service closed she&#39;d &quot;have to give up her community employment completely and go back on social welfare, which is something that I definitely don&#39;t want to happen.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The childcare centre has annual expenditure of &euro;2m and over the past five years its funding has been cut by &euro;300,000.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It needs &euro;200,000 to stay open until the end of the year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This evening, the Minister for Children, Charlie Flanagan TD said in a statement: &quot;I have arranged for a meeting tomorrow of funding agencies following which I expect there will be an early meeting with the centre to constructively explore all options for achieving a sustainable approach to the Centre&#39;s operations.&quot;<br />\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0513/617111-community-childcare-centre/\">http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0513/617111-community-childcare-centre/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-14 08:45:06',NULL,'community-childcare-centre-may-be-forced-to-close-due-to-lack-of-funding'),(535,'One in three children deprived during recession, study says','<p>\r\n	ESRI research shows young adults have been hit hardest by rise in unemployment</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Almost a third of children have been deprived of essentials such as food or clothing during the recession, according to a study published today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The figures are contained in an ESRI report on the impact of the downturn on age groups, family types and nationalities over the past five years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While job losses and reduced living standards affected the whole population, young people and children suffered some of the sharpest increases in deprivation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Some 130,000 children (or 32 per cent of under-14s) experienced deprivation, which is measured as an ability to afford basics such as adequate heating or new clothes. The rate was lowest for over-65s (11 per cent).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The findings are likely to be seized on by campaigners who argue children have been exposed to the full force of the downturn &ndash; via welfare cuts and unemployment &ndash; rather than being sheltered from its effects.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Young people were hit harder by job losses, with unemployment rates climbing to almost 25 per cent among the under-25s. Those aged 45 and over suffered unemployment rates of up to 12 per cent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Frances McGinnity, lead author of the Winners and Losers? The Equality Impact of the Great Recession in Ireland report, said there were no clear winners given that employment and living standards were negatively affected across the population. However, she said it was clear some groups lost more than others.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Steepest rise<br />\r\n	Cohabiting couples with children experienced the steepest rise in unemployment of any family grouping, while childless couples were far less likely to experience deprivation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Poverty and deprivation increased less rapidly among groups such as lone parents and people with disabilities, although these were among the most disadvantaged groups before the downturn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A separate ESRI report published today on the gender impact of the downturn shows men suffered more than women.<br />\r\n	While unemployment rates increased for both sexes, they were particularly dramatic for men, who were more likely to be in the worst-affected sectors such as construction.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The gap between the genders was 16 per cent before the downturn, and narrowed to 8 per cent in 2012.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Figures also show that in 2011 just under a third of non-Irish nationals experienced basic deprivation, compared with a quarter of Irish nationals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The findings in the reports are drawn from a range of sources such as the Central Statistics Office and EU surveys on income and living conditions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/one-in-three-children-deprived-during-recession-study-says-1.1793724\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/one-in-three-children-deprived-during-recession-study-says-1.1793724</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-15 10:07:09',NULL,'one-in-three-children-deprived-during-recession-study-says'),(536,'Simon reports 200% rise in those sleeping rough in Dublin','<p>\r\n	Advice service will help to prevent tenancy terminations</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Rough sleeping in Dublin city centre has risen by 200 per cent since January, and is up three fold on this time last year, according to the Dublin Simon Community.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Discrimination against social welfare tenants, which has resulted in spiralling numbers living in emergency accommodation in hotels, was also leading to more people sleeping rough, said Simon chief executive Sam McGuinness.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;People are now shut out of the rental market, and have no option but to look for shelter in emergency facilities or resort to sleeping in doorways and squats.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The number of rough sleepers in the city reached a daily high of 93 this week, up from a low of 25 in January. An average of 30 to 35 people were sleeping rough last May.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Advice services<br />\r\n	Mr McGuinness was speaking on the introduction of new tenants&rsquo; advice services jointly run by Simon and the Citizens Information Service.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Through a weekly Thursday morning clinic at the Carmelite centre on Aungier Street, the services will provide information to help people keep their tenancies, such as rights as a tenant, advice on managing bills, responsibilities as a tenant and entitlements to housing. The service can also liaise with a landlord if appropriate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Early intervention can pre-empt tenancy breakdown, but many people were in a &ldquo;hopeless situation&rdquo; where they were powerless to hold on to their home, Mr McGuinness said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Landlords have become skilled at ensuring they operate within the law when they evict people, so in some cases there is little we can do. The only solution to that is to increase the housing supply.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Social housing<br />\r\n	He welcomed the announcement by Minister for Housing Jan O&rsquo;Sullivan of an extra &euro;50 million for social housing but said it was not enough.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Chief executive of the Citizens Information Board Tony McQuinn said the service dealt with 58,000 queries in relation to housing last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The nature, extent and level of difficulty of these queries has increased enormously.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The lack of social housing and the length of the waiting lists made keeping people in their existing homes essential.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It will be some time before the housing supply needs are met, and unfortunately in most cases of people coming to us we cannot provide houses. Many people will be experiencing these difficulties for a long time to come, so advice and help to maintain their tenancies is essential.&rdquo;<br />\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/simon-reports-200-rise-in-those-sleeping-rough-in-dublin-1.1795634\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/simon-reports-200-rise-in-those-sleeping-rough-in-dublin-1.1795634</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-15 10:09:25',NULL,'simon-reports-200%-rise-in-those-sleeping-rough-in-dublin'),(537,'Ireland signs IDAHO Declaration of Intent','<p>\r\n	Statement by the Minister of State with responsibility for<br />\r\n	Disability, Older People, Equality &amp; Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch TD</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Older People, Equality &amp; Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch TD, will sign today the 2014 IDAHO Declaration of Intent at a meeting of European equality Ministers in Malta.&nbsp; The Declaration is a non binding international commitment to fight against homophobia and transphobia world wide.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the meeting, Minister Lynch said &quot;Homophobic and hate crimes are truly international issues, not just because of their geographic occurrence across the globe&nbsp; but more importantly because they are direct violations of the principles of liberty, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.&nbsp;&nbsp; All people, irrespective of sexual orientation or gender identity are entitled to protection and the right to live their lives free from intolerance and discrimination.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The main features of the Declaration of Intent are a commitment by the signatories to ensure that national legislative and other measures are put in place and implemented to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity as well as guaranteeing freedom of expression and assembly, particularly for lawful public events such as pride marches and the effective protection of participants.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) is recognised annually in over 60 countries on or around 17 May, the 1990 date when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	14 May 2014</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Note for Editors</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The second IDAHO Forum is being held on 13th-14th May 2014 in Valletta, Malta. The Forum, marking the 2014 International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, has the theme: Responses to homophobia &amp; transphobia at the national, European &amp; international level. One of the main purposes of the IDAHO Forum is to launch a process toward coordinated action tackling homophobia and transphobia at all levels.<br />\r\n	<br />\r\n	Ireland has comprehensive legislative and other measures in place in this area of anti-discrimination with further initiatives planned such as amending the current section 37 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 (on maintaining the ethos of religious run institutions), the forthcoming Gender Recognition Bill 2014 aimed at giving legal recognition to changes of gender, a General Scheme for a&nbsp; new&nbsp; Children and Family Relationships Bill published in January last&nbsp; year proposing&nbsp; significant changes in family law to reflect&nbsp; the new diversity of families in Ireland, and a proposal to hold a referendum on same sex marriage later in the term of the Government.&nbsp; Ireland is therefore well placed to participate in the IDAHO initiative and support the Declaration.<br />\r\n	<br />\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR14000118\">http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR14000118</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-16 09:16:40',NULL,'ireland-signs-idaho-declaration-of-intent'),(538,'Concern raised for sucidal asylum seekers in direct provision hostels','<p>\r\n	Irish Refugee Council calls on Fitzgerald to urgently meet parents of three children</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at an event hosted by the Galway Integration Consortium today, Ms Conlan said the families were from Africa and the Indian sub-continent, and all had been in direct provision for at least three years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;For different reasons, these three young people have all expressed the view that they can&rsquo;t see the purpose of living,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We have put them in touch with specific support agencies, and the parents themselves have spoken to psychologists, but the fundamental issue is that professionals cannot change a situation where people are living in conditions which are creating a sense of despair,&rdquo; Ms Conlan said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Conlan noted that Ms Fitzgerald had previously expressed concern in her role as Minister for Children about the welfare of young people living in direct provision.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We hope that now she is in a position to do something, that she will,&rdquo; Ms Conlan said, welcoming Ms Fitzgerald&rsquo;s appointment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Conlan said that a holistic approach needed to be taken to reform a system which involved living in one-room in hostels, dispersal to various parts of the country, delays in awaiting asylum seeking decisions from the authorities, lack of educational opportunities for children beyond Leaving Certificate, and lack of permission to work or undertake training.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ann Irwin, co-ordinator with Galway City Community Forum which co-hosted the Galway event, noted that the policy of direct provision is now 14 years old. Originally intended to be a short-term measure, the majority of asylum seekers spend four years in the system, with a significant number waiting for between seven and 12 years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Hostel resident Siphathisiwe Moyo said that &ldquo;keeping people waiting for an answer for such long periods of time is so unfair&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I have been waiting for an answer for six years &mdash; that&rsquo;s six years of living in one room with three children,&rdquo; he said, explaining the impact of not being permitted to work while surviving on an allowance of &euro;19.10 a week and &euro;9.60 a week per child.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Six years of watching my children grow up in an institution, of not being able to afford school books for them, of not being able to send them on school tours,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;And what will happen to them after they leave school? They will not be allowed to work and they are not entitled to go to university without paying overseas student fees &ndash; something I could never afford,&rdquo; Mr Moyo said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mayor of Galway Padraig Conneely (FG), who attended the event, accepted accept a cake symbolising Galway made by Bisola Akanni, who has been living in direct provision for six years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/concern-raised-for-sucidal-asylum-seekers-in-direct-provision-hostels-1.1789796\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/concern-raised-for-sucidal-asylum-seekers-in-direct-provision-hostels-1.1789796</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-16 09:52:06',NULL,'concern-raised-for-sucidal-asylum-seekers-in-direct-provision-hostels'),(539,'Pamela Anderson reveals history of sexual abuse','<p>\r\n	Pamela Anderson has revealed she was molested and repeatedly raped as a child.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The former &#39;Baywatch&#39; actress opened up about her &#39;&#39;most painful memories&#39;&#39; of being sexual abused for the first time and admitted the terrifying ordeals left her feeling suicidal, as she launched her new animal welfare charity, The Pamela Anderson Foundation, at the Cannes International Film Festival.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 46-year-old star nervously told her guests: &#39;&#39;I feel now might be the time to reveal a few of my most painful memories. At the risk of over-exposing myself, again, or being inappropriate, again, I thought I might share with you why I am doing this.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;&#39;I did not have an easy childhood, I was molested from age six by a female babysitter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;&#39;I went to her boyfriend&#39;s house, and his older brother decided to teach me backgammon, which led into a back massage, which led into rape - my first heterosexual experience.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was 25 years old and I was 12.&#39;&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Pamela, who re-married her ex-husband Rick Salomon earlier this year, was later gang raped by her first boyfriend and his friends.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She explained: &#39;&#39;He decided it would be funny to gang rape me with six friends. I wanted off this earth.&#39;&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She added: &#39;&#39;This meant I had a hard time trusting humans. I wasn&#39;t sure why I was alive. A burning question.&#39;&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Pamela doesn&#39;t blame her parents for the assaults.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &#39;&#39;My parents tried to keep me safe, but to me the world was not a safe place. My dad was an alcoholic, my mum worked two jobs, my mum was always crying, dad didn&#39;t always come home.&#39;&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But the actress, who has sons Brandon, 17, and Dylan, 16, with her ex-husband Tommy Lee, credited her love of animals for helping her to move past the incidents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &#39;&#39;My infinity with animals saved me. It came to me naturally. The trees spoke to me.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&#39;&#39;My loyalty was with the animal kingdom and I vowed to protect them and only them.&#39;&#39;<br />\r\n	<br />\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/parental-age-limit-in-surrogacy-law-could-be-discrimination-1.1800599\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/parental-age-limit-in-surrogacy-law-could-be-discrimination-1.1800599</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-19 09:39:25',NULL,'pamela-anderson-reveals-history-of-sexual-abuse'),(540,'Parental age limit in surrogacy law could be discrimination','<p>\r\n	Geoffrey Shannon says parts of Bill need to be reconsidered</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Proposed legislation requiring that at least one prospective parent of a child born to surrogacy must be under the age of 45 could amount to age discrimination, the Government special rapporteur on child protection has said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a paper to be presented at the EU presidency conference next month on the Children and Family Relationships Bill, Geoffrey Shannon said the provision should be looked at again.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Scheme<br />\r\n	He also raised concerns that provisions aimed at prohibiting commercial surrogacy punish the child rather than the perpetrators.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The general scheme of the Bill was published by former minister for justice Alan Shatter in January. It provides a framework for surrogacy and assisted human reproduction for the first time in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It also introduces new legislation on parentage, child maintenance, guardianship, custody and access, and powers to enforce custody and access orders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A note in the scheme says a maximum age for surrogacy is suggested in the legislation &ldquo;to increase the likelihood that at least one intending parent will live well into the child&rsquo;s adulthood&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Payment<br />\r\n	There is no such age limit in the UK, where surrogacy was first legislated for in 1985, though courts do take into account age when considering applications for parentage.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Irish Bill also stipulates the court will not make an order of parentage for a child if the surrogate mother is under 24 or if an unpermitted payment was made to her.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The effect of this is to deny parentage to the child,&rdquo; Mr Shannon said. This would lead to denied citizenship and might affect the child&rsquo;s rights, and should be reconsidered.<br />\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/parental-age-limit-in-surrogacy-law-could-be-discrimination-1.1800599\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/parental-age-limit-in-surrogacy-law-could-be-discrimination-1.1800599</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-19 09:45:39',NULL,'parental-age-limit-in-surrogacy-law-could-be-discrimination'),(541,'Mental \'injuries\' are a lot harder to spot','<p>\r\n	I spotted a handbag in a trendy shop which sported &#39;Don&#39;t Be Afraid of Getting to Know Yourself&#39; in big, bold letters. It looked like the ideal present for a lot of people I know. I resisted. Partly because of the price tag, but more because of an instinct for self-preservation. But it did set me thinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As a nation, we are becoming obsessed with physical fitness. Not that many of us are doing much about it. But at least we know that a lot of us are carrying too much weight. That is the physical side. It is easy to understand the connection between calories in and what the weighing scales tell you. Likewise, if you do a bit of exercise, the notches on your belt soon tell the story. But we almost totally ignore our mental fitness.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A pulled muscle makes itself felt. You know the cause, the when, why and the how you did it, what it feels like, how to repair it, and approximately how long that will take. With our bodies, we are aware of how debilitating a seemingly small injury can be. A sprained hand almost reduces you to helplessness. A damaged Achilles makes climbing the stairs an ordeal. You cannot ignore the injury, you have to do something about it.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	If mental &#39;injuries&#39; were as easy to spot, life would be easier. We can carry a grudge for a lifetime. It is probably the mental equivalent of a pulled muscle that was never allowed to heal. Instead, life has adapted around it.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I was conscious of this recently when I read a tweet posted by someone who, in my kinder moments, I would describe as a &#39;duplicitous, self-serving, manipulative creep&#39;. That description is not without foundation. I can immediately think of acquaintances who add further purple prose for good measure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I could not read the tweet without that well-ingrained emotional filter. And this was a person I have not met in years. It was time to build a bridge and get over it. The person was not worth even a momentary thought.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They couldn&#39;t care less about me and it was time to reciprocate. Never again were they going to be allowed to discolour my emotions for even a millisecond.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mental fitness is not a concept we are used to. We do not understand it well, and it is easy to ignore. We automatically say, &quot;fine&quot;, when asked how we are because, really, no one actually wants to know.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A world where people answered truthfully would be an unimaginable nightmare. But maybe we should take the time and ask ourselves, and answer truthfully, from time to time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We hear sports people talk about feeling mentally strong. They know that mental state affects performance. Physical fitness takes planning, effort and time. The same is true of the mind, but we have no idea what to plan, what effort to make, and we do not even set aside the time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Without going all Californian, we could realise that nobody feels great all the time. Sometimes we feel fragile for no apparent reason and it can feel very disconcerting. That is just the way human beings are. No need to bottle it up.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/mental-injuries-are-a-lot-harder-to-spot-30280603.html\">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/mental-health/mental-injuries-are-a-lot-harder-to-spot-30280603.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-19 09:47:42',NULL,'mental-injuries-are-a-lot-harder-to-spot'),(542,'Fifth anniversary of Ryan child abuse report today','<p>\r\n	Congregations still &euro;244 million short of 50:50 redress share</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The fourth and final report on implementation of the 99 recommendations arising from the Ryan report is expected to be laid before the Oireachtas by Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan next month.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (the Ryan report) was published five years ago today, on May 20th, 2009, and included 20 recommendations focused on government departments and institutions responsible for services to children. The then government accepted all its recommendations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An implementation plan which was published in July 2009 contained 99 recommendations. These focused on addressing the effects of past abuse; developing and strengthening national childcare policy and evaluating its implementation; strengthening regulation and inspection functions; improving the organisation and delivery of children&rsquo;s services; giving greater effect to the voice of the child; and revising Children First, the national guidelines for the protection and welfare of children and underpinning these with legislation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Overall offer<br />\r\n	Meanwhile, the 18 religious congregations which ran the residential institutions for children investigated by the commission have given no indication that they intend improving on their overall total offer of &euro; 480.61 million to the &euro;1.45 billion costs of redress to victims.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It means the congregations remain &euro;244 million short of their &euro; 725 million share of all costs involved.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This Government believes, as did its predecessor, that costs should be shared on a 50:50 basis between the State and those who were responsible for the management of institutions where children were abused.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The principle of an equal sharing of costs was announced by the previous government in April 2010.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Following publication of the Ryan report in 2009, that government called on the congregations who were party to the 2002 indemnity agreement to make additional contributions as reparation following the findings of the Ryan report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Assessment<br />\r\n	An independent panel was appointed to assess statements of their affairs submitted by the congregations and report to government as to the adequacy of these statements as a basis for assessing the resources of the congregations. Separately the congregations responded in relation to a further contribution.<br />\r\n	On receipt of the independent panel&rsquo;s report and of the responses of the 18 congregations to calls for further substantial contributions, the then government said it felt it appropriate that costs should be shared on a 50:50 basis between the taxpayer and the congregations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An equal sharing of the costs of the response would mean a contribution of &euro;725 million by both taxpayer and the congregations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Under the 2002 indemnity agreement the congregations had already agreed to contribute &euro;128 million in cash, counselling services and property. Following publication of the Ryan report the congregations made offers they valued at &euro;348.51 million, including cash, property and other elements. Later offers amounted to &euro;4.1 million, bringing their total of contributions offered to &euro;352.61 million.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/fifth-anniversary-of-ryan-child-abuse-report-today-1.1801862\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/fifth-anniversary-of-ryan-child-abuse-report-today-1.1801862</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-20 10:03:17',NULL,'fifth-anniversary-of-ryan-child-abuse-report-today'),(543,'Brazil worried World Cup will mean surge in child prostitution','<p>\r\n	Officials are now plastering public spaces with awareness-raising messages to warn tourists that child exploitation is a crime.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As night falls, Adriana de Morais patrols the clubs and bars of Natal, one of Brazil&rsquo;s World Cup host cities, looking for underaged prostitutes and trying to get them off the streets.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As she and her team weave between revellers in this tropical city known for its nightlife, their black polo shirts, emblazoned with the emblem of the local child protection unit, stand out amid the tight mini-skirts and colourful clothing of the crowds.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An estimated 600,000 foreigners are about to descend on Brazil for the World Cup, which opens June 12, and the authorities worry the influx will bring an increase in sex tourism and child prostitution.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a singular event that brings many people from outside, and we really worry about sexual tourism,&rdquo; Morais told AFP.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	No official statistics on underage prostitutes exist in Brazil. The only figure available comes from the government&rsquo;s anonymous child-abuse hotline, which received 124,000 calls in 2013 &ndash; 26 percent of them for sexual violence against children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Most of the calls came from the northeast, a poor region where turquoise waters and idyllic beaches are a major tourist draw.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A year ago, Taina was one of the girls walking the street here. Her story echoes that of thousands of Brazilian children. Abused at home, she ran away at the age of 10. To survive, she sold sex in exchange for meals or money.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We would go to Ponta Negra (a tourist neighbourhood in Natal). My friends and I, we&rsquo;d wait for cars to stop and call us and we&rsquo;d go with them. A lot of times it was foreigners. There weren&rsquo;t many Brazilians,&rdquo; she says.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Today, at 18 years old, she is trying to build a new life. She is studying hotel management thanks to a program called &ldquo;Vira Vida&rdquo; (Change Your Life) that helps child sex workers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Code of conduct<br />\r\n	Leftist President Dilma Rousseff&rsquo;s government has launched a campaign over the past few years against domestic violence, the sexual exploitation of minors and human trafficking &ndash; recently the main theme of a popular TV soap opera, &ldquo;Salve Jorge.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The country has a code of conduct for taxi drivers and hotel receptionists, a bid to crack down on child prostitution in the places where it is most visible. Officials are also plastering public spaces with awareness-raising messages.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Every tourist who arrives in Brazil will know that the exploitation of children and juveniles is a crime. He&rsquo;ll see it in aeroplanes, airports, bus and train stations and hotels,&rdquo; said the head of child protection at the tourism ministry, Adelino Neto.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;A major event increases the risk factors for minors. We have an increase in tourists and alcohol consumption at a time when children are on vacation from school,&rdquo; said Tatiana Akabane from the organization Childhood, which is working to help Brazil learn from the experiences of the previous two World Cup hosts, South Africa and Germany.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Fighting sex tourism<br />\r\n	Prostitution is legal in Brazil for over-18s, but the government is also keen to discourage sex tourism.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It has sought to control the national image and combat sexual overtones in foreign products and advertisements.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In February, it managed to force Germany&rsquo;s Adidas to recall a line of T-shirts with a football and a woman in a bikini that said &ldquo;Looking to score &mdash; Brazil,&rdquo; and another that said &ldquo;I love Brazil&rdquo; with a heart drawn to look like a thong-clad woman&rsquo;s inverted behind.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Brazil is happy to welcome tourists who arrive for the World Cup but also ready to combat sexual tourism,&rdquo; President Rousseff wrote on Twitter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But sex workers say they have a right to profit from the tournament.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;If there are going to be tourists and everyone&rsquo;s going to make money &ndash; hotels, airlines, businesses &ndash; why shouldn&rsquo;t prostitutes earn money from it too?&rdquo; asks Roberto Chateaubriand of Davida, an organization that fights for sex workers&rsquo; rights.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We also oppose the exploitation of minors, but the government has put everything in the same basket &ndash; the sexual exploitation of minors, human trafficking and adult prostitution,&rdquo; he told AFP.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/brazil-world-cup-prostitution-1472685-May2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/brazil-world-cup-prostitution-1472685-May2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-20 10:05:32',NULL,'brazil-worried-world-cup-will-mean-surge-in-child-prostitution'),(544,'Barnardos predicts major crisis in child homelessness by end of year','<p>\r\n	Some children see violence and drug use in accommodation, says Fergus Finlay</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Thousands of children may be left homeless by the end of the year and those already affected are suffering &ldquo;fear, uncertainty and isolation&rdquo;, Barnardos has warned.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Fergus Finlay, the chief executive of Ireland&rsquo;s largest children&rsquo;s charity, said: &ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be an explosion &ndash; a major crisis by the end of the year. We want to treat it as an emergency now before that explosion happens.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Finlay said many of the children of families left homeless were living in overcrowded places with nowhere to play. More than 1,350 parents and children are without their own home in Dublin.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;In some of the accommodation that&rsquo;s available, children will see violence, abuse and drug use.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We&rsquo;re very worried for children in those circumstances. Children not getting the right education and emotional development are very much at risk of not making it in school and then very much at risk of being a drain and threat on their neighbourhood in the future.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He called on the Government to act quickly to address rising rents, discrimination in the private rental sector, inappropriateness of emergency accommodation and lack of social housing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The lack of investment in social housing in recent years, cuts to rent supplement and the rising cost of renting in the private market are creating a perfect storm for homelessness. We should have been able to predict and prevent this,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Emma Jane Nulty, Barnardos&rsquo; project leader, said the charity was seeing an &ldquo;escalating&rdquo; number of cases of families being evicted&nbsp; from their rented accommodation and left homeless daily.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Absolutely there&rsquo;s a crises and it&#39;s snowballing,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We work with families who have ended up living in a hotel or B&amp;B for up to a year. Children are witnessing violence and drug use in some of these places. They&rsquo;re scared because they&rsquo;re living in cramped conditions surrounded by adults they don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Nulty said in some cases the housing issues were so severe they had raised child welfare issues due to unsafe accommodation or the impact on parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s awful to see because you know it&rsquo;s costing everyone more, both in terms of the impact it&rsquo;s having on children and parents and the financial cost to the State,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;What&rsquo;s happening now is there is nowhere for them to go. No options available. No social housing and very limited private rented accommodation. The Government needs ot see the reality of what&rsquo;s happening.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One nine-year-old child told a project worker with the charity &quot;&ldquo;I had to move school. I miss my old friends. I don&rsquo;t like where I am. It&rsquo;s scary. It&rsquo;s not fun and I can&rsquo;t play outside. I want to go home.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/barnardos-predicts-major-crisis-in-child-homelessness-by-end-of-year-1.1801922\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/barnardos-predicts-major-crisis-in-child-homelessness-by-end-of-year-1.1801922</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-20 10:07:30',NULL,'barnardos-predicts-major-crisis-in-child-homelessness-by-end-of-year'),(545,'More than 300 prisoners are still slopping out','<p>\r\n	A further 261 are held in solitary confinement, some for 23 hours a day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Some 334 prisoners in Ireland are still slopping out, although the process has ended in most institutions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The vast majority of these prisoners &ndash; 226 &ndash; are in Cork prison, while 59 and 49 are in Portlaoise and Limerick prisons respectively.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This marks a drop of&nbsp; 67 per cent since late 2010 when 1,003 prisoners were slopping out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The process ended in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin last year. Construction on a new prison in Cork, which began in January, is expected to be completed by July 2015.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Some 1,637 prisoners nationally must use the toilet in the presence of others.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	These statistics were among a number shared with the D&aacute;il by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald recently</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said that last year saw the first &ldquo;significant decrease&rdquo; in prison numbers since 2007. There were 15,735 committals to prison in 2013, representing a drop of 7.6 per cent on the 2012 figure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The average number of prisoners in custody rose from 3,321 in 2007 to 4,318 in 2012, an increase of over 30 per cent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The total number of committals to prison also rose sharply during the same period, from 11,934 in 2007 to 17,026 in 2012 &ndash; an increase of over 43 per cent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As of the 1 April, there were 4,103 prisoners in custody in Irish prisons.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There are currently 97 20-year-olds in prison, 69 19-year-olds, 50 18-year-olds and nine 17-year-olds.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Solitary confinement<br />\r\n	261 prisoners are being held on a restricted regime, with 134 in solitary confinement for 21 hours every day and 43 alone for 23 hours per day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The overall figure has increased from 228 since January. In the previous nine months, it had dropped by 76 per cent.<br />\r\n	Fitzgerald said that a prisoner&rsquo;s regime might be restricted at their own request or because they are vulnerable or &ldquo;reasonably likely to cause significant harm&rdquo; to other prisoners.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said the fact that some prisoners are immediately separated from the general population or from specific prisoners identified as presenting a threat &ldquo;clearly demonstrates the commitment of the Irish Prison Service to ensure their safety and security&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The status of each prisoner on restricted regime within the prison system is regularly reviewed. If possible, prisoners can be transferred to other institutions where a restricted regime would not be necessary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In July 2013, the Director General of the IPS established a group to look at potential mesaures to reduce the number of prisoners currently held on restricted regimes with a view to ensuring that all receive a minimum of three hours a day &lsquo;out of cell time&rsquo; to engage in exercise or activity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Since then the number of prisoners in solitary confinement has decreased from 339 to 261.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Of those currently on a restricted regime, 228 are for protection reasons (of which 226 are there at their own request). Some 13 are in their cell for 21 hours a day and 43 are housed for 23 hours per day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Cell capacity<br />\r\n	Some 2,044 prisoners have a single cell while 1,528 and 414 are in double and triple cells respectively, and 117 are in cells with four or more prisoners.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Fitzgerald said the IPS is not in a position to provide single cell accommodation to all prisoners &ldquo;without releasing sizeable numbers of prisoners considered to represent a threat to public safety&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She noted that the current redevelopment of all wings in Mountjoy Prison will see each cell being returned to single occupancy status. Some 543 prisoners in Mountjoy, 92 per cent, are in single cells at present.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It should be borne in mind that in certain cases prisoners are housed together for reasons other than lack of capacity,&rdquo; Fitzgerald remarked.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Family members and friends often elect or are assigned a shared cell. Shared cell accommodation can be very beneficial from a management point of view particularly for those who are vulnerable and at risk of self-harm. There will always be a need for certain prisoners to be accommodated together.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-prison-statistics-1475292-May2014/\" style=\"font-size: 12px;\">http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-prison-statistics-1475292-May2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-21 08:56:11',NULL,'more-than-300-prisoners-are-still-slopping-out'),(546,'Children sent abroad as our care system fails to cope','<p>\r\n	Twelve deeply troubled children are being held at care facilities abroad, at an annual cost of &euro;3.6m, because there is nowhere suitable for them in Ireland, the Irish Independent has learned.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A 13th child is expected to be sent to a secure facility abroad in the coming days.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Authorities are sending him to England after a court was told the care system in Ireland was unable to deal with the 16-year-old&#39;s complex problems.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The revelation comes as figures released by the Child and Family Agency show it costs the State significantly less to send problem children abroad than it does to provide services for them here.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The average cost of out-of-state care per child is &euro;5,769 per week.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This compares with a cost of around &euro;10,000 per week to detain a child at the Ballydowd special care unit in Dublin.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There are only 17 special care places in Ireland, 10 at Ballydowd with the remainder split between Gleann Alainn in Cork and Coovagh House in Limerick.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	These are high security units where children with serious emotional and behavioural difficulties can be detained, subject to a court order, even if they have not committed a crime.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The new Child and Family Agency is planning to spend millions to double to 34 the places available by 2016.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The additional special care places are to be built at Gleann Alainn and at St Ita&#39;s Hospital in Portrane, Co Dublin.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, the agency admits that even when this is done, there may still be a need to send some children abroad.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The referral of children abroad for specialised therapeutic interventions is an established feature within our health and social care system and decisions in each case are made in the best interests of the individual,&quot; a spokeswoman said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, Jillian van Turnhout, a senator and children&#39;s rights campaigner, questioned this approach. &quot;I am concerned that we are sending children to care facilities abroad due to a lack of specialised facilities here in Ireland,&quot; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms van Turnhout said a better solution would be &quot;investing in a homegrown solution that develops our domestic expertise and puts the best interests of the child at the centre of the process.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The latest case involves a Dublin teenager who has been diagnosed with a number of disorders.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He is being sent to the St Andrew&#39;s in Northampton, which has over 100 beds for children with challenging behaviour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	During a hearing at Dublin Children&#39;s Court, Judge John O&#39;Connor said child welfare agencies here believed the teenager did not meet the criteria for being placed in a secure care facility in Ireland as they were not equipped to deal with his &quot;complex needs&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The teenager, who has been diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiance disorder and development co-ordination disorder, had appeared in the court on a series of theft charges and one for knife possession.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Child and Family Agency is in the process of securing High Court orders in both Ireland and England so that the boy can be detained in Northampton.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As well as sending troubled children to Northampton, it has also used facilities such as Oakview Hospital in Kent; St Mary&#39;s in Scotland and Boystown in Nebraska.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Cases where children might be sent abroad include ones involving extreme aggression and violence, damaging sexually provocative and threatening behaviour, and complex mental health issues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/children-sent-abroad-as-our-care-system-fails-to-cope-30291086.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/children-sent-abroad-as-our-care-system-fails-to-cope-30291086.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-21 10:25:18',NULL,'children-sent-abroad-as-our-care-system-fails-to-cope'),(547,'Children can recover from sex abuse – but not if they’ve to wait 6 months for therapy','<p>\r\n	Children&rsquo;s charities have been critical of the lack of access to services for children who have been sexually abused, as the HSE does not have the specialist staff to treat them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two children&#39;s charities have spoken out about the lack of progress in addressing the need for the State to improve specialised therapy services for children who are victims of sexual abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On Monday we reported that the HSE admitted that more than 50 vacancies in mental health services for children still have not been filled, despite the fact that the investment for them was allocated two years ago.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mary Flaherty, of the CARI Foundation, which provides therapy to children who are victims of sexual abuse, pointed out that the children her organisation works with are not even covered by HSE services because they do not have the specialist personnel. This is despite the fact that there are up to 4,000 new allegations of child sex abuse each year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They specifically exclude child sex abuse,&rdquo; said. &ldquo;And for specialist services for victims of sex abuse, due to funding cuts, our own services have reduced further&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	For the children availing of the services of this voluntary organisation, there is at least a six month wait and those living outside of Dublin fare worst. Flaherty said the focus needs to shift from historic abuse by the Catholic Church to the new young victims who are suffering now and who need the support of specialist professionals and not to be added to a seemingly endless waiting list.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Tess Noonan, services manager at the ISPCC, which works closely with the CARI Foundation, said it is &ldquo;vital to have the specialist services&rdquo; because of the legal side of issues, if the abuse has been reported to the guards.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;People can&rsquo;t just say &ldquo;I work with children so I can do it&rdquo;, especially if they&rsquo;re trying to provide treatment for the child who has been abused,&rdquo; she said. &rdquo;We would refer people to CARI because we wouldn&rsquo;t want to cause any harm to the child because we don&rsquo;t specialise in it.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last year, the HSE said it had four sexual abuse centres that offered services to children &ndash; two in Dublin, one in Waterford and one in Cork and Noonan said children often have to travel long distances just to reach services, once they&rsquo;ve climbed the waiting list.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The real difficulty is the waiting times and if you&rsquo;re living in Cork the closest service might be in Limerick. Children who have been sexually abused can recover and come out the other side and that&rsquo;s great &ndash; it points to the resilience of childhood.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;But they need to be believed, they need to be listened to, they need the specialist services,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;People require services at the point of reference &ndash; not six months later.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/sex-abuse-children-1474717-May2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/sex-abuse-children-1474717-May2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-21 04:00:00',NULL,'children-can-recover-from-sex-abuse-–-but-not-if-they’ve-to-wait-6-months-for-therapy'),(548,'Childline sees 20 per cent drop in funding','<p>\r\n	ISPCC says it may no longer be able to provide 24-hour service</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) has reported that Childline has witnessed a 20 per cent drop in funding since the beginning of 2014.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The charity warned it may no longer be in a position to provide a 24 hour service to children around the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the ISPCC annual general meeting, Caroline Kingston, Communications Co-ordinator, said the support service for children continues to suffer the financial repercussions of the CRC and Rehab revelations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Last year we were reaching a point where we thought we were going to break even for the first time in nearly six years,&rdquo; said Ms Kingston. &ldquo;When the controversies arose about CRC and Rehab we noticed a dramatic drop in income so that by year end we were down by 12 per cent.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Childline costs just over &euro;3.8 million per year to operate and receives 95 per cent of its funding from public donations. The service recently received &euro;181,000 from the National Office for Suicide Prevention to develop its online based services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, Ms Kingston fears a decline in public support may lead to cutbacks in staff numbers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We&rsquo;re hoping the public will come to our aid,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;Parents need to recognise that Childline is there to support all of our children, not just children who are abused or who have mental health problem, but the difficulties children face in their everyday life.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The ISPCC chief executive Ashley Balbirnie said Childline has reached &ldquo;breaking point&rdquo; and a cutback in services would leave a &ldquo;huge vacuum&rdquo; for Irish children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They will quite simply have nowhere to turn and these children who are brave enough to call Childline should not be casualties of a controversy they played no part in,&rdquo; she said.<br />\r\n	Monica Row, a volunteer and fundraiser for Childline, said she has witnessed first-hand the anger people feel following recent controversies in the charity sector. &ldquo;I have been shouted at, argued with and - most often - ignored,&rdquo; said Ms Row.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said she is worried that after years of building up the confidence and trust of Irish children, Childline will now have to turn its backs on the most vulnerable in Irish society. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve told our kids for the last 15 years that we&rsquo;re here for you 24/7&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Am I to say now put that hurt on hold, ring us when the service is actually open?&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/childline-sees-20-per-cent-drop-in-funding-1.1810805\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/childline-sees-20-per-cent-drop-in-funding-1.1810805</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-28 10:17:15',NULL,'childline-sees-20-per-cent-drop-in-funding'),(549,'Ireland has third highest drug-related fatalities','<p>\r\n	Ireland has the third highest number of drug-related deaths in Europe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The figure comes as garda&iacute; and health officials investigate another fatality linked to rogue ecstasy tablets.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ireland has a drug death rate four times that of the EU average and is only behind Estonia and Norway for fatalities per head of population.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The statistics emerge as a 22-year-old man died after taking an ecstasy-type drug at a party in Donegal on Monday, which has also left another 22-year-old man fighting for his life.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While garda&iacute; are awaiting toxicology results on the pills &mdash; brown tablets known as &lsquo;Double Cross&rsquo; &mdash; they suspect it could be another death linked to powerful amphetamines PMA and PMMA.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Garda&iacute; said three deaths in recent weeks have been connected to these drugs. Another four deaths are also under investigation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;PMA deaths are coming up more and more and in different types of pills,&rdquo; said a garda source. He estimated that the rate of PMA deaths, compared to MDMA deaths, would be roughly 10:1.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Garda sources said they have not seen the brown Double Cross tablets before. The other deaths in recent weeks have been linked to green &lsquo;Rolex&rsquo; and &lsquo;Apple&rsquo; tablets and white &lsquo;Mitsubishi&rsquo; pills.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Donegal death comes as the 2014 report of the EU drugs agency shows Ireland has 70.5 drug deaths per million people. This compares to an EU average of 17.1 per million, just behind Norway (76), which is well behind Estonia (191).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In contrast, the UK has a drug-death rate of 38 per million, Belgium 17, the Netherlands 10 and France 7, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Suzi Lyons of the Health Research Board said Ireland&rsquo;s system was &ldquo;seen as the gold standard in Europe&rdquo; in terms of its accuracy and comprehensive nature and that this &ldquo;could be one reason we feature so high on the list&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Donegal death follows three confirmed deaths in the past two months to PMA/PMMA: A 16-year-old boy in Waterford on Monday; a 26-year-old woman in Tullamore, Co Offaly, in April; and a 23-year-old man in Youghal in March.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ireland-has-third-highest-drug-related-fatalities-270148.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ireland-has-third-highest-drug-related-fatalities-270148.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-28 10:18:13',NULL,'ireland-has-third-highest-drug-related-fatalities'),(550,'Anorexic woman who weighs four stone to be fed against her will','<p>\r\n	A young woman weighing about 27kg (4.3 stone) due to severe anorexia nervosa is to be fed through a tube against her wishes, the High Court has ruled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The order also provides for the placing of &quot;mittens&quot; on her hands to prevent her pulling out the tube.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She was at &quot;grave risk&quot; of malnutrition and irreversible liver damage, the court was told.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Doctors treating the 26-year-old woman, who has suffered from eating disorders since the age of 12, believe the feeding treatment is vital to safeguard her life and health and to ensure she is taken out of &quot;grave danger&quot;, the President of the High Court was told.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As a result of her anorexia, her treating psychiatrist believes she does not have the necessary mental capacity to recognise the seriousness of the position and make appropriate decisions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The woman did not accept she would die if she refused further nutrition leading to weight restoration, insisted she did not need to gain further weight and believed doctors were trying to overfeed her, the court heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She has already suffered liver function abnormalities and her weight has dropped to as low as 24.2kg (3.8 stone).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While now taking in about 800-900 calories a day, she needs an intake of between 1,600 to 1,800 to achieve weight gain, one of her treating doctors said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She would have to reach a weight of 31kg (4.9 stone) and a body mass index (BMI) of more than 13 as a first step towards taking her out of a medical danger zone, he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Strategies</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her BMI on May 19 last was 10.59. While there had been a slight weight gain to about 27kg, strategies could be employed to achieve that, including fluid intake, he indicated.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He considered this case was &quot;at the most severe end&quot; of the scale on anorexia nervosa and other feeding options suggested by the woman, including oral supplements and peg feeding, would not work.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Prior to her hospitalisation in late April as an involuntary patient under the Mental Health Act, she was losing weight at the rate of one kilo a week, said counsel for the HSE, which made the application to tube feed her.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sara McKechnie BL said the application was being made because it was considered in the woman&#39;s best interests. She had had access to all the treatment options available, including in the UK, but &quot;nothing had worked&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her parents have always been actively involved with her and supported the application, Ms McKechnie said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said this sadly was not the first such case to come before him and, given the evidence, he would make the orders sought.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The matter would be subject to regular review, he said, and another psychiatrist is to assess the situation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The orders allow for tube feeding of the woman and whatever other medical procedures are deemed necessary, including the placing of &quot;mittens&quot; on her hands to prevent her pulling out the tube.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The judge was told the father and mother supported the HSE&#39;s application.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/anorexic-woman-who-weighs-four-stone-to-be-fed-against-her-will-30313570.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/anorexic-woman-who-weighs-four-stone-to-be-fed-against-her-will-30313570.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-29 09:08:59',NULL,'anorexic-woman-who-weighs-four-stone-to-be-fed-against-her-will'),(551,'Parents worried about children’s online access but not taking sufficient safety measures — research','<p>\r\n	More than half of parents have not put any protections in place to protect their children from accessing harmful or inappropriate material online.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Research by the iReach Group presented yesterday showed that while 80% of parents are concerned about what their children may access online, just 40% have active house rules to counteract those threats.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The same research indicates 46% of Irish children regularly take and post &ldquo;selfies&rdquo; online, even though 60% of parents disliked the idea.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There is also a growing technology gap between parents and their children, with the latter utilising newer formats including Viber and Instagram.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The research was delivered at an event hosted by the Internet Service Providers&rsquo; Association of Ireland (ISPAI) which included the launch of the annual report by internet safety watchdog Hotline.ie.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The annual report highlighted how an alert passed to Ireland&rsquo;s internet watchdog led to the taking down of illegal child pornography in another country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It was one of the 2,568 alerts received by Hotline.ie last year, with 135 relating to child porn and one linked to child grooming.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The number of alerts &mdash; slightly more than the usual annual average since 2006 &mdash; led to a number of investigations, although just 185 of the reports were deemed to be illegal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, seven cases of child sex abuse material were traced back to Ireland &mdash; the highest-ever annual figure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paul Durrant, chief executive of ISPAI and manager of Hotline.ie, said they were mostly cloud-based and the &ldquo;host&rdquo; was unaware of the nature of the material. Notifications of the seven Irish-based cases came from overseas&rsquo; counterpart organisations of Hotline.ie.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Most child sex abuse material was reported to originate in the US, the Netherlands and Russia, with Hotline.ie contacting authorities in those countries.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last year, 93% of all reported child sexual abuse material was removed from the internet within a week.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Durrant also warned that some images such as selfies can end up in the hands of paedophiles.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One way this can happen is when a recipient of an image on Snapchat takes a screengrab.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the event yesterday, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said: &ldquo;It is vital that reporting structures are in place.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Urging anyone who comes across inappropriate content to report it immediately, she said: &ldquo;It is heartbreaking to note that children in all categories are at risk in this vile online trade.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;On the positive side, it would seem from the report that Irish people are less likely to stumble across illegal material than they were in the past. On the negative side, this may mean that those who provide and those who seek out such material are getting better at concealing it.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said seven reports were traced here and &ldquo;identifying such illegality is the first step to rooting it out&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Hotline stats</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* 2,568 alerts</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* 185 of the alerts deemed illegal</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* One relating to child grooming</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* 47 relating to financial scams</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* 135 relating to child pornography</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	* Two relating to racism and xenophobia</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	*Seven alerts were traced to Ireland</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/parents-worried-about-childrenrsquos-online-access-but-not-taking-sufficient-safety-measures-research-270235.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/parents-worried-about-childrenrsquos-online-access-but-not-taking-sufficient-safety-measures-research-270235.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-29 10:02:56',NULL,'parents-worried-about-children’s-online-access-but-not-taking-sufficient-safety-measures-—-research'),(552,'Children raped, forced to eat faeces in Indian school - police','<p>\r\n	The owner and manager of a children&#39;s boarding school in western India have been arrested after five minors said they were raped, forced to watch pornographic films and act them out with one another, police and charity workers said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The children were made to eat faeces as a punishment if they did not comply.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 52-year-old owner of the Chandraprabha Charitable Trust and his 30-year-old female manager were arrested on Monday after a police raid on the school in Karjat city in Maharashtra state.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We received a police complaint from the Childline charity saying that one child had gone home for the holidays and confessed to his mother that abuses were happening,&quot; Karjat&#39;s Police Inspector R.R. Patil told the Thomson Reuters Foundation late on Thursday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Five children in total have now come forward and we have booked the two suspects under various offences,&quot; he said, adding that these included unnatural sex (sodomy), wrongful confinement and sexual assault.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The school accommodated 28 underprivileged children, aged between 4 and 14, for 10 months of the year, said Patil, but most were on holiday at home at the time of the raid.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Police were trying to find out whether other children were abused and if there were any other suspects.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Anuradha Sahasrabudhe of Childline, a charity supported by the government, said the children had spoken about all kinds of sexual and physical abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It&#39;s a horrific case. The children have been telling us about the sexual abuse going on there. There has been oral sex, there has been forced sex... These things have been photographed,&quot; Saharasabudhe told the NDTV news channel.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Children have been punished by making them eat dog excreta and when they vomited, they were made to eat vomit,&quot; she added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Police say the residential school had been running since 2002, but was not registered and had therefore escaped government inspections by child welfare officials.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Child sexual abuse is disturbingly common in homes, schools, and residential care facilities in India.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Inspection mechanisms for children&#39;s homes, shelters and schools are inadequate and many privately run facilities are not even registered, a February 2013 report by Human Rights Watch said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In May 2012, serious sexual abuse was uncovered at a well-established residential care home for orphans called Apna Ghar (Our Home) in Rohtak on the outskirts of Delhi.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Girls said they were forced to have sex with strangers for money and that they had been abused.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/children-raped-forced-to-eat-faeces-in-indian-school-police-30316469.html\">http://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/children-raped-forced-to-eat-faeces-in-indian-school-police-30316469.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-30 11:14:54',NULL,'children-raped-forced-to-eat-faeces-in-indian-school-police'),(553,'Oireachtas committee says children should have a right to know who their biological parents are','<p>\r\n	Children of surrogate parents, egg and sperm donors and of single parents should have a right to know who their parents are.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	That is the stance of the Oireachtas Justice Committee, which has suggested that a provision for the information be made in the Children and Family Bill.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The recommendations of the committee also include provisions for recognising same-sex adoptions made abroad.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The recommendations say that children should not be denied a legal identity because of some breach of the relevant provisions in the Children and Family Relationships Bill relating to surrogacy arrangements by their parents or prospective parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Committee Chairman David Stanton TD said:<br />\r\n	&ldquo;The wide-ranging nature of the proposals in the Bill reflects the social change experienced by a significant proportion of families and households in Ireland over recent decades, as well as the scientific developments which have taken place in assisted human reproduction.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children&rsquo;s Rights Alliance said that the recommendations were welcome and meant that the bill should be revisited.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The Justice Committee recognises that children born as a result of Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) should have a right to access information concerning their genetic identity. This is a very welcome development as children have a right to their identity and to know their origins.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/kids-should-be-allowed-know-who-biological-parents-are-1492287-May2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/kids-should-be-allowed-know-who-biological-parents-are-1492287-May2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-30 11:17:31',NULL,'oireachtas-committee-says-children-should-have-a-right-to-know-who-their-biological-parents-are'),(554,'Health guide: Ten ways to get your children active','<p>\r\n	Irish children have been given a D-minus for physical exercise in the new report grading youngsters in 15 countries worldwide, but here&#39;s our brilliant guide to help get them moving.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Irish children spend too much time on the couch and too little on their feet, according to a new international report which awarded our little darlings a disappointing D-minus for physical activity. According to a study presented at the Global Summit on Physical Activity of Children in Toronto, the average Irish teenager spends a shocking eight hours of their day sitting down and that&#39;s not including the time spent buried under the duvet.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Younger children are slightly more active, with just over four in 10 primary-school kids doing the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to physical activity every day. But unsurprisingly, the older we get, the lazier we become. So, as the nation edges ever closer to weighing in as among the fattest in the world, what can we do to get the young out and moving about? With the help of some experts, we have devised a list of top 10 tips to encourage children to get more active.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	1. Don&#39;t just work out &ndash; play more.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This advice comes from Dr Catherine Woods, Head of the School of Health and Human Performance in Dublin City University, who was one of three Irish delegates at the Toronto summit. &quot;Play is key because it prevents children from sitting and they are sitting uninterrupted for too long,&quot; says Catherine. Modern life and all its distractions means we have almost forgotten the simple games of our own childhoods &ndash; tip the can, chasing, hide and seek &ndash; all of which involve far more movement than Xbox or Wii.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	2. Leave the car at home &ndash; cycle or walk to school and anywhere else within reach.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Catherine says it is important to get away from the idea that physical activity only takes place in the gym or on the playing pitch.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We need to approach physical activity from different perspectives,&quot; she says. For instance, if exercise is always confined to organised sport, there is often a lot of standing around while coaches demonstrate or offer training advice.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	3. Start young.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This tip comes from psychotherapist Joanna Fortune, who runs the Solamh clinic in Dublin. &quot;There is no point in saying to your 14-year-old that they suddenly need to get off the couch,&quot; she says. &quot;From the get go, parents need to be limiting screen time, that is so important.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Joanna reminds parents that physical activity does not just have a good impact on the child&#39;s body image.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She says there is a growing wealth of literature pointing to the positive mental health benefits of physical activity, both in terms of increased cognitive ability and also better self-esteem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Catherine agrees that exercise not only helps prevent or treat a range of physical conditions but also helps to prevent depression, reduce anxiety and promote a positive self-image.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	4. Make it fun.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Joanna stresses that there is no point insisting that a reluctant pre-teen laces up his/her runners every Saturday and joins the local team event if they really don&#39;t want to do it. Offer them choices such as dance, yoga, Pilates or anything that reduces the amount of time they spend with a gadget in their hands, moving little more than their thumbs and forefingers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	5. Loosen the apron strings.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Catherine suggests that instead of stopping children from climbing trees, exploring or jumping on rocks, we should &quot;give them the authority to make decisions around their own risk&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Modern parents are so worried about potential dangers that they may impose rules which are far more restrictive than the boundaries they faced when they were young. Learn to let go a little and trust your children to know how far to go.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	6. Reduce screen time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Yes, we all know how convenient it can be to sit them down in front of the television or hand them a DS so we can enjoy a little peace and quiet, but Irish kids (or their parents) are over-dependent on electronic devices. Joanna says she frequently hears parents say that their children &quot;only&quot; watch three television shows. &quot;Children&#39;s shows are at least 30 minutes long &ndash; that is a lot of time on screen.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	7. Be spontaneous.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Joanna warns against excessively structured exercise routines as children tend to rebel against them. Instead, she says it is better to try and &quot;catch them unaware&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Head out for a nature walk or get them dancing to a few tunes in the kitchen, she suggests. However, self-conscious teenagers might have some issues with this proposal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	8. Do it yourself.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Children learn best by example and are far more likely to object to heading out the door to their next activity if the person barking the orders is sitting on the couch with a remote in their hand.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Catherine Woods insists that in schools it is important that all the pupils get involved in any activity programmes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She says teachers are great at coming up with innovative ways to get everyone moving such as skipathons or other charity events.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	9. Be clever.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Catherine recommends encouraging older children to help younger ones to get more active. This has a two-fold effect as often it is teenagers who are more likely to give up sport or other activities and it gets them moving, too. &quot;It gets them to re-evaluate what physical activity is about. It&#39;s not just about health but about collaboration and it teaches social and psychological skills as well.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	10. Do it together.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We could all do with moving around more, not just the children. Just about everyone in the family would benefit from an evening game of rounders or a half-hour of &#39;kerbs&#39;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	And your children will love spending some time with you, playing and talking instead of sitting mute around a flickering box.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/health-guide-ten-ways-to-get-your-children-active-30313083.html\">http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/health-guide-ten-ways-to-get-your-children-active-30313083.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-05-30 11:20:18',NULL,'health-guide-ten-ways-to-get-your-children-active'),(555,'Call for inquiry into deaths at Tuam mother-and-baby home','<p>\r\n	Inaction on issue &lsquo;simply not an option for us in Government&rsquo; says junior Minister Ciar&aacute;n Cannon</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Tuam mother-and-baby home scandal has led to a call for &ldquo;an urgent inquiry, including a Garda investigation, into the circumstances surrounding the unexplained deaths of a large number of children&rdquo; there.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Making the call, Minister of State at the Department of Education, East Galway TD Ciar&aacute;n Cannon, said he had spoken to Minister for Justice Frances FitzGerald and Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan on the matter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They have both indicated that they will be meeting with their officials this week and have suggested that a cross-departmental approach will be required to determine what is the best way to move forward on this issue. Doing nothing is simply not an option for us in Government when presented with details of this nature,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said that &ldquo;if a public or state inquiry is not established into outstanding issues of concern surrounding the mother-and-baby homes, then it is important that a social history project be undertaken to get an accurate picture of these homes in our country&rsquo;s history&rdquo;.<br />\r\n	Archbishop Martin also said that &ldquo;where there are reasonable grounds&rdquo; he supports &ldquo;excavating what may be unmarked graves&rdquo; and &ldquo;the setting up of monuments at any unmarked grave sites with, where possible, the names of those who died&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Following research by a local Tuam historian Catherine Corless into the operation of the mother-and-baby home run by the Sisters of Bon Secours congregations there, it emerged that up to 796 children may have died at the home during the period of its operation from 1925 to 1961.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Records at Galway County Council list a very large number of deaths occurring at the home. Details are also emerging of the discovery in the 1970s of a large number of unidentified remains in a water tank close to the home, leading some to conclude that deceased children were disposed of in the tank without a proper burial or any records being kept on their interment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Cannon said: &ldquo;This is turning into a horrific account of maltreatment, neglect and a complete abdication of responsibility for the care of these very vulnerable young children. With each passing day more and more questions emerge - questions which cannot be ignored and need to be answered.&rdquo;<br />\r\n	Representatives of the Sisters of Bon Secours in Ireland are to meet Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary to discuss how best to honour all who died in the home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/call-for-inquiry-into-deaths-at-tuam-mother-and-baby-home-1.1819188\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/call-for-inquiry-into-deaths-at-tuam-mother-and-baby-home-1.1819188</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-04 11:48:57',NULL,'call-for-inquiry-into-deaths-at-tuam-mother-and-baby-home'),(556,'Children in care to have holiday abroad without parental approval, court rules','<p>\r\n	Judge says it is in interests of child to be &lsquo;full member&rsquo; of foster family</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two children in the care of the State will be allowed to travel out of the country on a summer holiday with their foster carers without the permission of their parents, the Dublin District Family Court has ruled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Brendan Toale dispensed with the requirement of parental approval for passports in two separate cases yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The court heard the foster carer of one young child wanted to bring her charge, to whom she is related, on a family holiday abroad, but the girl&rsquo;s mother had refused to sign for a passport.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker said the mother, who did not appear in court, had not seen her child for more than a year, but had said she would not agree to her having a passport. The girl had been in the care of her relative since birth and that she was &ldquo;very well-settled&rdquo;, the social worker said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The child&rsquo;s father, who attended court, said he wanted his daughter to have a holiday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Toale said he was satisfied it was in the best interests of the child to be allowed to be &ldquo;a full member of the family&rdquo; and that included going on holiday. He dispensed with the need for the mother&rsquo;s consent for a passport.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Parental consent<br />\r\n	The judge also dispensed with the need for parental consent for the passport of an infant whose foster carers wanted to bring her and her sister abroad. The girl&rsquo;s older sister already had a passport, but the parents had failed to appear in court to consent for the younger child. There was &ldquo;a pattern of inconsistency and not showing up for court dates&rdquo;, the court heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker said the foster family had not yet booked a holiday as they did not want to go if they could not bring the baby.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The judge said it was in the infant&rsquo;s interests to go on holiday and it was in the interests of the foster carers to be able to plan a holiday on a normal basis.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Separately, the judge directed that specialist private therapy for a recovering alcoholic who hopes to be reunited with her children should be funded by the Child and Family Agency. He also extended the interim care order for her children.<br />\r\n	The solicitor for the mother said her client had understood that if she remained sober, she could expect to have her children back.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said her client had &ldquo;done everything that had been asked of her&rdquo; including attending addiction services, remaining sober and getting a part-time job. She had also agreed to attend specialist therapy recommended by a parental capacity assessor, but the therapy had not yet been started.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The assessor told the court the mother was performing well in terms of abstinence, but was not ready to take &ldquo;full responsibility for her children&rdquo;. The mother needed the specialist therapy so she could develop the ability to emotionally engage with her children at a &ldquo;consistent and appropriate level&rdquo;, the assessor said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A solicitor for the agency said a private therapist had been identified, but funding had not yet been approved. Waiting lists for the therapy within its own service were six months.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/children-in-care-to-have-holiday-abroad-without-parental-approval-court-rules-1.1819473\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/children-in-care-to-have-holiday-abroad-without-parental-approval-court-rules-1.1819473</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-04 11:50:59',NULL,'children-in-care-to-have-holiday-abroad-without-parental-approval-court-rules'),(557,'Two patients leave psychiatric unit and take their own lives within days','<p>\r\n	It is believed that in both cases, the people signed themselves out of hospital.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The HSE has declined to comment on two cases in a regional psychiatric unit that saw patients leave days before taking their own lives.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The two cases occurred within the last two months at a regional psychiatric ward in the west of the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In one case, a man took his own life within 24 hours of leaving the unit and in another a 25-year-old woman died by suicide within two days of leaving the same unit.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sources indicate that both people had a history of mental health issues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A number of people who work in the mental health sector told TheJournal.ie that there is strong anecdotal evidence that the cases are being repeated across the country, but others suggest that the law makes it difficult for hospitals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Unless a person is obviously a danger to themselves or others, we can&rsquo;t hold them,&rdquo; said one hospital worker who didn&rsquo;t wish to be named.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;That puts us in a big bind, because we can&rsquo;t hold adults against their will forever.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Concern was raised by families in similar situations. Conor McNally, whose cousin Glen took his own life shortly after leaving a Dublin hospital.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In Galway, Fianna F&aacute;il TD Colm Keaveney has raised concerns about the safety of patients in University Hospital Galway, after a patient died while in care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the cases in the west, both people checked themselves out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One source from the mental health area says that they have sympathy for hospitals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The hospitals are under huge pressure and patients can&rsquo;t be held onto, but something has to be done.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The HSE says that it cannot comment on individual cases. The executive also declined to comment on the larger scale issue of provision of services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Helplines:<br />\r\n	Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org<br />\r\n	Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634<br />\r\n	Console 1800 201 890<br />\r\n	Aware 1890 303 302<br />\r\n	Pieta House 01 601 0000 or email mary@pieta.ie<br />\r\n	Childline 1800 66 66 66</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/people-leave-unit-suicide-days-later-1497153-Jun2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/people-leave-unit-suicide-days-later-1497153-Jun2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-04 11:55:37',NULL,'two-patients-leave-psychiatric-unit-and-take-their-own-lives-within-days'),(558,'Domestic violence leaving women & children homeless','<p>\r\n	A study by SAFE Ireland has found that on one day last year 700 women and children were homeless or at risk of homelessness because their homes were not safe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking on RT&Eacute;&#39;s Morning Ireland SAFE Ireland&#39;s Chief Executive Sharon O&#39;Halloran described the number of women who are trying to access their services as shocking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms O&#39;Halloran was speaking as figures from a census carried out by the organisation, which represents frontline domestic services, found that 467 women and 229 children were homeless or risk of homelessness because their homes were not safe in the course of just one day last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The figures are the result of a census carried out by SAFE Ireland on 5 November 2013 when on the day 115 women and 155 children were accommodated in refuges.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A further 16 women could not be admitted because there was not enough space and 24 women were pregnant.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Over the 24 hours, there were 109 helpline calls &ndash; nearly five calls an hour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms O&#39;Halloran said around 70% of Irish women who experience domestic violence are not reporting it to authorities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms O&rsquo;Halloran said: &quot;There&#39;s a new EU-wide study that has been carried out recently and what it is saying is 70% of Irish women who experience serious violence do not tell anybody.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;So we are dealing with severe under-reporting in this country so our figures really are just the tip of the iceberg.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0610/622757-domestic-violence-leaving-women-children-homeless/\">http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0610/622757-domestic-violence-leaving-women-children-homeless/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-10 04:00:00',NULL,'domestic-violence-leaving-women-children-homeless'),(559,'Flanagan to tell Cabinet full inquiry on homes now likely','<p>\r\n	Preliminary briefing on high mortality rates, burial practices, forced adoptions</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan will today brief his Cabinet colleagues on progress in a scoping examination of high mortality rates, burial practices, forced adoptions and other issues in mother and baby homes in the State.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Flanagan ordered the preliminary exercise following disclosures that almost 800 infants and young children had died in the Bon Secours home in Tuam between 1925 and 1961.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	During the course of the update at today&rsquo;s Cabinet meeting, Mr Flanagan is expected to tell ministerial colleagues that a full inquiry is likely to be held into the homes, a number of which continued into the 1970s and 1980s. State agencies are in the process of collecting information.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Inevitable<br />\r\n	A source with knowledge of the process said last night that a full inquiry now seems all but inevitable, not only into the Tuam home but into all such homes throughout the State.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Later today in the D&aacute;il, a Sinn F&eacute;in motion will call on the Government to initiate an independent judicial inquiry into the homes with immediate effect.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The private members&rsquo; motion, calling for the inquiry to be established before the D&aacute;il summer recess, is expected to be supported by Fianna F&aacute;il but a decision will not be made until the party&rsquo;s frontbench meets today. A Government source said a counter motion would be tabled.<br />\r\n	Minister for Education Ruair&iacute; Quinn yesterday said that he &ldquo;broadly&rdquo; supported comments made by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who said it was important that any investigation into mother and baby homes was independent and separate from the Catholic church, the State or other organisations involved.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His Cabinet colleague Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said he believed &ldquo;a statutory inquiry may well be necessary&rdquo;, but he said &ldquo;a scoping exercise to figure out all the facts&rdquo; should be carried out first as there were conflicting reports about the homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Pressure has been mounting on the Government to announce an independent inquiry since records uncovered by historian Catherine Corless showed almost 800 children died at a home in Tuam, Co Galway run by the Bon Secours order between 1925 and 1961 became publicised.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Historical review<br />\r\n	An interdepartmental historical review of mother and baby homes has started and Mr Flanagan said its work should be completed by the end of the month. A Garda scoping exercise is also under way.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two local TDs yesterday reiterated their support for an inquiry. Minister of State Ciar&aacute;n Cannon (Fine Gael) said it was important to hold inquiries to give recognition and validation to those forgotten children and mothers. His Galway East colleague Colm Keaveney of Fianna F&aacute;il said a full trawl was needed through all available databases, ledgers and records to establish the facts to the fullest extent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Quinn said an investigation into the homes could not be the same as those into child abuse such as the Ryan report, as the previous inquiries could gather testimony from survivors.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said the facts about the homes should be brought together in a &ldquo;coherent&rdquo; form, as some of the headlines printed internationally were &ldquo;quite horrendous and gave a very mistaken impression of what actually happened&rdquo;. &ldquo;I have read much of the stuff over the weekend that is now in the public domain and it is quite different to what in fact the banner headlines were suggesting when this story first broke.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/flanagan-to-tell-cabinet-full-inquiry-on-homes-now-likely-1.1826399</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-10 09:40:56',NULL,'flanagan-to-tell-cabinet-full-inquiry-on-homes-now-likely'),(560,'The State still treats people as subhuman','<p>\r\n	Opinion: we can&rsquo;t claim ignorance of asylum seekers in direct provision</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I&rsquo;m sure I&rsquo;m not the only one who, upon seeing the dramatic splash screaming &ldquo;800 BABIES&rdquo; in the Irish Daily Mail, stared at it incredulously. It took days for it to sink in, as I tried to find out more. I think it&rsquo;s a version of this personal process that unfolded as a collective, national one.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Journalists who stuttered on this &ldquo;story&rdquo; will contextualise it on a news agenda that was coming out the other side of a rollicking election, and the implosion of the Labour Party leadership. The news came from an unfamiliar source, a local historian compiling research. The initial break came in a local newspaper, not a blockbuster Prime Time or an Irish Times front page.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It all happened so long ago. The facts were scant. They were allegations. Tread softly, I&rsquo;d imagine news editors thought, because this seems so big &ndash; surely we would have known about it before? We still don&rsquo;t know all of the facts, but we know the context. We all know by osmosis the horrors committed in this State. It&rsquo;s oral history. We all heard our parents talk about dodgy priests, creepy buildings at the top of the town and babies not deserving of burial in consecrated ground, its soil fertilised with hypocrisy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;A different time&rsquo;<br />\r\n	The temptation is to say that was then and this is now. That it was a &ldquo;different time&rdquo;. And if we&rsquo;re being honest, we have to hold a certain amount of sympathy for that narrative. Ireland is emerging from a sociopolitical structure that was theocratic. The bowed heads, the women smuggled into big buildings with slamming doors, the muttered prayers, the screams of labour, the dying cries of children, the chugging of rented cars from Americans buying babies. The silent, devious cruelty of nuns and priests emboldened by an even more deafening silence of a public, police and politics visibly guided by a hand of God with dirt under its fingernails.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We recognise this old Ireland because it&rsquo;s not just in the past, it&rsquo;s just beneath the surface. Its echoes are in the baritone verdicts of judges who allow rapists to pay their way out of custodial sentences. Its echoes are in the tannoy systems at airport departure gates as pregnant women, fumbling with their boarding cards, make the journey to the UK for an abortion because our own State won&rsquo;t afford them the rights to their own bodies and their own reproductive choices. All of this is about sexual shame and blame, condemning women. We haven&rsquo;t got over that yet.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Visceral reaction<br />\r\n	I&rsquo;m not one for quoting Donald Rumsfeld, but we should be careful about the visceral nature of our reaction to these &ldquo;unknown knowns&rdquo; about children and babies and mass graves. Part of our reaction is an empowered one that wants to confront the past head-on in a way our parents and grandparents didn&rsquo;t, to solve it, to do justice and thus to free ourselves from it, so our shame won&rsquo;t be inherited any more. But another part of that amplified reaction also denies us the perspective of now.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While the Archdiocese of Tuam shies away from knowledge in this instance, and while the Bon Secours nuns recruit the services of a public relations firm, and while politicians actually take the lead in calling for both State and Garda inquiries, we have transferred one past version of cruelty driven by religious dogma and sexism, to a present version driven by othering and &ndash; there&rsquo;s no getting around this &ndash; racism.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Direct provision, the Orwellian term for institutions where asylum seekers are contained, is cruel and unfair. It denies people respect and freedom, and it needs to end. At the National Women&rsquo;s Council agm on Friday, I met a young woman campaigning for the eradication of direct provision, &ldquo;In 10 years&rsquo; time some taoiseach is going to stand up and apologise for direct provision,&rdquo; she said as we chatted outside. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want an apology then. We want action now.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We know about the present<br />\r\n	The excuse for the past was that it was a different time and that &ldquo;no one really knew&rdquo;. Well this is the present, and we bloody well do know about the injustice of direct provision. In Ireland 4,278 asylum seekers live in direct provision centres, of whom 1,590 are children. Could you live on &euro;19.10 a week? Could your children live on &euro;9.60 a week? What if you were not allowed cook or have food in your own rooms? What if you were prohibited from working? What if you had no voice? We are treating those in direct provision, people just like us but born in other parts of the world, as subhuman.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	We should ask ourselves: how on Earth can we collude in such a system through silence, when we know well the crippling shame that our old State and religious institutions brought on this country? If the past is prologue, then surely it&rsquo;s not just about coming to terms with it. It&rsquo;s not just about freeing ourselves from it so we can do justice, forgive and move on. It&rsquo;s about learning from it, and acting on it right now.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/the-state-still-treats-people-as-subhuman-1.1825106?page=2\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/the-state-still-treats-people-as-subhuman-1.1825106?page=2</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-10 09:48:50',NULL,'the-state-still-treats-people-as-subhuman'),(561,'Children’s Minister announces Commission of Inquiry with full statutory powers into all mother and baby homes','<p>\r\n	Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan has announced a Commission of Inquiry with full statutory powers into all mother and baby homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister Flanagan said the investigation would establish the truth about what happened in all mother and baby homes across the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He hoped the inquiry would also investigate allegations of forced adoption and controversial vaccine trials carried out on children without their mother&rsquo;s permission.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It is my hope and determination that all these issues are dealt with in a way that is comprehensive,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The move follows weeks of controversy after the discovery of an alleged mass grave containing the remains of almost 800 babies in Tuam, Co Galway.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Flanagan said he was hoping the commission would have cross-party support.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking to RTE Radio One he said: &ldquo;I will be actively seeking consensus from across the political spectrum.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Fianna Fail children&rsquo;s spokesman Robert Troy welcomed the Commission of Inquiry and said it should be &ldquo;above party politics&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Troy said women who were residents in State homes &ldquo;have nothing to be ashamed of&rdquo; and their right to anonymity should be respected should they come forward to speak with an inquiry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Adoption Rights Alliance co-founder Susan Lohan also welcomed the Commission of Inquiry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;On the face of it, it&rsquo;s certainly looking good,&rdquo; she told RTE Radio 1.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We are particularly interested in forced adoptions and illegal adoptions. The timeliness and the scope are the two most important things here.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The terms of reference of the inquiry will be determined by an inter-departmental review which will report to Cabinet by June 30.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/childrens-minister-announces-commission-of-inquiry-with-full-statutory-powers-into-all-mother-and-baby-homes-30343251.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/childrens-minister-announces-commission-of-inquiry-with-full-statutory-powers-into-all-mother-and-baby-homes-30343251.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-10 13:48:09',NULL,'children’s-minister-announces-commission-of-inquiry-with-full-statutory-powers-into-all-mother-and-baby-homes'),(562,'Mum of toddler found with beer had multiple convictions','<p>\r\n	A mother with 25 previous convictions has been jailed after her toddler son was found smelling of alcohol while clutching an open can of beer.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 25-year-old woman was jailed for eight months for child cruelty and a further five months for possessing a flick-knife that was concealed in her bra.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In June last year gardai found her two-year-old son sitting in a wet nappy, with a six-pack of beer between his legs and complaining of being hungry, after stopping a car at 11.45pm going the wrong way up a one-way street in a popular seaside town. Listowel District Court sitting heard the child was wearing only shorts and socks and was visibly sunburnt.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mother admitted all charges and apologised for what happened in Ballybunion, Co Kerry, last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai said the four adults in the car were all drunk, with the mother in the front passenger seat and the young boy in the back.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Supt Willie Leahy said there was a smell of urine from the toddler and it was clear his nappy had not been changed for some time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When officers searched the mother they uncovered a flick-knife concealed in her bra.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Solicitor Pat Enright said that while his client was pleading guilty to all charges and admitted she was intoxicated, she disputed that the child was drinking beer and argued that one person in the car was sober.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said that since being jailed on the other matters, the young mother has been free from drugs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Enright added that his client asked to express her apologies and regret for &quot;getting involved in a situation she had no control over&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge James O&#39;Connor sentenced the woman to eight months in prison for child cruelty under Section 246 of the Children&#39;s Act 2001 and five months for possession of a knife with intent to cause injury.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her previous convictions included robbery, assaulting a garda, theft, possession of a knife and drugs offences.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The woman, who cannot be named but has an address in Limerick city, is currently serving a prison sentence for other charges.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The court heard she hoped to rebuild her relationship with her son, who is now in the care of his grandparents, when she is released from prison.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In March, she was jailed for five months for stealing a woman&#39;s handbag.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	During her arrest, she assaulted two gardai.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Just days before that she received a suspended four-month sentence after she pleaded guilty to possession of a knife inside a courthouse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On the same day she was also jailed for theft while a charge for possessing drugs and other theft offences were taken into account.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She is currently before the courts charged in connection with an alleged public order incident outside her home, resulting from which a female garda was hospitalised.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/mum-of-toddler-found-with-beer-had-multiple-convictions-30348321.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/mum-of-toddler-found-with-beer-had-multiple-convictions-30348321.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-12 10:35:06',NULL,'mum-of-toddler-found-with-beer-had-multiple-convictions'),(563,'House of Horror garda hits out at dated incest law','<p>\r\n	The garda who headed up the most shocking child abuse and neglect case in the history of the State has spoken of his disappointment at the failure to amend legislation which is now more than a century old.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sergeant John Hynes, who is about to retire, spent five years investigating the House of Horrors case which detailed horrific sexual abuse and neglect by the parents of six vulnerable children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It was absolutely frightening what was done to them. The neglect and cruelty was horrific. There was no heat, food or proper clothing in a rat-infested house and drink was the order of the day &ndash; every day,&quot; Sgt Hynes said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mother was charged and convicted under Section Two of the 1908 Punishment of Incest Act which carries a maximum sentence of seven years. But Section One of the same act provides for a life sentence for a man convicted of the same incest offence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sgt Hynes said he met former Justice Minister Alan Shatter in 2011 and was given an assurance that the minister was already looking at introducing a new sex offenders act which would bring parity to the sentences.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The mother was convicted in 2009 and even the late Judge Miriam Reynolds who sentenced her made the same point about how outdated the law was for women convicted of incest.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The act is now 106 years old and it is very disappointing that nothing has been done about it &ndash; that mother is out of jail now having done her sentence and nothing has changed.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mother, now 45, was sentenced in January 2009 to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to 10 charges &ndash; including two of incest, two of sexual abuse and six of neglect and wilful ill-treatment and neglect of the children between 1998 and 2004.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She described herself as the &quot;worst mother in the world&quot; after a court heard a harrowing catalogue of abuse, including forcing her 13-year-old son to have sex with her.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She was the first woman in Irish legal history to be convicted of incest and the first to be registered as a sex offender. She was released from prison six weeks ago after receiving the usual one-quarter remission of her sentence for good behaviour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her husband was jailed for 12 and a half years for the rape and sexual assault of one of his sons.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As well as making history with the first conviction of a woman for incest, Sgt Hynes was also the lead investigator in the country&#39;s first internet libel prosecution in 2001. He received the National Garda Excellence Award in 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He has been investigating serious sex offences since 1998 and regards the House of Horrors case as the one that will always stand out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It appalled the nation and led to the Gibbons Inquiry. Even today when I meet people they associate me with the case, but you would not be normal if you weren&#39;t affected by it,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sgt Hynes will retire next month after a lengthy career which saw him serve in the National Drugs Unit at Kevin Street in Dublin, Keadue, Co Roscommon, and for the last 20 years in Castlerea.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/house-of-horror-garda-hits-out-at-dated-incest-law-30344982.html</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-12 10:36:54',NULL,'house-of-horror-garda-hits-out-at-dated-incest-law'),(564,'Having Asperger\'s is like living in a world not built for you','<p>\r\n	I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum, at the age of five. Those of us with Asperger&#39;s are of average, and even above average, intelligence but can struggle with social interaction, social imagination, sensory processing, hyperactivity and often have other other learning difficulties.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A hallmark of the condition is a specific interest. Generally people with Asperger Syndrome have a particular area of interest &ndash; it might be a particular academic subject, a genre of television or a sport &ndash; and many of us will be experts in our area of interest. Expertise is something society needs now more than ever, no? I often describe to people who don&#39;t have personal experience of Asperger&#39;s or autism that it is like being put on a space shuttle and sent somewhere several galaxies away. You are living in a world not built for you, surrounded by people and a society you want to socialise with and contribute to but don&#39;t necessarily know how to, and as a result life can be difficult.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	With the proper support, people with the condition can go on to live normal lives, reach their personal potential and achieve the level of independence they are capable of. However, due to a lack of awareness around the specific needs of people with the condition and by virtue of it being an &quot;invisible condition&quot;, many with Asperger Syndrome are labelled as &quot;odd&quot; or &quot;weird&quot; and are frequently the target of bullying at some point in their life. When school, and the various safety nets and supports that go with it, ends, often problems such as unemployment or social isolation can ensue and in recent years this has been proven to have a very negative impact on the mental health of those with the condition.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	I was very fortunate to benefit from early intervention and as a result am able to live a very &quot;normal&quot; (whatever that is!) life today. When I was 16 I decided I owed a debt to the autism community and for the past three years have had the pleasure of sharing my experiences with others and challenging society to rethink how it views autism through an organisation I founded, AsIAm.ie.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The people with autism I meet are not victims. They do not wallow in the self-pity society seems to feel they should; instead they are people living with disABILITIES. Every single person I have met, all with a wide range of abilities and living with various different degrees of challenges, has something to give to society. Many with Asperger&#39;s even hold several post-graduate degrees and yet might struggle to find a job because their specific needs or way of doing things is not truly understood.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Thankfully, things are slowly changing. In 2006, Professor Michael Fitzgerald wrote a book &#39;Unstoppable Brilliance&#39; where he made a convincing case that many of our great geniuses, from president Eamon de Valera to Nobel prize-winners WB Yeats and Samuel Beckett, may well have been diagnosed with the condition if they were alive today. While society would be quick to think they were geniuses who had Asperger&#39;s, they were in fact geniuses because of their condition. However, having these few figures in history in and of itself is not enough. Many self-advocates adopt the line &quot;Not weird, just wired differently&quot;. Traditional thought and prevailing behaviours and viewpoints are important in providing stability but if everyone held them our society would never have advanced! Indeed, it is the very action of the outsider who thinks differently, which creates inventions, changes accepted dogmas and pushes us forward as a society.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While the &quot;Asperger&#39;s geniuses&quot; may be important poster boys and girls for our movement, they are being followed by many thousands of unrecognisable names. We live in the &quot;computer age&quot; and it has been widely reported the important role people with autism are playing in these companies &ndash; their focus on one area, their commitment to the task, their ability to recognise patterns is driving companies where being &quot;a little different&quot; is the order of the day. While not every person with Asperger&#39;s or autism is a genius, neither are the majority of the neurotypical population and yet this population is able to hold down jobs, have families and fully participate in society. Why not every person with autism and every other disability too? Regardless of how great the disability, just by being a person and being alive everyone has something to contribute. As we move towards our second century of independence, we must challenge ourselves with a key questions: &quot;Where does the disability a person is born with stop, and the disability a society brings to those who are different begin?&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Friendship, relationship, employment, equal opportunities &ndash; these are things we should all be able to aspire to and these are things so many with autism can achieve if we take the time to learn about the challenges people with the condition face, build supports for these challenges and, most crucially, look at the person behind the label.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Adam Harris is founder of AsIAm.ie</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/having-aspergers-is-like-living-in-a-world-not-built-for-you-30348481.html\">http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/having-aspergers-is-like-living-in-a-world-not-built-for-you-30348481.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-12 10:47:40',NULL,'having-aspergers-is-like-living-in-a-world-not-built-for-you'),(565,'They banged on my door and shouted \'nigger\'','<p>\r\n	A foreign taxi driver is planning to leave the country after a terrifying and racially motivated petrol bomb attack on his home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Happy Agamah (63), who is a German citizen, was asleep in his ground floor apartment home in Rathfarnham, south Dublin, when thugs set fire to a fuel-soaked mattress and smashed his bedroom window. A shed outside his window caught fire and was destroyed in the blaze.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said he is lucky to be alive after the attack and is now planning to return to Germany, where he grew up and spent 47 years of his life and worked as an engineer.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Agamah told the Sunday Independent: &quot;I never experienced anything like this in Germany. I was in the bedroom when they set fire to the mattress. I have had many incidents since coming here. They have banged on my door at night and shout &#39;come out nigger ... you niggers come here to take our jobs.&#39;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;There were three or four of them on Sunday night. The guards came, but they did not take any statement from me. When my car was damaged they took no statement.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;There was an incident when there was a girl lying unconscious on the pavement. She was drunk and these men asked me to lift her up but I said they should call an ambulance. They attacked me and after that they smashed my car. They called me a nigger bastard and say &#39;get out of our country&#39;.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A neighbour in the Glenmore Estate said the attacks are part of a racially motivated campaign against Mr Agamah. There were three attacks on Mr Agamah&#39;s home last Sunday night and early Monday morning when the blaze was started.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The first took place around 11pm on Sunday when a man attempted to set another fire in a plastic paint container and smashed the back door to the corridor outside his apartment. Gardai were alerted to that but left shortly after arriving, according to one neighbour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There was a second incident with more damage done to the apartment just before 1am on Monday and gardai were again called to the scene by neighbours.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An hour after the gardai left for the second time the fire was started and the fire brigade had to be called as neighbours feared it would spread to the apartment building.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The attempt to burn Mr Agamah&#39;s apartment in the Glenmore estate was the latest in a series of racially motivated incidents against the taxi driver.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two months ago his Mercedes car was badly damaged and an attempt was made to smash in his front door with a hammer.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Agamah, who grew up and lived in Hamburg for 47 years, worked for Daimler Chrysler, but came to Dublin after being laid off at a time when the car industry was in recession. He found an engineering job here with a US firm, part of the IBM group.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His contract ended just as the recession struck in 2008 and he could find no other engineering work so began driving a taxi.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said he preferred to work as he does not like the idea of living on social welfare.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A neighbour, who asked not to be identified, told the Sunday Independent: &quot;I called the guards three times on Sunday night. The flames from the fire were shooting up to the roof. We were afraid it could get in under the eaves and spread across the roof space. People could have been killed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;This shouldn&#39;t happen to anyone. It&#39;s horrible. The guards didn&#39;t ask me for a statement. I was outside. They didn&#39;t ask for my contact details.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Agamah said he has experienced repeated instan-ces of racism in his work driving a taxi and stopped picking up fares in central Dublin after he was attacked and beaten up on the Liffey Quays two years ago. He works mainly in the suburbs now.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Garda Press office said gardai from Rathfarnham station are investigating the incident and arrested a 36-year-old woman who was released after questioning. They said investigations are &quot;ongoing&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/they-banged-on-my-door-and-shouted-nigger-30354932.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/they-banged-on-my-door-and-shouted-nigger-30354932.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-16 09:09:40',NULL,'they-banged-on-my-door-and-shouted-nigger'),(566,'Call to extend mother and baby homes inquiry to mental homes','<p>\r\n	About 33,000 patients died in psychiatric hospitals between late 1920s and early 1960s</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Campaigners say an inquiry into mother and baby homes should be widened to include mental hospitals following further controversy over high death rates, unmarked graves and allegations of patient mistreatment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Research shows that 33,000 patients died in overcrowded and disease-ridden psychiatric hospitals between the late 1920s and early 1960s, with death rates significantly higher than in the general community.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The State also had the highest rate of admissions to mental hospitals recorded anywhere in the world at the time, peaking in the late 1950s, when more than 20,000 people were resident in these institutions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mind Freedom Ireland, which campaigns for the rights of psychiatric patients, said the proposed inquiry should examine the role of mental hospitals in wrongfully detaining healthy individuals.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The inquiry should include the sub-human treatment of people in psychiatric institutions . . . including involuntary detention, seclusion, four-point restraint and forced treatment including the administration of electroshock against a person&rsquo;s will,&rdquo; said the group.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Eoin O&rsquo;Sullivan, associate professor in social policy at Trinity College Dublin, said there was merit in examining what happened in psychiatric hospitals, given the role they played as part of Ireland&rsquo;s system of &ldquo;coercive confinement&rdquo;.<br />\r\n	&ldquo;There is a need to look at the wide range of other institutions which operated to confine and regulate unwanted people,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Social dumping grounds<br />\r\n	He said many patients did not have a mental illness, but ended up in social dumping grounds for those who did not &ldquo;fit in&rdquo;, often due to disability, addiction or tension within families.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Prof Brendan Kelly, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin, said it was important to note key differences between the way mental hospitals and mother and baby homes were run.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	There were annual State inspections of the psychiatric system &ndash; with reports made publicly available &ndash; while many of the old hospitals were well integrated into the community.<br />\r\n	Prof Kelly said it was also important to bear in mind the historical context in which care decisions took place.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Families in many cases opted not to take patients home because they could not care for a mentally ill or disabled person in their home, he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;That is not to say these people should have been institutionalised for as long as they were or at all . . . but sometimes the only option the State offered was custodial care,&rdquo; said Prof Kelly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/call-to-extend-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-to-mental-homes-1.1833367\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/call-to-extend-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-to-mental-homes-1.1833367</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-16 09:12:15',NULL,'call-to-extend-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-to-mental-homes'),(567,'Four nurses censured for inadequate level of patient care','<p>\r\n	Another nurse struck off for being an alcoholic</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Four nurses have been censured for failing to provide an adequate level of care for patients, while another has been struck off for being an alcoholic.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They were censured by the fitness-to-practise committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for offences including hitting a patient, handling a patient&rsquo;s money inappropriately, scalding a patient and failing to wash a patient.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Natalie O&rsquo;Riordan (Landers) had her name erased from the nurses&rsquo; register for professional misconduct and unfitness to engage in the practice of nursing by reason of physical or mental disability.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The committee found that between 2004 and 2011 Ms O&rsquo;Riordan failed to engage with the occupational health department of her hospital in circumstances where she had agreed to ongoing referral and monitoring. She failed to provide urine and blood samples and failed to attend scheduled appointments, it was found.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Absent<br />\r\n	On two dates in 2008 and 2010 she failed to turn up when rostered, left work early without notification on a day in 2007 and failed to provide medical certificates when absent for a six-week period in 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The committee, whose decision was confirmed by the High Court last March, ruled that Ms O&rsquo;Riordan &ldquo;suffers from an addiction to alcohol&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Lelia Young was found guilty of professional misconduct and censured after she scalded a resident of a nursing home while trying to disconnect a feeding tube in March 2007. The committee ruled that she failed to provide an adequate level of care; failed to notify a doctor to attend the patient in a timely manner; and failed to notify the resident&rsquo;s family of any deterioration in her condition.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Aileen Fong Dacalos Sumalinog was censured for inappropriately accepting a &euro;2,500 cheque from &ldquo;Ms X&rdquo; in 2010 while employed as a nurse in a care centre.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Inappropriate<br />\r\n	She borrowed the money but failed to inform her director of care of the arrangement, it was found. The committee found that she lodged and/or cashed the cheque when she knew this was inappropriate and failed to act in the best interests of Ms X.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gabrielle Anne Rowley was censured striking a person across the face and pulling her hair in October 2006.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Julia Mary Whyte was censured for failing to care adequately for patients in a hospital in 2011. She inappropriately helped a patient use a hoist with help from another staff member, failed to clean the patient and placed her safety at risk.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/four-nurses-censured-for-inadequate-level-of-patient-care-1.1833171\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/four-nurses-censured-for-inadequate-level-of-patient-care-1.1833171</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-16 09:14:20',NULL,'four-nurses-censured-for-inadequate-level-of-patient-care'),(568,'County homes took harsh toll on ‘unmarried mothers’','<p>\r\n	Hard unpaid labour was part of the price mothers paid for basic shelter for themselves and their babies</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 1925, the medical officer of the Kerry County Home recommended 22 of the institution&rsquo;s &ldquo;unmarried mothers&rdquo; receive two extra eggs daily because they were &ldquo;required to perform work of an objectionable nature&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When the department of local government and public health inquired further, the religious matron of the home, Sr Gerard, described the women&rsquo;s harsh work regimes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She informed the department there were no paid ward maids and the women were &ldquo;engaged from 12 to 14 hours&rdquo; in labour every day. The institution housed up to 400 patients: the majority were elderly and those suffering from long-term chronic sickness, mental illness and intellectual disabilities, and in need of frequent care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In turn, the &ldquo;unmarried mothers&rdquo; carried out much of the manual labour in the home including cleaning, washing and laundry. The matron highlighted that much of this work was &ldquo;so filthy and unhealthy&rdquo; it was &ldquo;almost inhuman&rdquo; &ndash; particularly as the institution had no laundry machine and many of the patients were incontinent &ndash; and that some of the women were &ldquo;almost physical wrecks&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Stricter regimes<br />\r\n	County homes were multifunctional healthcare and welfare institutions. These differed in many ways from mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries, where disciplinary regimes were far stricter and based on redemptive morality.<br />\r\n	Mother and baby homes such as Bessborough in Cork city were designed for women with one &ldquo;illegitimate&rdquo; child &ndash; or &ldquo;first offenders&rdquo; &ndash; who were often considered &ldquo;hopeless cases&rdquo; whose moral character could be redeemed. Many of the women in county homes had more than one &ldquo;illegitimate&rdquo; child. These were&ldquo;repeat offenders&rdquo; and subjected to the harshest attitudes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Although the 1927 Poor Law Commission recommended that such &ldquo;degraded cases&rdquo; be fully removed from county homes and placed in a new network of institutions for &ldquo;repeat offenders&rdquo;, financially straitened local authorities were unwilling to invest in separate institutions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	So large numbers of &ldquo;unmarried&rdquo; mothers and children remained in county homes despite the protestations of many, including the matron of the Kerry home. On March 31st, 1943, there were 583 &ldquo;unmarried women&rdquo; in 31 county homes in Ireland, compared to 352 in the three mother and baby homes run by the Order of the Sacred Heart &ndash; Bessborough in Cork City, Sean Ross in Roscrea and Manor Home in Castlepollard &ndash; and 201 in Tuam and Pelletstown combined.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Menial work<br />\r\n	Problematically, these women continued to carry out much of the menial work in the homes, and their unpaid labour helped to keep the the local rates down: this was legal under the public assistance laws.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	By 1949, the interdepartmental commission into county homes commented on how unmarried women did in a &ldquo;large part the hard domestic work&rdquo; of such institutions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A combination of government inertia, parsimonious ratepayers and the wider social environment that gave unmarried mothers limited options ensured these women remained in county homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Furthermore, county homes were interconnected with mother and baby homes, Magdalene asylums and voluntary-run institutions and women were often transferred between these institutions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	County homes also housed a large number of children, many of whom were sent to industrial schools or more commonly boarded out in what was an early fostering service.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On March 31st, 1943, 2,330 children were boarded out by local authorities, 1,425 children were in local authority institutions &ndash; primarily county homes &ndash; and 685 were in external voluntary institutions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While boarded-out children were the focus of local and central government inspection, criticisms were prevalent that they were often used for domestic service and as agricultural labourers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	All aspects<br />\r\n	While today&rsquo;s Government decides on the nature of any potential inquiry into mother and baby homes, it is apparent that all aspects of local authority provision for unmarried mothers and children need to be fully considered.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	County homes, a hangover from the workhouse system, were peculiar institutions that housed not just &ldquo;unmarried mothers&rdquo; and children, but large numbers of the &ldquo;aged&rdquo; poor, &ldquo;infirm&rdquo;, mentally ill and intellectually disabled in independent Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On March 31st, 1943, county homes had a population close to 8,000. These were deeply unpopular with the wider population and remained highly stigmatising. Conditions were bare.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Low standards<br />\r\n	One government inspector in 1949 commented on the &ldquo;low standards of comfort and amenities&rdquo; in the wards and believed the atmosphere was one of &ldquo;penury&rdquo;. He also noted that elderly male residents lacked interest in their surroundings and sat in the day room &ldquo;motionless and often silent&rdquo;. The chronic sick were described as &ldquo;apathetic&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan&rsquo;s fear of any potential inquiry descending into a &ldquo;bottomless quagmire&rdquo; is somewhat understandable, much deeper understandings of Ireland&rsquo;s institutional past, complex social history and treatment of the vulnerable in the 20th century are needed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Se&aacute;n Lucey is research fellow (AHRC) at the school of history and anthropology, Queen&rsquo;s University Belfast</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/county-homes-took-harsh-toll-on-unmarried-mothers-1.1835973\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/county-homes-took-harsh-toll-on-unmarried-mothers-1.1835973</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-18 10:51:55',NULL,'county-homes-took-harsh-toll-on-‘unmarried-mothers’'),(569,'\'My brave girl (8) fled from pervert\'','<p>\r\n	Man tried to abduct schoolgirl near home in Wicklow earlier this week</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai and locals in north Wicklow are looking for a man who tried to abduct an eight-year-old girl right outside her family home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last Monday, the little girl was walking to school, which is only a few metres from her family home in Greystones, when a man in a white van pulled up beside her and asked her to get in.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She refused to get in and arrived at school shortly afterwards to tell her teachers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Aside from being a &ldquo;little stressed from all the attention,&rdquo; she is doing well now, her father said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We live 200 yards from the school. The incident occurred alongside it,&quot; he told the Irish Mirror.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Our initial reaction was someone was playing a practical joke but as the phone call progressed we realised it did happen.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;She gave a good description to gardai.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We&#39;re just glad she knew what to do and she is very brave. We are not the story his actions are and it shoul be focused on him.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He thanked both the school and the gardai for their help.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;She&rsquo;s fine. She&rsquo;s from a good and decent family,&rdquo; said neighbour and local Sinn Fein councillor Nicola Lawless.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Greystones gardai are on the ball and they&rsquo;re putting up information around safety since it happened,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The community guards are getting calls in, reporting sightings and they are taking them very seriously,&rdquo; she added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last Monday morning, at approximately 8.40am, a white long-base panel van pulled up alongside the girl in Kenmare Heights in Greystones.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man is described as being in his mid-30s with a British accent and tanned skin. He is of slim build and was wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Friends and locals have had a photo-fit drawn up and it is being circulated online and in the community.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Everyone is very well clued in and in this case social media is a good tool. People have a good idea of what the person possibly could look like,&rdquo; said Ms Lawless.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	VIGILANT</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While parents in the seaside town are not hysterical they are on high alert, explained the councillor.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The primary school is smack bang in the middle of the housing estate and there&rsquo;s also an isolated laneway,&rdquo; she added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She urged people to remain vigilant.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Another neighbour said the little girl was &ldquo;practically outside her own home,&rdquo; when the incident occurred.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai said they are investigating the matter and that no arrests have been made.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/my-brave-girl-8-fled-from-pervert-30367783.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/my-brave-girl-8-fled-from-pervert-30367783.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-19 10:01:16',NULL,'my-brave-girl-8-fled-from-pervert'),(570,'Trainee social worker ‘afraid’ of nuns at Derry care home','<p>\r\n	Termonbacca was &lsquo;not a good place for a child to be,&rsquo; abuse inquiry told</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A trainee social worker at a children&rsquo;s home in Derry run by the Sisters of Nazareth has accused nuns of being regimented and controlling and of resisting new approaches to childcare.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The witness, who cannot be named, told the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry said she volunteered at St Joseph&rsquo;s home Termonbacca when still a teenager before being offered paid work there as a houseparent. She also attended social work training part-time, paid for by the nuns.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She complained of the nuns&rsquo; treatment of the boys in the home, alleging they were &ldquo;roaring at them, shouting at them&rdquo;.<br />\r\n	&ldquo;I was frightened of the nuns myself,&rdquo; she told Christine Smith QC, senior counsel to the inquiry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;They were very forceful, everything had to be tidy and put away. Kids who wet the bed would be demeaned in front of others.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It was put to her that nuns have previously denied these claims, but the witness insisted what she said was true.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She further alleged that if children did not carry out their many chores to the required standard they would be told off and she contradicted nuns&rsquo; claims that the chores were voluntary. There were strict instructions she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Some of these children were very young, aged six,&rdquo; she continued.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said she believed one nun, who cannot be identified, was probably transferred away from Termonbacca because &ldquo;was not good to children and who just wanted to rule the roost&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She supported claims made by a former Termonbacca resident that he tried to run away from the home on three occasions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said there was sexual abuse of the boys at the home and further alleged that Termonbacca was behind other homes she experienced in dealing with this and other aspects of child care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said she never witnessed any inspections nor was ever spoken to by any social worker other than that employed by the Sisters of Nazareth themselves at the home.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It was a very regimented life, as a young girl it was a life I wouldn&rsquo;t have liked. I was frightened of the nuns.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She concluded: &ldquo;There was very little compassion or even kindness shown to those children.&rdquo; She said she often took children to her home and they cried when they had to return.<br />\r\n	Her own mother, in whome she confided, suggested that perhaps it was better she left.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said she cared deeply about the children, &ldquo;It was because of the nuns that I left. I prayed that it would be closed. It wasn&rsquo;t a good place for a child to be.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said she hoped the children who were in the home &ldquo;got justice from the inquiry&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/trainee-social-worker-afraid-of-nuns-at-derry-care-home-1.1803849\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/trainee-social-worker-afraid-of-nuns-at-derry-care-home-1.1803849</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-19 10:05:56',NULL,'trainee-social-worker-‘afraid’-of-nuns-at-derry-care-home'),(571,'Organ donor who died from stairs fall saves five lives','<p>\r\n	A 28-year-old woman who died after tumbling down her stairs while wearing new flip-flops has given the gift of life to five people.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Rosemarie Loughlin&rsquo;s heart went to a 16-year-old boy whose transplant took place in Great Ormonde Street Hospital, London.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Both of her kidneys were transplanted &mdash; one to a 15-year-old boy, the other to a 50-year-old married father with renal failure who had been waiting for five years for a suitable match.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Rosemarie&rsquo;s liver was given to a 68-year-old married man.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her right lung was given to a 59-year-old married man and his transplant took place in the Mater Hospital.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her widower, Brian Loughlin, who found her at the bottom of their stairs last July in their home in Rathcluain, Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, was praised for his selflessness and courage in allowing his wife&rsquo;s organs to be donated.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;You may have lost your wife in tragic circumstances but it must be some consolation for you to know that so many families have benefited from the donation of her organs,&rdquo; coroner John O&rsquo;Dwyer said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Details of the various organ donations were revealed at an inquest in Castlebar into Ms Loughlin&rsquo;s tragic death.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;All five transplant operations were very successful and the patients who were transplanted are well on the road to recovery&rdquo;, Aileen Counihan, transplant co-ordinator at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, explained in a letter to the coroner.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Evidence was given to the inquest that Rosemarie and her husband, who both worked at top pharmaceutical firm Allergan of Westport, had been planning a holiday in Portugal and that on the evening she fell down the stairs, she had been wearing black and blue flip-flops.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She was found by her husband badly injured at the foot of the stairs in the early hours of July 19 last year after he had completed a night shift in Allergan.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a statement read on his behalf to the inquest, Mr Loughlin said his wife was unconscious and bleeding when he found her at the bottom of the stairs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He raised the alarm by ringing his wife&rsquo;s sister, Deborah, and by dialling 999.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Loughlin outlined the last text he had received from his wife at 4.32pm on July 18.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The message from Rosemarie, in response to Brian telling her that he would go with her to her birthplace of Co Donegal that weekend, read: &ldquo;Excellent baby, brilliant news.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Louise Lavelle, Bohola, Co Mayo, a sister-in-law of the dead woman, gave evidence of finding flip-flops at the bottom of the stairs on July 19.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The coroner returned a verdict of death in accordance with the medical evidence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/organ-donor-who-died-from-stairs-fall-saves-five-lives-272436.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/organ-donor-who-died-from-stairs-fall-saves-five-lives-272436.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-19 10:35:51',NULL,'organ-donor-who-died-from-stairs-fall-saves-five-lives'),(572,'Costs for mother and baby home inquiry must not come ‘from children who are alive’','<p>\r\n	Government gets F grade for treatment of migrant children in direct provision</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Former Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness has called on the Government to ensure funding for the inquiry into mother and baby homes is &ldquo;not taken from the children who are alive and with us today&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Justice McGuinness said &ldquo;the real priority is today&rsquo;s children and their rights. Just as we sit in judgment on our forebears it is certain that we too will be judged on our response to today&rsquo;s children&rdquo;. Ms Justice McGuinness is chairwoman of the external assessment panel for the Children&rsquo;s Rights Alliance&rsquo;s report card, an annual survey of the extent to which policy promises concerning children have been fulfilled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In an address to the Seanad, the former senator mentioned State successes with children but also a litany of failures including the treatment of migrant children in direct provision and Traveller children. On the proposed inquiry, she said if resources were needed, &ldquo;let us be quite certain that those resources are not taken from the children who are alive and with us today, for example from the resources of the Department of Children or Tusla, the Child and Family Agency&rdquo;. She called on the Coalition to &ldquo;think carefully about what are its real priorities in the terms of reference&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Criticising the response to public crises, she said that after the attempts to find a scapegoat, &ldquo;instant action&rdquo; was taken in the form of inquiries, but by the time they make their recommendations &ldquo;the will to change has considerably dissipated&rdquo; and the inquiry consumes considerable resources. She said a recent study of investigations concerning children from the Kilkenny incest inquiry onwards &ldquo;demonstrated how few of the recommendations over the years have been fully put into effect&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The alliance report card gave the Government an E grade for Traveller children, 17.7 per cent of whom leave school with no formal education compared to 1.4 per cent in the general population. &ldquo;Access to education is vital for this group of children, yet in budget 2011 virtually all of the teacher supports for Travellers were simply abolished,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Government received an F grade for migrant children. The State&rsquo;s failure in this was highlighted last year when the Northern Ireland High Court refused to return a Sudanese refugee family to the jurisdiction &ldquo;because such a return would be contrary to the best interests of the children&rdquo;. Ms Justice McGuinness said: &ldquo;We need to realise what a disgrace to us all this decision implies.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/costs-for-mother-and-baby-home-inquiry-must-not-come-from-children-who-are-alive-1.1838854\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/costs-for-mother-and-baby-home-inquiry-must-not-come-from-children-who-are-alive-1.1838854</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-20 10:09:18',NULL,'costs-for-mother-and-baby-home-inquiry-must-not-come-‘from-children-who-are-alive’'),(573,'A 27-year-old woman who has attended the CRC since she was a baby describes what it’s like','<p>\r\n	In the extensive report by HSE director John Cregan into the goings-on at the CRC, he repeatedly stresses how so many people depend upon the services at the clinic.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While the financial practices at the Central Remedial Clinic were &ndash; to put it mildly &ndash; badly handled, thousands of people rely upon the Clontarf clinic to provide help and support in their daily lives.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the report, Cregan included the story of one woman as an example of the kind of help that people received.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 27-year-old woman is identified as Mary, but the report notes that her name was changed to protect her privacy.<br />\r\n	Mary was first referred to the CRC when she was 8 months old after it was found that she had signs of cerebral palsy. She had been born prematurely at the Rotunda Hospital and Dublin and had needed ventilation after birth, and had been monitored by doctors for some time afterwards.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	From the age of nine months, she began a physiotherapy programme at the CRC.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Soon afterwards, Mary&rsquo;s family met with a paediatrician at the CRC who said that while she had made some developments, she had significant development delay.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When she was around 15 months old, the consultant diagnosed cerebral palsy spastic quadriplegia &ndash; a type of cerebral palsy which affects the entire body. A social work team began to work with her family to support them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As a toddler, Mary began to attend the speech and language therapy department at the CRC, as well as physio, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy on a regular basis. The team also visited her family at home when necessary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report notes that because the family had no transport, the CRC brought Mary and her family to the clinic for all appointments.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the age of 3, Mary started in the CRC&rsquo;s pre-school and settled in well. She got intensive therapy during the day, while her mother, who was living in very difficult social circumstances, got extensive support from the social work department.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the age of 4, Mary began attending the CRC&rsquo;s primary school. She was provided with supports throughout her primary school years, included a wheelchair and a speech augmentation system because she had significantly reduced speech intelligibility.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When she was 8, she had the first of a number of orthopaedic interventions to prevent hip dislocation, which is a major risk for children with severe cerebral palsy. The surgery required intensive physiotherapy and hydrotherapy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In her early teens, Mary&rsquo;s family situation deteriorated and the social work department organised for the CRC home support worker to visit her home to provide a break for her mother and some social support for Mary. The department also provided intensive counselling for Mary&rsquo;s mother and regular respite breaks for Mary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When she was 15, Mary began to express her increasing unhappiness with her situation and her feelings of social isolation. She was seen regularly by a psychologist at the CRC to help her to cope with this.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She was also taught to use a computer in a school setting&nbsp; to help increase her level of independence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As she came close to finishing up school, a plan was put in place for her life after secondary school to make sure that she would be as independent as possible.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mary joined the CRC&rsquo;s two-year transition programme when she left school, which helps with the individual needs of school leavers who have a significant disability. After finishing, she began a rehabilitative training programme to further develop her independence and other skills.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Now, at the age of 27, Mary attends CRC&rsquo;s day programmes. She chooses which activities she wants to be involved in and, the report notes, is actively involved in developing her own plan about the things that are important to her.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The case study is interesting because it highlights the day-to-day work of the CRC in a way which has not been at the centre of all of the attention the clinic has received over the last six months.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/case-study-crc-patient-1526026-Jun2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/case-study-crc-patient-1526026-Jun2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-20 10:17:09',NULL,'a-27-year-old-woman-who-has-attended-the-crc-since-she-was-a-baby-describes-what-it’s-like'),(574,'Locals set up new support group for homeless','<p>\r\n	Inner city campaign a response to rising numbers sleeping rough in Dublin</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A 17-year-old boy begging outside Spar on Dame Street, Dublin, two couples bedded down at Liberty Hall, five men with sleeping bags inside the railings of the Custom House, seven men sleeping in the foyer of Store Street Garda station, a distressed couple at a bus stop on George&rsquo;s Street &ndash; who had had a baby eight weeks ago &ndash; with nowhere to go. These were among 110 homeless people a new volunteer group in Dublin fed one night this week.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Inner City Helping the Homeless (ICHH) has been in existence since November, having started out as a temporary response to rising homelessness which its founder, Anthony Flynn, thought would last &ldquo;just until Christmas&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	As manager of a bar in the city centre, he says he had noticed an increase in the number of people sleeping rough since the autumn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Rise in homeless<br />\r\n	&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be going home at two in the morning and could see where there had been one person sleeping in a doorway, there&rsquo;d be two or three,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I talked to some friends and we put the idea up on Facebook of a group going out for a few weeks, with food and blankets. We said we&rsquo;d have a meeting and anyone interested could come along to plan it.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;About 100 people turned up, queuing to get in. It just caught people&rsquo;s imagination. I suppose they saw what we were seeing and wanted to help.&rdquo; They were also inundated with donations of food and clothes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They began distributing sandwiches, tea and coffee, soup, chocolate bars, fruit and water, as well as blankets, clothes, fresh socks and underwear, toothbrushes and toothpaste.<br />\r\n	They specifically chose to go out late. While the long-standing soup run operated by Dublin Simon goes out from 7.30pm until 9.30pm seven nights a week, ICHH are out between 10.30pm and 2am.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Bed down at 11pm<br />\r\n	&ldquo;We find a lot of the people who need us haven&rsquo;t even bedded down until 10 or 11. The plan was to do this just until Christmas, but we could see there was a need,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;So we&rsquo;ve kept going.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;At the moment we&rsquo;re out Wednesdays and Thursdays&rdquo; says Flynn. &ldquo;We hope to add Tuesdays and by Christmas we&rsquo;d like to be going out five nights a week.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The operation, which has about 60 regular volunteers and others that volunteer occasionally, is completely voluntary and not aligned to any other organisation. In the last few weeks they have established a management committee, with a fundraising manager and communications manager.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They have registered as a limited company without share capital and have applied for charitable status, as well as securing a two-year lease on premises with a kitchen and meeting space, on Killarney Street just off Amiens Street in the north inner city.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Week on week we have seen an increase in the numbers sleeping rough. The first night we went out we met 64 people. Now it&rsquo;s never less than 100 and last week we met 127 people in one night.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Wednesday night this week saw 40 volunteers gather at their HQ at 10pm. They are all ages and most seem to be from the immediate area. Among them is a store worker with Marks &amp; Spencer, a retired businessman, a grandmother and a young woman who works in an office.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They are issued with hi-vis jackets and split into five groups of eight, each of which is issued with crates of food, flasks of tea and soup as well as crates of clothes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Following a briefing from Flynn they set off in cars to three bases &ndash; St Stephen&rsquo;s Green, Store Street and the GPO on O&rsquo;Connell Street. The GPO team stays there, with a stall of supplies and food to which 32 homeless people will come during the night.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two groups cover streets north of the Liffey and the southside, where they approach rough sleepers or anyone who is clearly homeless. Most recognise the ICHH groups and are pleased to see them, some even greeting them by name.<br />\r\n	The food has been prepared earlier in the evening. It has all been donated by local businesses, obtained from Foodcloud &ndash; a new social enterprise which matches businesses throwing out good food with charities that need it &ndash; or it is bought by the group. They fundraise constantly says Flynn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	ICHH has been supported by local Cllr Christy Burke since it began. He continues his support as Lord Mayor and was among the volunteers on Wednesday night.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The group will meet Dublin Region Homeless Executive &ndash; which delivers homeless services on behalf of the four local authorities &ndash; within the next fortnight.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	facebook.com/pages/Inner- City-Helping-Homeless</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/locals-set-up-new-support-group-for-homeless-1.1838874\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/locals-set-up-new-support-group-for-homeless-1.1838874</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-20 10:18:51',NULL,'locals-set-up-new-support-group-for-homeless'),(575,'More than 1,000 kids are put in care due to neglect','<p>\r\n	Neglect and welfare concerns rather than sexual or physical abuse remain the main reasons why children are being placed in State care, a new report has revealed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The figures show a total of 4,288&nbsp; children were put in care in 2011 and 2012&nbsp; and of these 2,561&nbsp; were removed from their families by the Health Service Executive (HSE) because of worries about their welfare with another 1,076 suffering neglect.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Another 342 children were in care because of physical abuse, 241 for physical abuse and 68 for sexual abuse over the two years, the report published by Tusla, the child and family agency, revealed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Welfare concerns relate to a problem experienced directly by a child or by their family, that is seen to impact on the young person&#39;s health and development.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The review of the adequacy of child and family services for 2012 said that since 2006, the HSE experienced a 91pc rise in reported concerns about children &ndash; from 21,040 to 40,187.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the same time, the numbers of children placed in state care went up 20.7pc from 5,247 to 6,332 while funding fell.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	More than 90pc of the children are in foster care, one-third of whom are relatives. Another 5.3pc are in residential facilities or high-support centres.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Weakness</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report revealed continued weaknesses in follow-up support for children who leave care at the age of 18 years &ndash; a time when they are particularly vulnerable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Although the numbers of young men and women who were getting aftercare services went up to 1,457 from 847 in 2009, just 61pc were in education or training.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2012 the aftercare support programme delivered to young people aged between 17 and 19 provided support of just eight hours a week for six months to support the transition from care to independent living.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Of the 60 children who were in care or known to HSE social services in 2011, seven were in aftercare situations, supported by HSE services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Three of these young people died from suicide, three were found dead following drug overdoses and one died in an accident.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report pointed out that once a report of a suspected abuse was made to social services, a preliminary inquiry should take place in no more than 24 hours.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This was only achieved in just over four out of 10 cases in the HSE south and the best performing was the HSE west which managed this deadline in 87.9pc of reports.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/more-than-1000-kids-are-put-in-care-due-to-neglect-30382243.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/more-than-1000-kids-are-put-in-care-due-to-neglect-30382243.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-25 15:48:40',NULL,'more-than-1000-kids-are-put-in-care-due-to-neglect'),(576,'Adoption body need not inform natural fathers, court rules','<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	A legal requirement that the Adoption Authority of Ireland notify the natural father of a child before his child is adopted was dispensed with in four cases at the High Court yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Justice Henry Abbott found it was impossible in the circumstances for the authority to identify the natural fathers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The cases were taken by the authority and, in all four, the current partners of the mothers were seeking to adopt the children involved. As part of the procedure, the mothers were also required to adopt their own children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mothers, not in court, made declarations stating their children were produced through one-night encounters with men they did not know.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They said they met the men in bars or nightclubs in Ireland and, in one case, abroad. They had the encounters under the influence of alcohol and only knew the first name of the man involved, could not recall a name or had not been given a name. They also declared they were not in relationships with any other men at the time of becoming pregnant.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Social worker reports were produced in each case and the court was told the mothers were assessed as being &ldquo;honest and truthful&rdquo;. In one case, the mother told the social worker of her embarrassment and shock.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paternal background<br />\r\n	Another mother spoke of her sadness one of her children would not have access to information about her father while her other children would.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	All of the mothers had received counselling, the court was told, and accepted the natural father could challenge the adoption at a later date.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Counsel for the authority also said the mothers and their current partners had been assessed for adoption and been found eligible and suitable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Justice Abbott said there was an onus on the court to get the authority to do the utmost it could to track down the males involved but the area was &ldquo;very fraught&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The court experience was that, when too much energy was put into searching, the court could run into trouble related to data protection, he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;Extreme upset&rsquo;<br />\r\n	There could also be &ldquo;extreme upset&rdquo; if a &ldquo;round robin letter&rdquo;&deg; was issued in a particular area seeking a father.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was satisfied in the cases all steps were taken to try to establish the fathers&rsquo; identities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Justice Abbott suggested the authority consider when it might be appropriate for the court to hear the voice of the child in cases.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Reporting of adoption was made possible earlier this year by the enactment of legislation relaxing privacy in family and childcare cases.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/adoption-body-need-not-inform-natural-fathers-court-rules-1.1844010\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/adoption-body-need-not-inform-natural-fathers-court-rules-1.1844010</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-25 15:55:23',NULL,'adoption-body-need-not-inform-natural-fathers-court-rules'),(577,'Call for new law over abuse of elderly in Northern Ireland','<p>\r\n	Northern Ireland&#39;s Commissioner for Older people has called for the introduction of legislation that would better protect older people from abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The call follows a report that found the number of referrals of abuse had risen by more than 76% in three years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The legislation would bring NI into line with the rest of the UK.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Claire Keatinge said there was currently no single piece of legislation that protects older people in Northern Ireland from abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &quot;Abuse against an older person can take many forms, such as physical, emotional, sexual and financial, as well as through neglect, and the impact of abuse can have devastating consequences for the victim.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Sadly, thousands of older people in Northern Ireland are being abused every year, often by someone with whom they have a relationship of trust, and the number of reports of abuse is increasing at an alarming rate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Older people deserve to have confidence that if they experience abuse, or are at risk of abuse, that the law can adequately protect them, and punish those who carry out abuse.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said as the law stands, people who may be vulnerable or at risk of abuse are not afforded the same legal protection as their counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Keatinge said the introduction of a single Adult Safeguarding Bill would offer &quot;the most robust protections, along with an assurance that the rights of the older person are not infringed&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I am calling on the executive to bring forward legislation which will protect all older people from abuse,&quot; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;My report recommends that the legislation should include a clear definition of what abuse is, who is at risk, as well as clearly outlining the responsibilities of those who work with older people.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I have advised both the minister of health and minister of justice of the need to include these key areas in any legislation going forward.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;It is essential that older people can be assured that they are protected from different forms of abuse.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	BBC Northern Ireland health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly said: &quot;The new legislation would give agencies and organisations responsible for safeguarding and protecting older people additional powers to ensure they can intervene to investigate possible cases of elder abuse and also offer immediate protection where necessary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;For instance a social worker could demand to speak to an elderly person alone without being accompanied by a family member who could actually be the abuser.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-28012694\">http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-28012694</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-25 16:01:43',NULL,'call-for-new-law-over-abuse-of-elderly-in-northern-ireland'),(578,'Clear message needed on child marriage, says senator','<p>\r\n	An independent senator, who has called for changes in the way exemptions are granted allowing minors to marry, has said that Ireland should send out a clear signal that child marriage was not acceptable.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Senator Jillian van Turnhout co-sponsored a motion on the issue, which was passed in the Seanad yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It proposed that the Government would consider whether to remove or amend the statutory provision allowing court exemptions for children under-18 to marry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Although the legal age for marriage is 18, the Circuit Family Court can give exemptions under law in certain cases.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, it does so without any legal guidelines in place, and neither the Health Service Executive nor child and family agencies need to be present during the case, which is heard in camera.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A total of 29 exemptions were granted last year to allow a child under the age of 18 to marry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Government is now to set up an inter-departmental working group to look at the issue.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Senator van Turnhout pointed out that once a child gets married, they legally become an adult and child protection laws no longer apply to them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her private member&#39;s motion, co-sponsored by Senator Ivana Bacik, calls for clear guidelines on when exemptions can be granted or for marriage under-18 to be banned altogether.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking on RT&Eacute;&#39;s Morning Ireland, she said that based on the exemptions she had seen, she would prefer the Government to be unequivocal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &quot;If we continue to have exemptions, we need to put extremely clear guidance (in place) of why and how those exemptions can take place.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;For me, I would like to see us protecting childhood and say the age for marriage is 18. Let&#39;s not have exemptions,&quot; she added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0626/626608-child-marriage/</p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-26 09:53:44',NULL,'clear-message-needed-on-child-marriage-says-senator'),(579,'Women more likely to control partners with physical abuse','<p>\r\n	Women are more likely than men to be controlling and aggressive towards their partners, a study has found.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Far from the popular notion of women tending to be victims of &quot;intimate partner violence&quot; (IPV), they were more verbally and physically aggressive to their other halves than men, the findings showed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Just as many women as men could be classed as abusive &quot;intimate terrorists&quot; who coupled controlling behaviour with serious levels of threats, intimidation and physical violence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Researchers questioned 1,104 young men and women about physical aggression and controlling behaviour involving partners and friends.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Study leader Dr Elizabeth Bates, from the University of Cumbria, said: &quot;Previous studies have sought to explain male violence towards women as arising from patriarchal values, which motivate men to seek to control women&#39;s behaviour, using violence if necessary.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;This study found that women demonstrated a desire to control their partners and were more likely to use physical aggression than men. This suggests that IPV may not be motivated by patriarchal values and needs to be studied within the context of other forms of aggression, which has potential implications for interventions.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the 1990s a US sociologist from the University of Michigan, Professor Michael P Johnson, coined the term &quot;intimate terrorism&quot; to define an extreme form of controlling relationship behaviour involving threats, intimidation and violence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Prof Johnson found that intimate terrorists were almost always men, a view that has become widely accepted.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But the new research, based on anonymous questionnaire answers, found that women were equally likely to display such behaviour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Bates, who presented her findings at the British Psychological Society&#39;s Division of Forensic Psychology annual meeting in Glasgow, said: &quot;It wasn&#39;t just pushing and shoving. Some people were circling the boxes for things like beating up, kicking, and threatening to use a weapon.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The feminist movement made violence towards women something we talk about. Now there is more support for men and more of them are coming forward.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Bates&#39;s study focused on young students in their late teens and early 20s because statistically they were most likely to be victims of aggression.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The analysis showed that, while women tended to be more physically aggressive towards their partners, men were more likely to be physically aggressive to same-sex &quot;others&quot; including friends.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Controlling behaviour was linked to physical aggression in both men and women.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/women-more-likely-to-control-partners-with-physical-abuse-30385731.html\">http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/women-more-likely-to-control-partners-with-physical-abuse-30385731.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-26 10:20:36',NULL,'women-more-likely-to-control-partners-with-physical-abuse'),(580,'Care order extended for drug-addicted infant','<p>\r\n	Parents of baby were homeless, court told</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An interim care order for an infant undergoing drug withdrawal treatment was extended at the Dublin District Family Court yesterday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker in the case spoke of how the baby was born addicted to phenobarbital, a sedative, and is gradually being weaned off the drug. The process is nearing its end but meanwhile the baby could be extremely irritable, crying a lot and needing extra feeding and holding.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The infant had spent weeks in hospital before being released to foster carers experienced in dealing with drug-addicted babies, the social worker told Judge Marie Quirke. And though he had been &ldquo;very sick&rdquo;, he had since reached his developmental milestones.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The young parents had not visited the baby when he was in hospital, the court was told, but had since had access.<br />\r\n	They both had been homeless and addicted to drugs, but had recently found hostel accommodation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paternity test<br />\r\n	The social worker said the Child and Family Agency also had concerns about paternity. The mother had initially said her current partner was not the father, but now said he was. The agency had requested a DNA test, but he refused.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A solicitor for the couple questioned the agency&rsquo;s motivation behind wanting a DNA test. He said the mother was now clear her partner was the father.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Quirke said the baby was entitled to clarity and suggested the father should consider a DNA test.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She noted the couple accepted they were not in a position to care for the baby, and said the mother was suffering because of things that happened to her when she was a child.<br />\r\n	She extended the interim care order for 28 days.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Abuse<br />\r\n	In another case the judge granted a six-month supervision order for a child whose mother agreed to move to a women&rsquo;s refuge.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker in the case said the child had been known to the agency since birth and there were concerns about her safety, welfare and development. Under questioning from the mother&rsquo;s solicitor, the social worker denied there had been &ldquo;slips in the case&rdquo; and &ldquo;a number of balls had been dropped&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The father&rsquo;s representative denied emotional and physical abuse, but said his client accepted access visits had to be supervised. He was willing to do &ldquo;whatever needs to be done&rdquo;, the court was told.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Acrimonious relationship<br />\r\n	Separately, the judge extended an interim care order for two teenagers. The social worker said their parents had an &ldquo;acrimonious parental relationship&rdquo; with &ldquo;persistent conflict&rdquo; and both parents were &ldquo;unable to prioritise the needs of their children&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The agency had hoped to make a full care order yesterday, until the boys were 18, but the father had withdrawn his consent.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The father, who was unrepresented, said he wanted permission to apply to the High Court to have &ldquo;shared care&rdquo; with the agency and asked that another judge, more familiar with the case, consider his application.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Judge Quirke extended the interim care order and set a date in July for a further hearing before another judge.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/care-order-extended-for-drug-addicted-infant-1.1845413\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/care-order-extended-for-drug-addicted-infant-1.1845413</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-26 10:47:51',NULL,'care-order-extended-for-drug-addicted-infant'),(581,'Plea to include children ‘boarded out’ in mother and baby inquiry','<p>\r\n	Man alleges abuse in foster home in 1940s</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A call has been made for the terms of the forthcoming inquiry into mother and baby homes to be extended to include people who were in foster care over 60 years ago.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Eddie McEntee (73), a Kildare man who has lived most of his life in England, says he endured daily neglect as well as physical and emotional abuse between the ages of four and 10, first in Kildare County Home and then in foster care. Today is the deadline for applications to be included within the terms of the inquiry, which are being drawn up by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr McEntee was born in Naas, Co Kildare, in January 1941. He had two older sisters and an older brother. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children recommended the children be taken into care after their mother applied for a warrant in 1943 to have her husband arrested on charges of desertion and neglect of the family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My brothers and sisters were put in Goldenbridge and Artane but because I was so young I was put with the nuns in the county home,&rdquo; says Mr McEntee, who now lives in Camberwell, London.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He says he was physically and mentally abused during his three years here, particularly by an older boy in charge of him. In 1947 he was &ldquo;boarded out&rdquo; by Kildare County Council to a family in Moone where he stayed until he was 10.He says he was daily beaten, starved, humiliated, excluded from family meals, made to work on the farm and he says he survived two attempts by the parents to drown him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t allowed to have friends or play and had to do the work of a grown man seven days a week. I was never given meat and just got fat from the meat. If I got sick I was beaten. They had a ration book for me and got money from the welfare to buy me food, but they ate my rations. I was so hungry at school I begged and stole some of the other children&rsquo;s lunch. The teachers saw this and told the family and so I was beaten. I stole food from a neighbour&rsquo;s window and she told the family and I was beaten. One of my many jobs was to feed the pigs and often I was so hungry I would sit down with them and eat the swill with them. Sometimes I slept with the pigs too.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He says he was removed from the family after a neighbour reported saving him from the father&rsquo;s attempt to drown him in a water barrel. He remembers the family being inspected by a woman who came annually but she never spoke to him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was again &ldquo;boarded out&rdquo; to live with and elderly brother and sister, in Donandea, Co Kildare. Again he was put to work on the farm but, he says, &ldquo;they were lovely and those were the happiest years of my childhood&rdquo;. His mother successfully applied to get him back when he was 13 and he moved to England when he was 16.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He remains scarred by what happened. His account of his time &ldquo;boarded out&rdquo; was made to The Irish Times in writing, because he says it too painful to speak about. He has been through years of counselling and from 2004 has corresponded with Kildare County Council, the former South Western Area Health Board, the Departments of Health and Education and he has engaged solicitors, hoping to make someone accountable for what he says happened to him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In correspondence seen by The Irish Times, none denies his account but all variously say the alleged abuse happened so long ago as to be statute barred.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr McEntee&rsquo;s older siblings were compensated by the Institutional Redress Board but as he was not in an institution, his case could not be heard. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t seem fair they were heard when the abuse I suffered was just as bad, worse even. I was on my own in that family. It&rsquo;s wrong.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Sarah-Ann Buckley of NUI Galway says many families in poverty took in children like Eddie because they came with a monthly payment from the local authority and they were seen as cheap labour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The &ldquo;boarding-out&rdquo; system, particularly pre-1953, remains under-researched, partly because records are scant and dispersed among local authorities. It is also clear, she adds, that foster families were meant to be inspected annually but many were not.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Lindsey Earner-Byrne of UCD has said the &ldquo;boarding-out&rdquo; system was a product of the same thinking that gave rise to mother and baby homes and merits inclusion in an inquiry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/plea-to-include-children-boarded-out-in-mother-and-baby-inquiry-1.1849356\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/plea-to-include-children-boarded-out-in-mother-and-baby-inquiry-1.1849356</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-30 10:30:33',NULL,'plea-to-include-children-‘boarded-out’-in-mother-and-baby-inquiry'),(582,'\'Notorious\' Hamley\'s child snatcher lands in Ireland with suitcase full of toys','<p>\r\n	A notorious child sex predator who arrived Ireland on Friday with a suitcase full of toys is this weekend loose in Dublin city centre.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Frenchman Philippe Gandus was stopped by gardai at Dublin Airport on Friday morning after stepping off a flight from Cologne in Germany.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He is on an international watch list after being deported from the US and banned from Britain.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However gardai were powerless to prevent the 46 year-old from entering the country and he provided them with the address of a city centre hostel he is staying in during his time here.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Because of cuts to garda resources he is not being monitored around the clock but an alert has been sent to the relevant stations warning that he is here and is extremely dangerous.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai are very concerned about his appearance here and are very worried that he is a high-risk to offend while in the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They also have no idea how long he intends to stay. Local stations are attempting to keep tabs on him but it is very difficult because of a lack of manpower.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He is a known drifter who rarely stays in one place for long and so is very difficult to monitor.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When he was quizzed at Dublin Airport and searched his suitcase was found to be full of children&#39;s toys, which alarmed officers because of his past.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was arrested in London in October 2009 after parishioners in Peckham spotted him trying to lead a three year-old boy from a church by the hand.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gandus ran away when he was stopped before police could detain him. He was arrested ten days later after allegedly trying to abduct another child from Hamley&#39;s toy story in the centre of London.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was cleared in court of this offence because it was not captured on CCTV but he was convicted of the first offence. His trial heard that he &ldquo;poses a risk to young children&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He had been sectioned under the mental health act for an indefinite period three months before the two child abductions incidents but he fled the hospital which resulted in a major police manhunt.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The French national was deported out of the UK after his conviction and banned until 2014. However he was arrested in May 2011 after sneaking back into the country. He was again deported and banned from the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The following month he was also deported from the US after being investigated for an indecent assault against a minor. He was booted out of the country before being charged.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/notorious-hamleys-child-snatcher-lands-in-ireland\">http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/notorious-hamleys-child-snatcher-lands-in-ireland</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-30 11:09:16',NULL,'notorious-hamleys-child-snatcher-lands-in-ireland-with-suitcase-full-of-toys'),(583,'Medical card consultation gets almost 2,500 submissions','<p>\r\n	HSE has returned 4,250 cards taken from patients during review</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A public consultation on extending eligibility for medical cards on the basis of medical condition has attracted almost 2,500 submissions.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Health Service Executive said that by Friday, 2,340 submissions had been received from patients, parents or family members and professional or patient representative bodies. The closing date for submissions is today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The high number of submissions is an indication of the level of expectation around the process, which is likely to prove challenging for the HSE and the Minister for Health in the coming months.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The HSE did not release details of those making submissions but the almost 100 submissions from representative bodies are likely to be overwhelmingly from patient groups seeking to have their condition considered for eligibility under the new scheme.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The majority of submissions &ndash; 61 per cent or almost 1,500 &ndash; were from people living with a condition. Almost 700 submissions, or 29 per cent, came from parents or family members.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The consultation process is designed to feed into the work of an expert panel chaired by Prof Frank Keane, past president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. This panel, which is due to report back in September, will make recommendations on which conditions would be considered for automatic eligibility for a medical card, and what level of severity would be required for eligibility.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<strong>Legislation</strong><br />\r\n	Extending eligibility for medical cards in this way will require complex legislation, so the measure is unlikely to take effect until next year. The Government is likely to face legal challenges from patient groups excluded from the proposal, which is uncosted at the moment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Meanwhile, the HSE has returned 4,250 of the 15,300 medical cards which were taken from patients during a controversial review process between July 2011 and the end of last month.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A spokesman said it was &ldquo;on track&rdquo; to return all 15,300 by the promised deadline of mid-July.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/medical-card-consultation-gets-almost-2-500-submissions-1.1849619\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/medical-card-consultation-gets-almost-2-500-submissions-1.1849619</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-06-30 11:17:51',NULL,'medical-card-consultation-gets-almost-2500-submissions'),(584,'Taoiseach denies Government ‘dismissive’ of obese people needing surgery','<p>\r\n	FF leader says people on waiting list requiring life-saving intervention</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Taoiseach Enda Kenny rejected a claim by Fianna F&aacute;il leader Miche&aacute;l Martin that the Government was adopting &ldquo;a callous and dismissive&rsquo;&rsquo; response to those requiring surgery for obesity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Kenny said it was an issue to be dealt with by clinicians and he was sure advice was available to deal with the problem. &ldquo;Clinicians know best about the urgency of carrying out an operation, if it is to be a life-saving operation, and I am sure it is on that basis they prioritise them,&rsquo;&rsquo; he added.<br />\r\n	Mr Martin said there were morbidly obese public patients who needed urgent intervention in the form of bariatric surgery. Clinicians had stated that such people needed that kind of surgery to save their lives.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He added that Minister for Health Dr James Reilly had rejected calls by Prof Donal O&rsquo;Shea of St Vincent&rsquo;s Hospital to restore bariatric surgery to the hospital. Only 20 operations had been carried out at the hospital this year and it did not have funding to perform any more, said Mr Martin. He said the 200 people on the waiting list had been clinically assessed and were to have the life-saving surgery carried out.<br />\r\n	The Minister, he said, had been &ldquo;dismissive of the calls for the restoration of this surgery&rsquo;&rsquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Kenny said he was sorry if Dr Reilly&rsquo;s language was deemed to be callous or uncaring by Mr Martin. He noted, he said, the Minister also stated &ldquo;that one does not have sufficient resources available to do every operation that one might like to do&rsquo;&rsquo;. For that reason, he understood the clinician involved, who was a skilled person, carried out the 20 operations in the first half of this year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I am not competent to say on what basis they were prioritised, or whether those who were on the waiting list are in a more serious condition than those who were operated on or whatever, but I believe, as Deputy Martin does, that prevention is better than cure,&rsquo;&rsquo; the Taoiseach added.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Martin said the Taoiseach was insulting those who were morbidly obese when stating that prevention was better than cure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Denying he was insulting anybody, Mr Kenny said was sure that Mr Martin would not want the Minister to take funding from other priority cases, such as those with cancer or leukaemia.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/taoiseach-denies-government-dismissive-of-obese-people-needing-surgery-1.1851966\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/taoiseach-denies-government-dismissive-of-obese-people-needing-surgery-1.1851966</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-02 10:26:39',NULL,'taoiseach-denies-government-‘dismissive’-of-obese-people-needing-surgery'),(585,'Taoiseach apologies to families of Roma children','<p>\r\n	Child and Family Agency say provision of Act invoked to take children &ldquo;has and will continue to be&rdquo; a force for good</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday apologised to the Roma families whose children were taken into care last year amid fears they had been abducted.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I do apologise to those families, particularly the children who had to put up with these events,&rsquo;&rsquo; Mr Kenny said in the D&aacute;il. &ldquo;These kinds of events should not happen to anybody in our jurisdiction, and nobody can afford to stand over that or can stand over it. My Government colleagues and I are determined that such events will never happen again.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He added there was a cross-departmental review of Ireland&rsquo;s migrant integration strategy under way.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Opportunity<br />\r\n	Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said the launch of the report was &ldquo;an opportunity to do something important&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;To say sorry,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the first thing I wanted to do today. To meet the two families who briefly lost their children and &ndash; in private and in public &ndash; to apologise to them on behalf of the State. The State is sorry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We regret the pain that they went through. It should not have happened. It just should not. It happened out of a determination to protect children, but that determination got skewed. The best of intentions played out in a distressing manner affecting two children and two families.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Child and Family Agency chief executive Gordon Jeyes said the provision of the Child Care Act invoked by the Garda to remove children from the two Roma families &ldquo;has and will continue to be&rdquo; a positive force for children in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Tusla &ndash; the Child and Family Agency &ndash; is the dedicated State agency responsible for improving wellbeing and outcomes for children. Mr Jeyes said the decision to remove children from a family was &ldquo;always a difficult one&rdquo; which involves &ldquo;balancing the rights and freedoms of individuals against the statutory duty to protect and safeguard young people&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The Garda play a key role in child protection in Ireland, not least when they use their judgment to act quickly to remove a child to safety,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991 has been, and will continue to be, a positive force for children in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Clearly aspects of the cases were unfortunate, not least the apparent lack of cultural sensitivity. Cultural awareness is a challenging area, and in a rapidly changing Ireland, it is essential that our approach is routinely scrutinised.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Review<br />\r\n	&ldquo;Learning from past experience is key, and in this regard the Child and Family Agency is in the process of reviewing actions taken when a child is taken into care under section 12.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Immigrant Council of Ireland chief executive Denise Charlton said the findings of Emily Logan&rsquo;s report were &ldquo;shocking&rdquo; and said the recommendations made ought to be treated as &ldquo;a blueprint to bring down the barriers which exist between many communities and garda&iacute;&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We have been concerned about the issue of ethnic profiling and had sought assurances in advance of these cases that safeguards were in place to prevent such practices,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Looking to the future we are asking that the measures to end profiling are prioritised to ensure that confidence is restored in the force&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/taoiseach-apologies-to-families-of-roma-children-1.1851871\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/taoiseach-apologies-to-families-of-roma-children-1.1851871</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-02 10:31:34',NULL,'taoiseach-apologies-to-families-of-roma-children'),(586,'Care assistant denies slapping elderly patient','<p>\r\n	A former care worker who claims she was unfairly dismissed from her job for striking an elderly patient said when she saw him later that day she just wanted to &quot;cuddle&quot; him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Imelda Cooke-Daly told an Employment Appeals Tribunal when she saw Tom O&#39;Brien, who was in his 80s, in the day room of the nursing home at lunchtime his face was &quot;destroyed&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said she had noticed a &quot;tiny&quot; mark, no bigger than the thumbnail of her small finger, when she was washing Mr O&#39;Brien earlier that morning but didn&#39;t feel the need to report it to the nurse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Cooke-Daly from Ballincrossig, Causeway, Co Kerry, had been employed as a care assistant at Aras Mhuire Nursing Home in Listowel, Co Kerry for five years but was suspended from her duties on November 1, 2011 following an incident where Mr O&#39;Brien - who was also blind - alleged he had been slapped by the woman washing him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mess</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &quot;The next time I saw him in the day room at 12pm his whole left side of the face was a mess. Something definitely happened to the man that morning but it was not me.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I had never in the five years I was there seen the man so bad. I couldn&#39;t describe how bad he was. You&#39;d just want to cuddle him. My heart went out to him.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Cooke-Daly says when she asked Mr O&#39;Brien if the mark on his face was sore after she had noticed it while washing him, he became agitated and starting roaring saying, &quot;She hit me, she slapped me.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She alerted another care assistant, Breda Fitzmaurice, who was in the same room attending to another patient. She told the tribunal she was shocked by what she saw and immediately went for the nurse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Fitzmaurice said the injury had not deteriorated by lunchtime except that it wasn&#39;t as red.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Director of nursing, Kay Bryant told the tribunal that when she entered the room she heard Mr O&#39;Brien shouting, &quot;She hit me.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When she asked him what was wrong, he said: &quot;She hit me, she slapped me, the one who was washing me. The one with the gruff voice.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Bryant said she noticed a red mark on the patient&#39;s face that looked fresh.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &quot;He was extremely traumatised and upset and there was no doubt in my mind that something had happened.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Bryant took statements from all the staff who had attended to Mr O&#39;Brien that morning and reported the incident to the registered provider of the nursing home, John O&#39;Keeffe.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Injury</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She also photographed the injury on Mr O&#39;Brien&#39;s face.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Cooke-Daly was suspended with full pay that day and later dismissed from her job for gross misconduct, following an independent investigation by the HCI and a hearing by a disciplinary and grievance panel.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr O&#39;Brien&#39;s nephew and the gardai were also told.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr O&#39;Brien has since died.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Cooke-Daly later appealed the decision of the disciplinary and grievance panel but this was upheld and she was dismissed from her position with an ex-gratia payment of four weeks&#39; pay.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She told the tribunal she had been unable to get a job since then despite several efforts to gain employment as a child minder.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/care-assistant-denies-slapping-elderly-patient-30401339.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/care-assistant-denies-slapping-elderly-patient-30401339.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-02 12:04:39',NULL,'care-assistant-denies-slapping-elderly-patient'),(587,'Gardaí need ready access to child data','<p>\r\n	Garda&iacute; might not have removed two children from their Roma families if they had access to health records, according to the Ombudsman for Children&rsquo;s report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Emily Logan said it was &ldquo;critical&rdquo; that systems were put in place which would allow garda&iacute; &ldquo;ready access&rdquo; to information on children held by social workers and public health nurses.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The ombudsman was also heavily critical in her report of the failure of Garda management to prioritise child protection, describing the lack of guidance to members on emergency care orders as &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the recommendations in her 118-page report, published on Tuesday evening, she said garda&iacute; should have &ldquo;enhanced access&rdquo; to information held by both the new Child and Family Agency and the HSE with respect to children whose identities are called into question.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Specifically, she said consideration should be given to allow garda&iacute; access to the CFA&rsquo;s National Child Care Information System. This should be complemented by the development of a national out-of-hours social work service. This issue has been highlighted in successive inquiries into the deaths of children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Roma report said garda&iacute; should develop a protocol with public health nursing teams too.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Logan said a &ldquo;significant amount of information&rdquo; was held by social workers and public health nurses about the two Roma families and the children that were removed &mdash; Child A in Athlone and Child T in Tallaght.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But she said there were &ldquo;impediments&rdquo; to garda&iacute; accessing that information. She said in the case of Child A, garda&iacute; were undertaking enquiries &ldquo;after ordinary business hours and were therefore unable to make contact&rdquo; with HSE social workers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In the case of Child T, garda&iacute; did make contact with social workers but not with public health nurses, which could have provided information on Child T.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said it was &ldquo;critical&rdquo; garda&iacute; would have access to this information.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The ombudsman criticised Garda management:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- The lack of guidance in Garda protocols on the operation of Section 12 (emergency care) powers was &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- The management approach and policy guidance in child protection was &ldquo;not commensurate&rdquo; with the &ldquo;very onerous responsibility&rdquo; borne by members on the ground.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- There was no overall Garda child protection strategy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In situations where a child&rsquo;s identity is called into question, she said guidance should include: what factors members should consider; the undertaking of discreet enquiries; when to call to the child&rsquo;s home and the holding of case conferences.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She called for annual reports on the use of Section 12 powers and independent oversight of its use.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gardai-need-ready-access-to-child-data-274168.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gardai-need-ready-access-to-child-data-274168.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-03 09:56:20',NULL,'gardaã­-need-ready-access-to-child-data'),(588,'Second Roma family set to sue over wrongly taken girl','<p>\r\n	A second Roma family is poised to sue the State over a child being wrongfully taken into care, despite indications from Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald that a settlement would be offered to them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Lawyers acting for the family of the girl known as Child T say they are &quot;actively considering&quot; a lawsuit after a report by the Ombudsman for Children highlighted a host of failings by gardai.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The family of Iancu Muntean, or Child A, who was also wrongly taken into state care last October, has already initiated legal proceedings against the State for distress and defamation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Fitzgerald, who has met with and apologised to both families, indicated, in comments to the media, that &quot;a fair and adequate settlement could be reached with the families&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, Waheed Mudah, a solicitor representing the family of Child T, said no settlement had been offered to his clients to date.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said a lawsuit was being considered and the advice of a barrister had been sought.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;At this moment there are no proceedings instituted, but that is not to say there are no proceedings planned,&quot; said Mr Mudah.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Child T was seven when she was taken from her home in Dublin last October at the height of the international furore caused by the &#39;Maria&#39; case in Greece, where a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Bulgarian girl was found on a Roma camp site, having been allegedly abducted.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gardai acted in the Child T case following a &#39;tip off&#39; given to a journalist about a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl living with a Roma family in Tallaght.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The case was complicated by the fact the Coombe hospital could not initially find records matching Child T&#39;s birth certificate.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The girl was placed in care for three days before her identity was confirmed and she was returned to her family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Role</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan found gardai should have evaluated concerns &quot;far more critically&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, her report did not find racial profiling was a factor in Child T&#39;s case, something the family believes played a role.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Mudah said a decision on a potential lawsuit would be made &quot;in the next few weeks&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said the report had brought some comfort to the family and they were glad to receive apologies from Ms Fitzgerald and Interim Garda Commissioner Noirin O&#39;Sullivan.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;They are happy that at least the State realises that the manner in which things happened was wrong. They are happy that lessons have been learnt and hopefully there will be no repeat of such incidents in the future, because it was a horrendous occurrence, a horrendous situation,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Every time they remember it, the scene and the manner in which the child was taken away from them, it sends shivers through their spines.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;They don&#39;t want any other family to go through that experience again.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two-year-old Iancu Muntean was taken into care in Athlone the day after Child T. He spent a day in care before being returned to his parents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Logan identified a number of shortcomings in the way gardai acted and said racial profiling was involved in the Athlone case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/second-roma-family-set-to-sue-over-wrongly-taken-girl-30403353.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/second-roma-family-set-to-sue-over-wrongly-taken-girl-30403353.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-03 10:03:44',NULL,'second-roma-family-set-to-sue-over-wrongly-taken-girl'),(589,'Amnesty expert criticises ‘misleading’ international campaigns','<p>\r\n	DRC campaigner hits out at &lsquo;over-simplistic&rsquo; messages regarding mobile phones and rape</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	International campaigns which suggest that purchase of cell phones contributes to child exploitation and sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are &ldquo;false and misleading&rdquo;, a leading Amnesty International expert has said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Such &ldquo;over-simplistic&rdquo; messages suggesting that &ldquo;cell phones cause rape&rdquo; may make for good &ldquo;sound bites&rdquo;, but are unlikely to solve the substantive issues, Amnesty International USA DRC country specialist Thomas Turner has told a conference at NUI Galway (NUIG).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	UN special envoy for the Great Lakes region Mary Robinson was among keynote speakers at the two-day conference on the role of women&rsquo;s leadership in the DRC, where up to five million have died during 20 years of conflict.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Turner, who is author of Congo (italics), published last year, said that non-governmental organisations and campaign groups had a responsibility to &ldquo;educate people as well as appeal to their emotions&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Appeals by campaigners to boycott purchase of cell phones or game consoles may give the misleading impression that much of the conflict in the DRC is related to sourcing of these minerals, such as coltan, Mr Turner told The Irish Times (italics).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The situation in DRC is &ldquo;far more complex&rdquo;, he said, stating that many mines in eastern Congo were &ldquo;never in the hands of armed groups&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;What we do have is armed groups stealing minerals in transport, as in a form of highway robbery, and one of the biggest problems is the lack of effective State governments in much of rural Congo,&rdquo;he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Campaigning against multinational company involvement in mineral exploitation could also give the impression that it would automatically eradicate child labour in mines, he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	While there was value in holding multinationals to account, the reality was that some larger companies already had health and safety standards which would prohibit use of child labour, he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Artisanal labour by local communities sounds good, but it may involve families &ndash; who will send their children out to work,&rdquo;he pointed out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Turner also cited the Kony 2012 campaign as another example where the public had been confused, with young people believing that if they bought a plastic bracelet they could eradicate use of child soldiers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Within four days of the US-based non-profit organisation Invisible Children releasing its 30-minute documentary on Joseph Kony, leader of the Uganda-based Lord&rsquo;s Resistance Army, it had been viewed by over 20 million, many of them young people.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The film was endorsed by many celebrities, leaders and NGOs, but the campaign was questioned for its timing in calling for military intervention to pursue Kony when the LRA was actually at its lowest point and there was no proof that Kony was still alive.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;In Europe, you have had campaigns which suggest that ownership of a cellphone causes rape, and campaigns do like to personalise the issue in a way that makes it more tangible,&rdquo;he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In Canada, the seasonal campaigns against killing baby seals also avoided the fact that more complex resource extraction might be having a greater impact on coastal communities, he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Some international organisations don&rsquo;t have a very good track record in sustained long-term commitment,&rdquo;he said.<br />\r\n	&ldquo;In the DRC, it is going to take a not very glamorous amount of hard work to restore local police, health clinics and provide schools,&rdquo; Mr Turner said. &ldquo;It is good to talk about these issues and raise awareness, but there is a need to avoid making promises that cannot be kept.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/amnesty-expert-criticises-misleading-international-campaigns-1.1853059\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/amnesty-expert-criticises-misleading-international-campaigns-1.1853059</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-03 10:05:37',NULL,'amnesty-expert-criticises-‘misleading’-international-campaigns'),(590,'Big rise in legal fees for child court guardians','<p>\r\n	Head of service at Barnardos describes system as &lsquo;chaotic&rsquo; and calls for regulation</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The rate of legal fees paid by the State to lawyers acting for children&rsquo;s guardians ad litem (GAL) in the courts has rocketed this year. New figures from Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan show guardians ad litem legal fees total &euro;3.14 million for the year to date.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Guardians ad litem provide an independent voice for children in family law proceedings, and the &euro;3.14 million to their lawyers compares to a total of &euro;4.85 million in such fees for 2013. The figures show that legal fees top the amounts being paid out to guardians ad litem themselves in 2014.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a written D&aacute;il reply to Tommy Broughan TD, Mr Flanagan said &euro;2.47 million has been paid in direct payments to them in 2014 &ndash; &euro;3.14 million was paid in legal fees.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Barnardos is the largest single provider of guardian ad litem services, and last year it received &euro;3.58 million for providing this service.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The head of the service at Barnardos, Freda McKittrick, yesterday described the GAL system as &ldquo;chaotic&rdquo; and urged Government to regulate it. She admitted to being puzzled by the figures. &ldquo;They are surprising as I know the Child &amp; Family Agency has stated its intention to reduce the use of lawyers where guardian ad litems are concerned and we have been actively reducing lawyers.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/big-rise-in-legal-fees-for-child-court-guardians-1.1854709\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/big-rise-in-legal-fees-for-child-court-guardians-1.1854709</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-04 11:57:39',NULL,'big-rise-in-legal-fees-for-child-court-guardians'),(591,'Rolf Harris jailed for five years and nine months','<p>\r\n	Entertainer (84) found guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault against four girls on Monday</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Rolf Harris has been jailed for five years and nine months for a string of sex crimes involving four girls.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 84-year-old entertainer, a family favourite for decades, was finally unmasked as a prolific paedophile with his conviction for 12 indecent assaults on Monday.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Today, at London&rsquo;s Southwark Crown Court, Mr Justice Sweeney told the shamed performer he had shown no remorse, and his reputation was now in ruins.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Harris was unanimously found guilty of molesting four girls - one who was just seven or eight and was groped when she asked for his autograph, and another two who fell prey as young teenagers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The veteran presenter, who charmed television audiences for decades, was also convicted of a catalogue of abuse against his daughter&rsquo;s then-best friend, whom prosecutors said Harris groomed from the age of 13 and used like &ldquo;his little toy&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The accusations dated back to between 1968 and 1986, and the girls were targeted between the ages of seven or eight and 19.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/rolf-harris-jailed-for-five-years-and-nine-months-1.1855364\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/rolf-harris-jailed-for-five-years-and-nine-months-1.1855364</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-04 13:01:53',NULL,'rolf-harris-jailed-for-five-years-and-nine-months'),(592,'Court rules Christmas figure ‘Black Pete’ is negative stereotype','<p>\r\n	Amsterdam must rethink celebrations involving controversial sidekick to Santa</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An Amsterdam court says the figure known as Black Pete &mdash; the sidekick to the Dutch equivalent of Santa Claus - is a negative stereotype of black people and the city must rethink its involvement in holiday celebrations involving the figure.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Debate over Zwarte Piet has intensified in the Netherlands in recent years as opponents say the black clown with thick red lips and a frizzy Afro hairstyle is a racist caricature.<br />\r\n	Black Petes are typically portrayed by whites in black face paint.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Most Dutch people argue he is a harmless fantasy figure and say no insult is intended.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The ruling ordered the city of Amsterdam to re-examine its decision to grant a permit for an annual winter festival attended by thousands of children. In Dutch tradition, St Nicholas arrives by steamboat with scores of Black Petes handing out presents.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan must review the permit granted for the November parade, the district court said in a statement today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The granting of this permit, which didn&rsquo;t take into account anything related to Black Petes, leads to an intrusion of the private lives of the plaintiffs,&rdquo; the court said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The case was brought by a group of about 20 individuals and organisations. Last November, a court rejected a demand to prohibit the parade in Amsterdam.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The court was then asked to rule on the legitimacy of the permit itself. A panel that advises the United Nations on human rights questioned last year whether depictions of Black Pete are racist.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I am really happy, and I congratulate the Dutch people that we together can work on a Netherlands that is free of racism,&rdquo; Barryl Biekman, who heads the Platform Slavery History organisation, said in an interview with NOS television.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;If this continues, it would mean that the Dutch state and all of its municipalities, are jointly responsible for maintaining racism in this country.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mayor has six weeks to review his decision, the court said. The city of Amsterdam will study the ruling first before deciding whether or not to appeal, municipality spokesman Jasper Karman said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/court-rules-christmas-figure-black-pete-is-negative-stereotype-1.1854128\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/court-rules-christmas-figure-black-pete-is-negative-stereotype-1.1854128</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-04 13:03:24',NULL,'court-rules-christmas-figure-‘black-pete’-is-negative-stereotype'),(593,'Children First Bill will be a game changer for Samaritans','<p>\r\n	Volunteers will now have to report child abuse risks to the authorities</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2004 Ray Osborne, a volunteer with Samaritans in Kent, received a call from a man who confessed to the murder of a woman. Osborne contacted the police, who had no leads in the case until his decision to breach the confidentiality rule.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man was duly arrested and convicted, but Osborne&rsquo;s reward was to be forced to resign from the charity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The incident illustrates just how important Samaritans consider the principle of confidentiality in providing a lifeline to people in distress, most often through its 24-hour telephone helpline.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	According to its website, Samaritans treats everything callers relate, including the fact they have made contact, as confidential. &ldquo;This means we can&rsquo;t talk to anyone outside of the organisation about anything we hear.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Non-judgemental The &ldquo;you talk, we listen&rdquo; philosophy has provided a space for people in desperate situations to unburden themselves in a secure and non-judgemental environment during the charity&rsquo;s 60 years, but what happens when a caller admits to criminal activity?</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Most of these situations are covered by the confidentiality principle, though there are already exceptions, such as when information is received about terrorism or the charity is subject to a court order.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Yet the Children First Bill 2014, which requires certain professionals to tell the Child and Family Agency if they believe a child is being harmed, has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed, is something of a game changer for organisations such as Samaritans, because it may greatly expand the situation in which concerns will have to be relayed to a third party.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Scenarios<br />\r\n	The minutes of the 2011 board of trustees meeting which took the decision to change the confidentiality policy heard that helpline volunteers could face a range of scenarios once the legislation is passed. Among the possibilities that could arise is where a volunteer has to report on suspected abuse by a second party on a third party, the potential of a caller to become an abuser, fantasists and post-natal depression.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mandatory reporting has been a long time coming, despite a litany of reports suggesting certain tragic events could have been avoided if suspicions of abuse had been relayed to the authorities earlier. Much of the resistance derived from claims that offenders would not seek help or be frank if they felt what they said was not kept confidential.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Because of the impending legislation, Samaritans is changing the rules for its 12 branches in the Republic only, while the remainder of its 201 branches in Britain and Northern Ireland will continue as before.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The charity denies the decision made in London in 2011 was rushed and says it has taken until now to tease out all the operational details. Under the new rules, where a volunteer has concerns about child safety arising from a call, s/he will report to a superior who may seek advice from a social worker with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/children-first-bill-will-be-a-game-changer-for-samaritans-1.1857293\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/children-first-bill-will-be-a-game-changer-for-samaritans-1.1857293</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-07 11:53:49',NULL,'children-first-bill-will-be-a-game-changer-for-samaritans'),(594,'Anthony Jordan resigns from Samaritans over policy change on confidentiality','<p>\r\n	Guarantee of confidentiality will be removed where it is suspected a child is in danger</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A 40-year veteran of Samaritans has resigned over the organisation&rsquo;s decision to relax its core principle of confidentiality to comply with new child protection legislation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Historian and biographer Anthony Jordan, one of the longest-serving volunteers with Samaritans, resigned last month in protest at the removal of the guarantee of confidentiality for callers in situations where child abuse issues may arise.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Samaritans, which provides a 24-hour telephone helpline for people in emotional distress, says the change has been made necessary by new legislation, yet to be implemented, to make reporting of child abuse allegations mandatory. The change to the charity&rsquo;s rules will apply in the Republic but not in Britain or Northern Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Policy change<br />\r\n	In his resignation letter, Mr Jordan says he took the decision to resign after the organisation decided to drop its core value of confidentiality and subsequently stymied attempts by him to question the policy change.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He claims the decision, taken at a board of trustees meeting in London in November 2011, was presented to Irish members as a fait accompli. &ldquo;That meeting was told that the decision had to be taken at the meeting and, so urgent was it, there had not been time to consult all the directors in the Republic.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It was acknowledged that the legislation impending in the Republic was still not published so that its precise demands were unclear. Still, the meeting was urged to make its decision there and then.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Children First Bill was published last April and has still to go through the Oireachtas, he points out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The meeting agreed unanimously &ldquo;to provide confidential support to children but report to the HSE any contacts (from either adults or children) where it appears a child is experiencing specific situations such as those that can cause them serious harm from themselves or others&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;Significant implications&rsquo;<br />\r\n	It was noted that the decision had &ldquo;significant implications&rdquo; for the whole organisation and it was agreed that the decision &ldquo;not be the subject of pre-Council discussions with the wider organisation&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The meeting was also told that the ability of Samaritans to work with the HSE &ldquo;to achieve adjustments that may be of benefit to our callers&rdquo; depended on the decision.<br />\r\n	Mr Jordan says he attempted to have an EGM convened to discuss the matter, and was advised to write a paper, which was circulated internally. In mid-2014, he re-activated his request for a meeting but after this was refused he resigned.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The letter accuses the organisation of &ldquo;putting money ahead of the principle of confidentiality&rdquo;. Samaritans received almost &euro;2 million from the HSE between 2010 and 2014.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Samaritans says the November 2011 decision was an &ldquo;in principle&rdquo; decision, which has yet to be implemented because the legislation was not published.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/anthony-jordan-resigns-from-samaritans-over-policy-change-on-confidentiality-1.1857499\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/anthony-jordan-resigns-from-samaritans-over-policy-change-on-confidentiality-1.1857499</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-07 11:55:50',NULL,'anthony-jordan-resigns-from-samaritans-over-policy-change-on-confidentiality'),(595,'Concern over Child and Family Agency funding','<p>\r\n	The chief executive of the Children&#39;s Rights Alliance has said her organisation is concerned that the new Child and Family Agency, Tusla, is another potential casualty of austerity.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It follows comments by the Tusla chief executive that the agency does not have enough money at the moment due to demand for its services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking on RT&Eacute;&#39;s Morning Ireland, the Children&#39;s Rights Alliance&rsquo;s Tanya Ward said one in ten children within the child protection system did not have an allocated social worker or care plan.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Ward said if the agency did not have enough resources to fulfil its role those statistics could go in the wrong direction.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said the alliance was also concerned that the agency would not be in a position to support the new Children First legislation, which will put a legal obligation on those working with children to make referrals and to report instances of child abuse and neglect to Tusla.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Ward said this would result in a big increase in referrals to the agency.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &quot;This is the biggest public sector reform in the Programme for Government, and we&#39;ve had 17 official reports documenting how our child protection system was essentially broken.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;So you&#39;d imagine with the biggest public sector reform in Government that the Government would then back it with resources.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She added: &quot;And certainly we&#39;re concerned that again, it&#39;s another potential casualty of this austerity.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0707/628999-tusla-childrens-rights/\">http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0707/628999-tusla-childrens-rights/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-07 12:04:27',NULL,'concern-over-child-and-family-agency-funding'),(596,'Serial sex offender who groomed vulnerable boy gets life sentence','<p>\r\n	A serial sex offender who used a false identity to open up a shop before sexually abusing a boy he had hired to work there, has been sentenced to life in prison.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The 38-year-old groomed the vulnerable child and continued to abuse him after the 11-year-old boy&#39;s mother had died.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the sentence hearing, Mr Justice Paul Carney said that this case was so &quot;grave and exceptional&quot; that he believes his decision to impose a non-mandatory life sentence will be upheld by the Court of Criminal Appeal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;The Court of Criminal Appeal used to have little or no tolerance for non-mandatory life sentences,&quot; he said. &quot;That has now changed where the circumstances are considered exceptional.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The abuser molested the victim systematically and regularly over a six-month period. The abuse took place in the registered sex offender&#39;s bedsit at an address he had not disclosed to gardai despite being required to so under the law.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Dublin man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court, to 14 counts of sexual assault and defilement between December 2008 and June 2009.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The abuse continued after the man had attended the funeral of the child&#39;s mother.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Defilement</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The accused has 24 previous convictions including six for sexual offences. In 2000, he received a two-year sentence for the sexual assault of a young boy. In 2011, he was jailed for the sexual assault of two boys.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Justice Carney imposed a life sentence for defilement. He imposed a 14-year sentence for the sex assault charges, to run concurrently. He said the man retains the right to review by the parole board.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paul Coffey SC, prosecuting, said the man was aged 33 when he began grooming his victim, who was vulnerable. He then began systematically and regularly sexually abusing him.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man was required to tell gardai his home address but had provided them with his aging parent&#39;s city centre address. In reality, he was renting the bedsit and operating the shop using his alias. Concerns were raised that he had groomed the victim when gardai came across the accused during a separate unrelated investigation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a victim impact report, the boy told his abuser: &quot;Because of you I feel very angry, I have no self-confidence or self-belief. Because of you I walk to school with my head down because I don&#39;t want people to look at me&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The victim&#39;s family said that the child now cried every night and described himself as a &quot;dirty thing&quot;. They described the accused as a predator and said: &quot;You murdered his soul.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Caroline Biggs SC, defending, told the court that when he was sentenced in 2000 her client did not engage with the sex offender treatment programmes but that in a 2011 psychological assessment he said he was concerned about his behaviour.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said he was a psychologically vulnerable man who accepts the consequences of his of his attraction to young boys. She said that the appropriate therapeutic intervention might make him safe for society.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The judge rejected professional opinions that the abuser could be dealt with by community sanction as &quot;naive&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Passing sentence, the judge listed six cases where non-mandatory life sentences have now been upheld by the Court of Criminal Appeal and pointed out that he was the sentencing judge in most of them.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/serial-sex-offender-who-groomed-vulnerable-boy-gets-life-sentence-30413392.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/serial-sex-offender-who-groomed-vulnerable-boy-gets-life-sentence-30413392.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-08 08:54:37',NULL,'serial-sex-offender-who-groomed-vulnerable-boy-gets-life-sentence'),(597,'Victims still live in fear as double rapist \'Lolo\' to be freed from prison','<p>\r\n	A double rapist who gardai said would attack again if he was ever freed is set to be released from jail today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Patrick &#39;Lolo&#39; O&#39;Driscoll (46) is due to be freed from the Midlands Prison having served over 10 years for his last attack.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He was 23 when he first raped, and spent from 1991 to March 2000 behind bars for that attack. But he raped again just six months later, leading to the sentence he finishes today.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Both attacks he was convicted of involved him ambushing women as they walked alone in his native Cork and then subjecting them to a sick ordeal.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In one case, he told a woman he would target her child if she didn&#39;t comply with his wishes before beating her savagely over the head with a rock.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A third woman narrowly escaped a similar fate when O&#39;Driscoll stalked and attacked her in July 2001 while gardai were still investigating the second attack. Luckily for that victim her brother heard a noise and went to check what was wrong, and O&#39;Driscoll fled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When four gardai tried to arrest him in September 2000 he attacked them with a slash hook.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	O&#39;Driscoll, a member of the Travelling community from Coombe, Glenville, Co Cork, is said by sources to have been working-out constantly in the gym in the last few months.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	His last victim said in recent times that she still sleeps with a baseball bat by her pillow.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The woman who was raped, brutalised and left with a fractured skull by O&#39;Driscoll, said she lives in terror of his imminent release.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Such was the fear O&#39;Driscoll instilled that women in north Cork wouldn&#39;t go out alone at night while he was loose.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, one of his victims admitted that his release is the stuff of nightmares.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I am dreading the day when he walks free. It is something I have feared for the past 10 years and we know that he will be out very soon,&quot; she said. &quot;I am a totally different person today to what I was before the rape. It completely changed me.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I was outgoing and confident. Now, I need to be surrounded by friends all the time.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I won&#39;t go out alone at night. I won&#39;t ever walk alone. I sleep with a baseball bat by my pillow every night.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;I feel so badly let down by the justice system. Here is a man that has shown he is a danger to women and yet he will be able to start his life over again.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/victims-still-live-in-fear-as-double-rapist-lolo-to-be-freed-from-prison-30416959.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/victims-still-live-in-fear-as-double-rapist-lolo-to-be-freed-from-prison-30416959.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-09 09:17:33',NULL,'victims-still-live-in-fear-as-double-rapist-lolo-to-be-freed-from-prison'),(598,'Dublin council to acquire Nama hotel for homeless families','<p>\r\n	Central facility will house 70 families who are staying in 21 hotels across the capital</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Emergency places for homeless families in 21 hotels across Dublin are set to be transferred to a central facility after negotiations between Dublin City Council and Nama.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The council is to acquire a Nama-controlled hotel which will provide a minimum of 70 places for families living for months in hotels.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It is not yet known which hotel will be taken over by the council.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The new facility is being referred to by the council as a homeless &ldquo;assessment centre&rdquo; to &ldquo;fast-track&rdquo; families out of hotels and into long-term accommodation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the end of last month, 150 families with 311 children were living in hotels in the Dublin area. They were moved in as an emergency measure after contacting homeless services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Crisis levels<br />\r\n	The council said it acknowledges the use of hotels is not sustainable and represents the &ldquo;least cost-effective emergency response measure&rdquo; for dealing with homelessness.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The use of commercial hotels at circa 21 different locations has also proved unviable in undertaking assessments of need and providing necessary support to families,&rdquo; it said.<br />\r\n	The council is short of at least &euro;6 million this year needed to cope with the &ldquo;crisis-level demand&rdquo; for homeless emergency beds.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In its 2014 budget, it set aside &euro;750,000 for hotel rooms, but it expects the bill to exceed &euro;4 million for the year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	It has also committed to providing 80 more beds for rough sleepers by the end of September. This will cost about &euro;2.5 million the council said it does not have. Council management intends to seek 90 per cent of the shortfall from central Government.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/dublin-council-to-acquire-nama-hotel-for-homeless-families-1.1859843\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/dublin-council-to-acquire-nama-hotel-for-homeless-families-1.1859843</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-09 09:19:53',NULL,'dublin-council-to-acquire-nama-hotel-for-homeless-families'),(599,'Baby boy taken into HSE emergency care','<p>\r\n	A baby boy was taken into care after concerns that his teenage sister drove their mother home from a pub came to the attention of the authorities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The mother had been in a relationship with a man she had been told to stay away from and when officials called to the house they found him hiding in the attic, a district court has heard.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Garda&iacute; called to the home on July 3 and found a &lsquo;make-shift bed&rsquo; and the man hiding by the chimney flue.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	An emergency care order was executed and the baby was taken into care on July 4.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When authorities called to the home on July 4, the mother, who was in a distressed state, said her teenage daughter had taken the child for a walk.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When approached by authorities the daughter told them that her brother would be better off in care and &ldquo;would be better cared for than he was at home.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The court heard that the man had another child and served a jail sentence for a serious assault on her when she was two years and ten months old.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The girl was also &ldquo;found to have a large amount of alcohol in her system.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker told the court that the teenage daughter told them that her mother had been drinking that day. A can of cider was found by the bed, an empty bottle of vodka in a kitchen cupboard and garda&iacute; found &lsquo;40 fresh cans&rsquo; in a black bag on top of a bin.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The teenage daughter said her mother&rsquo;s partner had been in the house since May and that when garda&iacute; or social workers called to the house he would hide in the attic.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The teenager packed up her brother&rsquo;s belongings.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She also told social workers what type of food her baby brother preferred and told her how to soothe him to sleep at night.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A social worker told the court that the mother needed to get help to overcome her alcohol issues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She added it had been the belief of social workers that the mother was no longer drinking and that she had been in residential care to address the problem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This calls into question her ability to protect the child. We have met with lies and collusion and it is very difficult to assess the situation,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She added that the mother still accepted no responsibility for having her partner on the premises.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Garda&iacute; later told the court that when they discovered her partner in her attic that she began to scream &ldquo;how is he in my house?&rdquo; and claimed that she wasn&rsquo;t aware that he was there.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The woman&rsquo;s solicitor told the court that she did take responsibility for what happened over the last number of weeks and that she did accept she covered up certain matters.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said: &ldquo;There is a violent history among the partners in question and I would ask the court to consider that she was under a certain amount of fear and intimidation.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In her response, the social worker said that the woman would need to prioritise the safety of her young child above and beyond anything else.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;At this stage, I recommend that she needs residential treatment for her alcohol addiction&rdquo; and that since April she had been telling counsellors that she had not been drinking.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The social worker told the court, that they had since learned that the woman had been drinking since her baby son was two or three months old.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We now have to assess her capacity to protect her son,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/donegal-news/baby-boy-taken-into-hse-emergency-care-1-6171590\">http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/donegal-news/baby-boy-taken-into-hse-emergency-care-1-6171590</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-11 13:42:12',NULL,'baby-boy-taken-into-hse-emergency-care'),(600,'Mother and Baby Homes inquiry could ‘close sensitive chapter’','<p>\r\n	Group tells Minister for Children commission of inquiry must be inclusive, wide-ranging</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan was told today it was essential all relevant institutions be included within the remit of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Such a decision would allow &ldquo;Ireland to once and for all face up to its past and close this very sensitive chapter in our history.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At a meeting with the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors (CMABS), Mr Flanagan was told by group spokesman Paul Redmond that &ldquo;as the largest representative body of survivors, we want to ensure that this is the final institutional inquiry.&rdquo; He continued: &ldquo;we are committed to our belief that no one gets left behind.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Terms of reference for the new Commission of Investigation are expected to be announced in the D&aacute;il next Thursday.<br />\r\n	Mr Flanagan was told by group members that the Commission of Investigation should include all issues surrounding the separation of single mothers and their babies and children since 1922 as well as all other related matters including inhumane/degrading treatment and high mortality rates, vaccine trials, banished babies, all Protestant institutions,and county homes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They also requested that adoption records be opened and called for &ldquo; a proper investigation of the Magdalene Laundries, fathers rights, etc.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Theresa Tinggal, of Adopted Illegally Ireland, called for a full investigation into illegal adoptions to be included.<br />\r\n	The group asked to be consulted on the structure and rollout of the Commission of Investigation and that an independent, international judicial chairperson be appointed to head it.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They asked too for direct input into the selection of all key personnel on the Commission and presented the Minister with a list of potential candidates who may be available.<br />\r\n	Memorials for all Angel plots was also raised by the group, as a gesture to begin the process of healing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors was formed last year with the purpose of preparing a complaint to the UN Committee Against Torture. Its membership is made up of Adoption Rights Now, Beyond Adoption Ireland, Adopted Illegally Ireland, the Bethany Home Survivors, the Castlepollard Mother and Baby Home Group and the Dunboyne Mother and Baby Home Group. Internationally, it is connected to and supported by similar groups including the Adoption Coalition.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking after their discussion with Mr Flanagan, Mr Redmond said &ldquo;we welcome this positive meeting today as a sign of the Government&rsquo;s commitment to addressing these issues.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-could-close-sensitive-chapter-1.1862171\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-could-close-sensitive-chapter-1.1862171</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-11 13:44:18',NULL,'mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-could-‘close-sensitive-chapter’'),(601,'Man stabbed 15 times by his wife but ‘no one believed him’','<p>\r\n	A male domestic abuse survivor said no one would believe his wife had stabbed him 15 times.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	And as he recovered in hospital, his wife secured a protection order and the man lost any relationship he had with his two children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My daughter made her Confirmation but I was the criminal at the back of the church. I didn&rsquo;t get a photograph with my daughter. I didn&rsquo;t get anything. I was like a scumbag and it&rsquo;s wrong. It&rsquo;s very, very wrong,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man, who used the pseudonym &lsquo;Paul&rsquo;, was interviewed on TV3&rsquo;s Ireland AM with his face turned away from the camera and his voice heavily disguised.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He had met his wife in the mid-90s. They were engaged within four months and married after six.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	During their honeymoon, he said an alcohol-fuelled argument over him discovering her sitting with her arms around another man turned ugly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We left the bar and when we got around into an alley way, I got the bejaysus kicked out of me,&rdquo; he claimed. Even though he was, as he put it, &ldquo;a big bloke&rdquo; he did not retaliate. He put it down to drinking too much and never mentioned the incident again.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The man insisted his wife continued to physically abuse him but he put up with it. &ldquo;I just wanted an easy life; I didn&rsquo;t care.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her abusive behaviour worsened when she became pregnant with their first child.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;But, like, who did you tell? What do you do? Go down to the pub and say: &lsquo;Look what the missus did to me last night&rsquo;. You don&rsquo;t do it.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He felt he could not leave because there was no refuge centre for men in Ireland.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	One morning, he was stabbed 15 times with a kitchen knife and taken to hospital. While being treated, he discovered his wife was spinning her version of what had happened.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Two garda&iacute; came to see him in hospital. He showed them his wounds but he knew they did not believe him. &ldquo;The guard says to me: &lsquo;Well, I wouldn&rsquo;t really call them stab wounds&rsquo;. So how do I win?&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said his wife, who walked out of their home with their children, had claimed he had stabbed himself.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My kids don&rsquo;t want to know me now. They don&rsquo;t have a daddy. Mammies don&rsquo;t tell lies, only daddies tell lies,&rdquo; he said, becoming tearful.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like a bereavement. My father died. I go to his grave and say my prayers. I can go there but I have nothing.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A turning point, he said, was making contact with Amen &mdash; a support group for male victims of domestic abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t matter what you told them; it didn&rsquo;t matter. They listened to you. They believed you.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Amen manager Niamh Farrell, who also appeared on the show, said 800 men in a similar situation to Paul&rsquo;s made initial contact with the support service last year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	www.amen.ie</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/man-stabbed-15-times-by-his-wife-but-no-one-believed-him-275051.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/man-stabbed-15-times-by-his-wife-but-no-one-believed-him-275051.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-11 13:44:51',NULL,'man-stabbed-15-times-by-his-wife-but-‘no-one-believed-him’'),(602,'Ireland will be defending its record on human rights at the UN today','<p>\r\n	Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will make her debut in front of the committee.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ireland&#39;s progress in implementing civil and political rights will be put under scrutiny by the United Nation&rsquo;s Human Rights Committee over the next two days.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will lead the Irish State delegation and her appearance, defending Ireland&rsquo;s work in the area, will be streamed live this afternoon.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	A number of organisations and advocacy groups have also made submissions to the committee ahead of the hearing to outline the reality of rights protections across the country.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Among the group heading to Geneva today are Amnesty International Ireland, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Irish Penal Reform Trust, Survivors of Symphysiotomy, LGBT Noise and Doctors for Choice.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Designate said it will also raise concerns relating to institutional abuse, direct provision, trafficking, violence against women, Traveller ethnicity, discrimination against the Roma community, mental health, policing and prisons, and religion and education in schools.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The IHREC Designate has a statutory remit to monitor and report on Ireland&rsquo;s compliance with its human rights obligations, namely the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Ireland has ratified.<br />\r\n	Survivors of Symphysiotomy, whose members have just rejected a proposed &euro;34 million redress scheme, hope their appearance will put pressure on the government to acknowledge that the childbirth practice was a human rights abuse.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Chairperson Marie O&rsquo;Connor says she hopes how Ireland has dealt with survivors of symphysiotomy will be central to the UN&rsquo;s scrutiny of Ireland.<br />\r\n	&ldquo;The performance of symphysiotomy amounted to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Doctors intentionally inflicted severe pain and suffering on women and girls, some as young as 14, for non-clinical reasons. In very many cases, the effects, both physical and mental, of the surgery, have been lifelong and this is what qualifies our complaint for examination.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The women are looking for &ldquo;an effective remedy&rdquo; which would include an acknowledgement, rather than an ex-gratia compensation scheme.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/human-rights-record-ireland-1564316-Jul2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/human-rights-record-ireland-1564316-Jul2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-14 10:47:01',NULL,'ireland-will-be-defending-its-record-on-human-rights-at-the-un-today'),(603,'Garda child porn forensics unit to get extra staff','<p>\r\n	The Garda&rsquo;s Computer Crime Investigation unit has been beefed up with an additional eight forensic examiners in a bid to tackle a significant backlog in processing online child abuse cases.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Recent criticisms in the courts highlighted the insufficient technology and manpower needed to process the equipment seized in such cases &mdash; resulting in delays of up to three years. But now eight new forensic examiners are being fast-tracked through training and the purchase of &ldquo;high-powered&rdquo; computers has been speeded up to address the backlog.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	According to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, Acting Garda Commissioner N&oacute;ir&iacute;n O&rsquo;Sullivan has initiated a comprehensive review and &ldquo;strategic realignment&rdquo; of Garda capacity to deal with crimes of that nature.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I am advised that this will immediately halt the growth in outstanding cases and begin to address the backlog,&rdquo; said Ms Fitzgerald. The minister said those measures include:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- New &ldquo;triage&rdquo; arrangements &ldquo;to maximise use of skilled resources, prioritisation of training to ensure a further eight forensic examiners are fully trained and operational by the end of July.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- A new approach to the management of the process which will double the closure rate by the end of the third quarter of 2014.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- Acceleration in investment in high powered computers</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	- Structures are to be put in place for fast-tracking cases that require early intervention.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I am further advised that an in-depth review of this approach will be concluded by end 2014 to ensure that the desired increase in output is being delivered,&rdquo; said the minister.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Sinn F&eacute;in justice spokesman P&aacute;draig Mac Lochlainn, who has been pursuing the issue with the minister in recent months, said the big problem was the IT equipment available to investigators.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;By all accounts the technology has not been updated regularly enough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The software programmes used (by producers and viewers of child abuse images) have encryption built in. Therefore, garda&iacute; need to have the most cutting-edge technology. Personal resources are important, but technology is vital.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Mac Lochlainn referenced a recent case in which a person charged with having images on a &ldquo;grievous level&rdquo; did not face prosecution because of a time delay in producing evidence from the accused&rsquo;s computer.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Sinn F&eacute;in TD said he was hearing of delays of up to three years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The international community are improving their levels of co-operation,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;American security is identifying the people responsible here. They have done the work for us. All we have to do is take the computers from the scene of the crime.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Cork District Court Judge Olann Kelleher recently raised concerns about the delays caused by the volume of investigations into suspected possession of child porn. In one case where IT equipment was seized as part of a probe into suspected child pornography, the computers remained at Garda forensics for four years.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Thomas O&rsquo;Donnell has declared himself &ldquo;flabbergasted&rdquo; by the length of delays.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/garda-child-porn-forensics-unit-to-get-extra-staff-275343.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/garda-child-porn-forensics-unit-to-get-extra-staff-275343.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-14 11:07:22',NULL,'garda-child-porn-forensics-unit-to-get-extra-staff'),(604,'People with disabilities are stepping out of the shadows and taking power','<p>\r\n	Meet Ireland&rsquo;s newest champion advocates who are setting out to change the world for the better.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	These three pioneering young women are among the first graduates of a groundbreaking new third-level course designed specifically for people with intellectual disabilities.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Speaking Up for Yourself course at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) has given them new confidence which they said will help them &ldquo;step out of the shadows and take back the power&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;A lot of people are ignorant. They just see us as shadows. We are always in the background,&rdquo; said Cope&rsquo;s first lady mayoress Noreen O&rsquo;Driscoll.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;But completing this course is like us taking one step to the moon.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Our message is: &lsquo;Look at us, we&rsquo;re coming, beware! We&rsquo;re here, listen to us, see us, don&rsquo;t push us to the back&rsquo;.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Cope Foundation supports more than 2,300 children and adults with intellectual disabilities or autism through its network of 65 locations across Cork City and county.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In 2013, it established a working group of its clients, managers, and frontline staff to examine the whole area of advocacy and how it could benefit its clients.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;For a long time people with intellectual disabilities have been helped and cared for, but have rarely been empowered to take control of choices and decisions that affect their daily lives,&rdquo; Cope spokesperson Julie O&rsquo;Leary said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Cope wanted to change this for the people it supports and wanted to strengthen their voice within the organisation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Advocacy can have a profound impact on the life of a person with an intellectual disability.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Often for the first time in their life, a person can feel empowered and heard by others.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Feeling heard and knowing your voice is important has a significant effect on a person&rsquo;s self-esteem and confidence.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The foundation collaborated with CIT to establish a pilot workshop on developing self-advocacy skills.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	And last February and March, 11 people &mdash; Noreen O&rsquo;Driscoll, William Irwin, the first lord mayor of Cope Foundation, Alice O&rsquo;Donnell, Fergus O&rsquo;Donovan, Joseph McCarthy, Leigh Griffin, Marguerite Darcy, Brendan O&rsquo;Sullivan, Sharon Lane, David Leland, and Miriam Creagh &mdash; successfully completed the Speaking up for Yourself Advocacy Workshops.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The group attended CIT as part of the main student body. For all of them, it was their first opportunity to experience student life on a college campus.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	They attended lectures and workshops over three Fridays, exploring topics such as empowerment, assertiveness, autonomy, resilience and speaking up with confidence in real life.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	All 11are now champions of advocacy in Cope Foundation, speaking up for their fellow clients, and feeding information directly to Cope CEO Colette Kelleher, and her senior management, at regular monthly meetings.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Noreen, who lives independently in Blackpool, said she jumped at the opportunity of doing the course.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s changed my life. I got more confidence. I could be myself. I could talk and people would listen,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;We learned to stand up for ourselves, and how to say no when we have to. It&rsquo;s like I&rsquo;m a new person.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The skills she learned have already helped her in the wider community.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She recalled a recent incident as she tried to return a top to a city centre shop when she felt the shop assistant was dismissive of her. She decided to draw on the skills she learned at CIT and spoke out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I told her I&rsquo;m a customer and I have rights. And she took the top back. I was very proud of myself and gave myself a pat on the back,&rdquo; Noreen said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Special Olympics soccer player, Sharon Lane, who underwent a kidney transplant about a year ago and who is supported at the QDS workshop in Togher, said she learned about equal rights, fairness, resilience, and &ldquo;taking back the power&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Before, if I saw something wrong, I&rsquo;d do nothing about it, just keep it in my head,&rdquo; Sharon said. &ldquo;Now, I tell them I&rsquo;ve been sent on a course to stand up for myself and others, and you&rsquo;re going to have to listen.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Miriam Creagh, who is supported in Cope&rsquo;s Glasheen complex, said the course taught her to talk up for herself and for other people who can&rsquo;t talk up for themselves.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;If they can&rsquo;t speak up for themselves, they can talk to me, and then I talk for them,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;If I see anyone in trouble, I talk to the staff, and they will sort things out.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Before, I didn&rsquo;t think my voice would be heard. Now I feel I&rsquo;ve got my voice back.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The group won the Inclusion Ireland Advocacy Award earlier this year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/people-with-disabilities-are-stepping-out-of-the-shadows-and-taking-power-275288.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/people-with-disabilities-are-stepping-out-of-the-shadows-and-taking-power-275288.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-14 11:08:17',NULL,'people-with-disabilities-are-stepping-out-of-the-shadows-and-taking-power'),(605,'Agency challenge judge’s decision directing it to place child in the care of her parents','<p>\r\n	Girl missed over half of her schooldays in the past three years</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The Child and Family Agency is challenging a judge&rsquo;s decision directing it to place a child in the care of her parents after finding the child had been neglected by her mother, said to have a drug problem but to be receiving treatment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The agency sought an interim care order, saying it had serious concerns for the girl, who missed over half of her schooldays in the past three years, and her mother.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The matter came before Judge Colin Daly at Dublin District Court who earlier this month made an interim care order directing the child be placed in the care of her parents whom he directed must fully participate in support meetings and various programmes.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When the judge directed the agency to place the child in the care of her parents, the agency objected but the judge said he was entitled to make the order under section 47 of the Child Care Act.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In High Court proceedings, the agency, which has taken over HSE responsibility for child welfare and protection services, claims the District Court judge erred in law in directing the child be placed in her parents&rsquo; care .</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Justice Iseult O&rsquo;Malley granted the ex parte (one side only) application for leave for judicial review and returned the matter to later this month.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/agency-challenge-judge-s-decision-directing-it-to-place-child-in-the-care-of-her-parents-1.1866193\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/agency-challenge-judge-s-decision-directing-it-to-place-child-in-the-care-of-her-parents-1.1866193</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-15 11:47:57',NULL,'agency-challenge-judge’s-decision-directing-it-to-place-child-in-the-care-of-her-parents'),(606,'Man who accessed child pornography at Dublin hostel walks free from court','<p>\r\n	A Romanian man who admitted accessing child pornography at a Dublin hostel has avoided going to jail on condition that he continues to attend counselling.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Iosif Antili (41) of St Ignatius Avenue, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography on December 6, 2010 and January 13, 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Mary Ellen Ring said there was no evidence that Antili had distributed any of the pornography.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She noted Antili has no previous offences and co-operated with garda&iacute; throughout their investigations.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	But Judge Ring said accessing child pornography was &ldquo;not a victimless crime&rdquo; and that the children in the images, although they would probably never been identified, had been abused.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She sentenced him to two and a half years in prison but suspended it in full on condition that he continues to attend counselling.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Garda Neil Woods told Tara Burns BL, prosecuting, that the abuse emerged after Antili&#39;s laptop went missing.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Antili went to the manager of the Dublin Budget Accommodation Hostel where he was staying and said his laptop had been stolen from his room.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Hostel manager Paula Fagan told garda&iacute; that as she had known Antili for 18 months, she lent him her own personal laptop on December 6, 2010.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When he returned it to her on January 13, 2011, Ms Fagan noticed that her laptop had a new toolbar and a different browser.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Several internet sites had been accessed, including sites of pre-teen, schoolgirl and baby pornography.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Fagan said when she checked the sites and saw pictures of naked children she was shocked and immediately rang garda&iacute;. Garda&iacute; then seized the laptop and found 89 illegal images.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	On April 15, 2011, garda&iacute; searched Antili&#39;s house and seized another Samsung laptop, containing 12 image files and three movie clips of child pornography.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Antili was arrested and said he had accessed adult movies and that images of children had popped up on the screen. He told garda&iacute; he had no interest in children and had been involved in helping homeless children in Romania.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Garda&iacute; said the images found on the computer showed young girls aged between 8 and 14, semi-naked or naked, with their genitalia exposed. The movie clip, which had been downloaded three times, showed a girl aged 10 giving oral sex to a man.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Justin McQuade BL, defending, said Antili entered an early guilty plea. He said his client was a single, quiet-living man who had a full-time job in a restaurant. He said he sent his wages home to support his family in Romania.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr McQuade said Antili is not on the garda radar, is &ldquo;otherwise a model citizen&rdquo; and is paying to attend therapy twice a month.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/man-who-accessed-child-pornography-at-dublin-hostel-walks-free-from-court-30430255.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/man-who-accessed-child-pornography-at-dublin-hostel-walks-free-from-court-30430255.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-15 11:57:34',NULL,'man-who-accessed-child-pornography-at-dublin-hostel-walks-free-from-court'),(607,'Parents’ shock at €500k cut to disability services for children','<p>\r\n	St Catherine&rsquo;s Association said it did not receive any prior notice that the funds were to be cut.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Parents whose children avail of disability services from an association in Co Wicklow are shocked to hear that the HSE has cut its funding by &euro;500k.<br />\r\n	They now fear that they won&rsquo;t be able to get pre-school intervention for their children with intellectual and physical disabilities, and that a range of other services will be affected.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The HSE has told St Catherine&rsquo;s Association that it is to withdraw just over 9% of its funding (&euro;500k) this year.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The association has served the people of Co Wicklow for more than 40 years, caring for children from all over the country, from birth to the age of 18.<br />\r\n	How parents were informed</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	A letter from Dr Ian Grey, the Acting General Manager and Director of Services, to parents said that the HSE has confirmed that it will no longer provide funding for any early intervention classes in St Catherine&rsquo;s Association.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	However, it will continue to fund the students in St Catherine&rsquo;s who are already attending HSE-funded preschool classes for one year, ending in June 2015.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	In the letter, which was seen by TheJournal.ie, Dr Grey said that the association is entirely reliant on funds received from the HSE to deliver its services that come under the remit of the HSE.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said that the association:</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	did not receive from the HSE prior written notification of this cut prior to its implementation.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The cut will &ldquo;have very serious and far reaching consequences&rdquo; for the association and parents, said Dr Grey in the letter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	He added that the HSE &ldquo;claims that St Catherine&rsquo;s Association spends the amount outlined above (&euro;500k) for education purposes and the HSE does not provide and will not fund educational services&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	St Catherine&rsquo;s believes that the figures used in this respect are inaccurate and &ldquo;flawed&rdquo;. It has written to the HSE about this.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	&ldquo;If the HSE do not reverse the cut to core funding, the association will no longer be able to provide the level of service it has traditionally delivered to our clients and their families,&rdquo; said Dr Grey in his letter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	A review of all its services is now required, and areas that will be affected by the cuts are: speech and language therapy, psychology, nursing, physiotherapy and respite.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Parents are worried<br />\r\n	Tara Gorman is a parent whose daughter Sarah avails of St Catherine&rsquo;s Association&rsquo;s services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Gorman is secretary of the parents&rsquo; association and said that not only will the cuts affect students availing of the association&rsquo;s facilities, but also children who are in St Catherine&rsquo;s special school who go to the association for therapies.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	&ldquo;250 families use the service of St Catherine&rsquo;s, and it is not solely people from Wicklow,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	Her daughter, who has Down syndrome, has been with the association since birth and is in the special school.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The family were just about to avail of respite for Sarah but this will be affected, as will occupational therapy sessions for her, said her mother.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She is concerned about the long-term effect this could have for her daughter.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Fear and anxiety</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Gorman held a meeting of parents at the weekend, and said &ldquo;the mood was of fear and anxiety&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	She said that some had been in touch with other preschools to see if they could take in their children, and were told they were full.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know what supports will come,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	&ldquo;The HSE&rsquo;s own policy document states that they do fund preschool for children with complex needs. We would argue that these children who are being affected are children with complex needs,&rdquo; said Gorman.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The parents are writing to the HSE with their personal stories and are also forwarding these onto the Taoiseach.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The parents are unhappy with the timing of the cut from the HSE, given the recent Cabinet reshuffle. Discussions are believed to be ongoing between the school and the HSE on the issue of the cuts.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	With seven weeks before the school year begins, parents are anxious to find out what is ahead for their children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	What the HSE has to say</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<br />\r\n	The HSE said in a statement:<br />\r\n	St Catherine&rsquo;s Association is a voluntary organisation and a separate legal entity from the HSE. The HSE funds St Catherine&rsquo;s Association to provide health related services to its clients.The HSE engage with St Catherine&rsquo;s Association in relation to their financial and governance issues on a regular basis. Senior HSE management met with St. Catherine&rsquo;s Association, Thursday, 10th July 2014 and further engagement is planned.The HSE&rsquo;s priority is to protect the disability services that the children attending St Catherine&rsquo;s Association receive and to support their families.<br />\r\n	&nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.thejournal.ie/st-catherines-association-co-wicklow-hse-cuts-1570897-Jul2014/\">http://www.thejournal.ie/st-catherines-association-co-wicklow-hse-cuts-1570897-Jul2014/</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-15 12:00:40',NULL,'parents’-shock-at-€500k-cut-to-disability-services-for-children'),(608,'Child welfare expert warns of more deaths in State care','<p>\r\n	A leading child welfare expert has warned that more children in receipt of state care could die needlessly, despite assurances that the system has been reformed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Trinity College Professor Dr Helen Buckley said she could not rule out a repeat of the circumstances which led to the drug overdose death of Danny Talbot, whose care by the HSE was severely criticised in a report.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Her comments contrast with those of the head of the new Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Gordon Jeyes, who said yesterday there were no indications that shortcomings still existed to the same level as they did in the Talbot case.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Buckley was speaking following the publication of four reports into child deaths by the independent National Review Panel she chaired.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The panel was highly critical of the HSE&#39;s involvement with Mr Talbot (19), who died in 2009. It found serious shortcoming in the mental health and social worker services provided to the teenager.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Critically, the panel concluded that his needs were never fully assessed despite considerable contact with the health services for over a decade.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report&#39;s authors were also unable to determine whether fears that the young Dubliner may have been abused by his late father were ever followed up.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Talbot&#39;s family has accused the HSE of failing him &quot;from the cradle to the grave&quot;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Although Dr Buckley said things had improved since the establishment of the agency earlier this year, she expressed concern about funding for the agency, ongoing staffing vacancies and delays in responding to reports of potential abuse and neglect.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Pressure</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She said there were still waiting lists and &quot;gaps&quot; in the allocation of social workers to troubled children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	When asked if there could be a similar case to that of Mr Talbot in future, she said: &quot;I would never say never.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The professor added: &quot;One of the things that does concern us is the pressure on the services and means that children who have low visibility, who are neglected, who are just under the radar, may not be getting the services that they need even though the structure of the agency has improved considerably.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paul Harrison, a former HSE official who is now director of policy and strategy at Tusla, accepted the findings of the report and apologised to Mr Talbot&#39;s family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Mr Harrison also confirmed that there were more than 160 vacant positions in the agency, including more than 80 social work posts.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said it was under considerable strain, with 9,000 cases potentially involving neglect, abuse or other issues of concern awaiting allocation to a social worker on any given day.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking to RTE Radio, Tusla chief executive Gordon Jeyes, downplayed the likelihood of a repeat of the Talbot case occurring.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;There have been huge improvements with the services,&quot; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We are creating strong and consistent accountability. It is a work in progress and obviously risks are mitigated by the level of resources available.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The report on Mr Talbot&#39;s death was one of two published yesterday involving drug-related deaths.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The remaining two reports dealt with the accidental death of an 18-month-old girl and the passing of a terminally ill four-year-old boy.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Both families had been involved with social services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A fifth report into the death of a young girl, which had also been due to be published, was withdrawn at the last minute at the request of the family.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Since the review group was set up four and a half years ago, there have been 12 deaths of children while they were in care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Three died by suicide, one was killed by someone else, while the majority of the rest of the deaths were from natural causes, including terminal illness, life-threatening conditions, accidents and sudden infant deaths.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/child-welfare-expert-warns-of-more-deaths-in-state-care-30438309.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/child-welfare-expert-warns-of-more-deaths-in-state-care-30438309.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-17 09:22:42',NULL,'child-welfare-expert-warns-of-more-deaths-in-state-care'),(609,'Ex-Rehab bosses can\'t be forced to appear before PAC','<p>\r\n	The Dail&#39;s spending watchdog has been formally refused permission to compel two former Rehab Group chief executives to give evidence.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Angela Kerins and Frank Flannery will avoid an appearance at the Public Accounts Committee after the Dail&#39;s rules body decided the PAC would be exceeding its powers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The decision was made by the rules body, the Committee on Procedure and Privilege (CPP), after it received senior counsel advice last night. It represents a major setback for the PAC&#39;s investigation of Rehab.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	However, the CPP approved an application from the PAC to get compellability powers which would allow it to quiz a former SIPTU official, Matt Merrigan, and two other officials.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	TDs wish to quiz Mr Merrigan over his role in setting up a multi-million euro &quot;slush fund&quot; account that was used to fund foreign trips.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The CPP was the only body which had the power to grant compellability powers to the PAC. It is expected to inform the spending watchdog of its formal decision shortly.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Debate</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The crucial issue which settled the debate was the legal interpretation of the PAC&#39;s remit.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Technically, it is only supposed to examine bodies audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Although Rehab receives over &euro;80m a year in state funding, it is not audited by the C&amp;AG.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	In a letter to the PAC last night, the CPP said the spending watchdog would be acting &quot;ultra vires&quot; &ndash; or in excess of its powers &ndash; by seeking to compel Mr Flannery and Ms Kerins.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This rules out the prospect of compelling the former Rehab bosses, who are unwilling to attend. However, as the C&amp;AG has examined the so-called SIPTU slush fund, this paves the way for Mr Merrigan to be compelled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The CPP said another SIPTU official, Jack Kelly, and a former Department of Health employee, Alan Smith, could also be compelled.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Given the existence of the C&amp;AG special report on this issue, the CPP is satisfied that this matter is within the terms of reference of the PAC,&quot; the decision letter said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Both Ms Kerins and Mr Flannery had accused the PAC of &quot;a gross abuse&quot; of its position and of knowingly acting outside its remit.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Lawyers acting for Ms Kerins also claimed the committee was &quot;compromised&quot; and &quot;biased&quot; against her.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/exrehab-bosses-cant-be-forced-to-appear-before-pac-30438300.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/exrehab-bosses-cant-be-forced-to-appear-before-pac-30438300.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-17 09:24:37',NULL,'ex-rehab-bosses-cant-be-forced-to-appear-before-pac'),(610,'Charities want building programme and rent controls to tackle homelessness','<p>\r\n	A massive public house-building programme and rent controls are needed to combat the growing housing crisis, it has been claimed.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Charities have called on the Government to invest &euro;500m next year in building at least 3,000 homes and to increase rent supplement payments and impose caps on rents in order to protect vulnerable families.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A total 39 families became homeless in Dublin last month alone, Threshold said, with the supply of houses coming on to the market dwindling.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Despite more than 90,000 people on housing waiting lists &ndash; the real number is believed to be substantially higher &ndash; just 750 social housing units were delivered in 2013.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Budget 2015 is an opportunity for the Government to introduce truly effective and targeted measures to prevent more families becoming homeless, to increase the supply of housing for vulnerable families and to tackle the various problems caused by rapidly rising rents,&quot; Threshold chief executive Bob Jordan said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;We are calling on the Government to increase rent supplement limits in a targeted way to help those living in high-demand areas.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Rent control measures must be introduced to curb unsustainable rent increases and give greater stability and certainty to tenants and landlords.&quot;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The comments were made at the Dail Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Committee which was examining pre-Budget submissions from Threshold, Focus Ireland, the Simon Communities and Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV).</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The IPAV said a National Property Authority should be established to advise the Housing Minister, vacant sites in cities should be used for housing and planning permissions for apartments should be turned into permission for houses.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;Incentives to purchase are of little use if there is not an adequate supply,&quot; chief executive Pat Davitt said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Focus Ireland said &euro;500m in 2015, and &euro;1bn per year thereafter, should be invested in social housing, while the Simon Communities said the number of properties available for rent was falling. Rents have risen in some cases by as much as 40pc, pricing people out of the market and forcing many into homelessness.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&quot;A review of rent supplement limits needs to be carried out now,&quot; Simon&#39;s head of policy, Niamh Randall, said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/charities-want-building-programme-and-rent-controls-to-tackle-homelessness-30438314.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/charities-want-building-programme-and-rent-controls-to-tackle-homelessness-30438314.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-17 09:25:42',NULL,'charities-want-building-programme-and-rent-controls-to-tackle-homelessness'),(611,'No social worker for 3,000 children at immediate risk','<p>\r\n	More than 3,000 high-priority children known to be in immediate danger of serious neglect or abuse have no dedicated social worker.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The shocking claim was made by children&rsquo;s rights activist and senator, Jillian Van Turnhout, at yesterday&rsquo;s meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee of Health and Children.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	She discovered that more than 3,000 of the 9,000 children who have no social worker at any given time are considered to be &lsquo;high-priority&rsquo; cases by the Child and Family Agency.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	High-priority cases are classed as children at immediate risk of harm, such as being abandoned, beaten or sexually abused.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;I am alarmed that figure is so high. I think we should be ringing alarm bells,&rdquo; Ms Van Turnhout said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Senior officials from the CFA admitted on Wednesday that children&rsquo;s lives might still be at risk when they published the latest reports into the deaths of children and young people known to social services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Van Turnhout said the figure that was taken from an internal CFA report included more than 3,000 cases considered &lsquo;high priority&rsquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister James Reilly said it was obvious that there were a &ldquo;raft of things&rdquo; that seemed to be looked at in isolation and delays in reports and information changing hands.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms Van Turnhout said it would be reprehensible if the performance of the agency was to be measured on the number of children who died in state care.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Will we be applauding ourselves that less children have died this year in the care of the State? We have to set targets and they need to be published.,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/no-social-worker-for-3000-children-at-immediate-risk-275891.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/no-social-worker-for-3000-children-at-immediate-risk-275891.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-18 10:08:52',NULL,'no-social-worker-for-3000-children-at-immediate-risk'),(612,'Logan to head up human rights body','<p>\r\n	Children&rsquo;s Ombudsman Emily Logan has been widely welcomed as the new head of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The IHEC combines two state agencies, the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	This followed years of successive and deep cutbacks in the funding to both bodies.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	At the launch of their annual reports last November, both agencies detailed the impact the cuts had on their work.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Speaking at the launch, former justice minister Alan Shatter, said he was &ldquo;personally disappointed&rdquo; at the delay in establishing the new agency, which he had announced in 2011.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The appointment of a high-profile figure in Ms Logan has been taken as a positive sign by voluntary bodies and observers.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	The director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Mark Kelly &ldquo;enthusiastically welcomed&rdquo; her appointment.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;Emily Logan is an outstanding choice as the first Chief Commissioner of the new Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As Ombudsman for Children, she has been a fearless defender of the rights of vulnerable young people and her independence and vision will be huge assets to Ireland&rsquo;s new statutory human rights institution.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;The ICCL welcomes the fact the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission now has a full complement of commissioners appointed through an independent merit-based process.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Tanya Ward of Children&rsquo;s Rights Alliance said: &ldquo;Emily Logan has done an outstanding job as Ireland&rsquo;s first Ombudsman for Children and we commend her on her many achievements. She established the Office under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 and developed it into the highly-respected body.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Making the announcement, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said Ms Logan brought &ldquo;a wealth of experience&rdquo; to the job.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/logan-to-head-up-human-rights-body-275871.html\">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/logan-to-head-up-human-rights-body-275871.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-18 10:09:28',NULL,'logan-to-head-up-human-rights-body'),(613,'Reilly calls for TUSLA to cut legal fees','<p>\r\n	Children should be benefiting from much of the &euro;34m which is now being spent on legal fees by the child and family agency, TUSLA, Minister for Children James Reilly has said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He wants the agency, which oversees child welfare and protection, to cut its &quot;huge&quot; payout to lawyers and direct it towards more services for children instead.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Minister Reilly, who was appearing before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, was speaking after a series of reviews into deaths involving young people in care or known to social services.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A spokeswoman for TUSLA said it was implementing a series of efficiencies to cut its legal bill. They intend to reduce the dependency on external support for general corporate matters and non-childcare specific service issues.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Work is also continuing to monitor expenditure on third party costs and guardians ad litem.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Dr Reilly confirmed he was in talks with the Department of Health about bringing some areas of public health with him, including responsibility for disease-prevention measures.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/reilly-calls-for-tusla-to-cut-legal-fees-30441103.html\">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/reilly-calls-for-tusla-to-cut-legal-fees-30441103.html</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-18 10:16:58',NULL,'reilly-calls-for-tusla-to-cut-legal-fees'),(614,'Warning issued on mother-and-baby homes inquiry','<p>\r\n	Complaint to UN panel against torture likely if remit limited, says survivor group</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	A group representing people housed in mother-and-baby homes has warned that it will bring a complaint to the UN Committee Against Torture if the terms of a forthcoming inquiry are not inclusive.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Paul Redmond of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors said the terms of reference of the Government&rsquo;s commission of investigation into mother-and-baby homes must be comprehensive.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;My hope for the terms of reference is that they will be as full and inclusive as possible and that the entire issue of how society treated unmarried mothers before and after the birth of their children should be looked at,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	He said this should include all women and children housed in State-supported mother-and-baby homes, those run by religious orders, county homes, Protestant-run homes, private homes including the Regina Coeli hostels, institutions such as Stamullen, Co Meath and St Patrick&rsquo;s Infant Hospital in Temple Hill, Blackrock and other associated institutions as well as adoption practices.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Wide-ranging inquiry<br />\r\n	&ldquo;If the terms of reference fail to meet our expectations we will bring the issue to the UN Committee against Torture to try and force the Government to widen the terms of reference to include everything and everybody,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Meanwhile, Claire McGettrick of the Adoption Rights Alliance said past adoption practices were &ldquo;inextricably linked&rdquo; to the mother-and-baby homes and needed to be fully investigated as part of the inquiry.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&ldquo;This needs to be done as quickly as possible because there are people who are of a certain age who aren&rsquo;t going to be around much longer who can shed light on this so we need to act quickly to get to the bottom of this,&rdquo; she said.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	&lsquo;Forced adoption&rsquo;<br />\r\n	Ms McGettrick said illegal and forced adoptions needed to be investigated as part of this process: &ldquo;In 1967, almost 97 per cent of non-marital births ended in adoption. That&rsquo;s in itself is evidence of a policy of forced adoption . . . there was zero choice,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;If this isn&rsquo;t done right this time it will come round again. This has to be dealt with. It is not something that is going to go away.&rdquo;</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Ms McGettrick added that proposed adoption tracing legislation &ldquo;will not solve the problems of the past&rdquo;. &ldquo;There has been no acknowledgement of the impact of loss of identity on adopted people and the effects of disenfranchised grief on both adopted people and their natural mothers which are themselves an abuse&rdquo;.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	Last week Minister for Children James Reilly announced that the publication of the terms of reference for the commission of investigation into mother-and-baby homes has been postponed until autumn.</p>\r\n<p>\r\n	<a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/warning-issued-on-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-1.1872513\">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/warning-issued-on-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry-1.1872513</a></p>\r\n','public','',1,'2014-07-21 09:20:14',NULL,'warning-issued-on-mother-and-baby-homes-inquiry'),