Comments on: HSE Social Workers in the shit

By: Conor

Conor — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:36:18 +0000

Over two months after it happened, the (Garda, HSE, government) investigations are still going on with no answers as of yet. As for the group set up to look at out-of-hours services in the wake of Sharon Grace’s death and those of her daughters, it’s still to report.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:34:31 +0000

Nothing Donna. Total silence. The news agenda moved on. We’ll wait for the next case I suppose….

By: Donna Neal

Donna Neal — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:30:29 +0000

Is there any updated news about this tagic story. We here in the states only get dribbles of this story. Has anyone uncovered anything or more to the point does anyone care anymore. I pray for the poor family left behind to live wth this day in and day out.
God bless them.
dm

By: Please Make Mental Health an Election issue! at Irish Election

Please Make Mental Health an Election issue! at Irish Election — Wed, 09 May 2007 01:03:05 +0000

[...] for a great front page splash, a suicide does not not, and yet, it is really only as a result of a tragic suicide that mental health receives attention from the media. It is also the focus of many government [...]

By: Gordon Davies

Gordon Davies — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:27:03 +0000

I agree with you, how could the neighbours know, which is why I am calling into question the nature of the community that we are creating. Seeing people in the pub or the post office is a very superficial form of social contact. It would seem that people are increasingly reluctant to allow others in to their homes. When was the last time a neighbour came in unannounced and sat down for a chat and a cup of tea/beer/glass of wine. Our social life seems to be increasingly built round more distant, superficial contacts. In the same way as the 4 commuter family (parents working, kids in a not-local school) which is the Dublin commuter belt norm have a different, more distant form of family life.

I am not sure that people are that good at keeping secrets… they are however very good at avoiding taking other peoples problems. This is how many child molestors get away with it for so long.

Gordon

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:31:28 +0000

‘Why did the neighbours and the local community not, apparently, realise the problems this family were encountering?’

Gordon, what on earth makes you think that people should have been able to realise what was going on? These were people who, up until recently, acted just like anybody else in the community as far as we know.

I would advise everybody to take a moment to realise that they probably know somebody who is a child molestor. Several of your neighbours have had extra-marital affairs, that you know nothing about. Many of them have suffered or are suffering from mental disorders. The same can be said of your relatives.

People are very good at keeping secrets. It is a mistake to assume that just because somebody acts normally when you meet them in the pub, at work or in the post office, that they are not abnormal in some way. Likewise, it is a mistake to think that somebody who commits some sort of abnormal act must have been behaving like a ‘weirdo’ in living their daily life.

By: Gordon Davies

Gordon Davies — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:27:38 +0000

Of course our reaction to this horrible tragedy should have a political dimension. There are questions to be answered not only about the provision of social services but also about the way inadequate (and corrupt) planning together with the systematic dismantling of local government have created disfunctional communities. Why did the neighbours and the local community not, apparently, realise the problems this family were encountering?

This political dimension takes on a party political aspect when there are alternative propositions. The FF/PD approach has manifestly failed to do anything to develop an adequate response (after all they’ve only had 10 years, be fair) whilst Labour and FG have already laid out detailed propositions especially in the mental health sector. I am sure that Liz McManus will do a far better job than the ideologically out-dated Mary Harney. The Boston model of health and social care costs a fortune and does not, cannot and never will deliver an efficient and equitable system. The PDs have failed, their neo Thatcherite ideology is totally discredited, especially in the US and UK. Let’s get on with reform and change… the first thing to do is vote out the FFailures.

Gordon DAVIES

By: Stephen Neill

Stephen Neill — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:22:43 +0000

paul clark said,Once again Sarah Carey uses a tragic public story to peddle party politics.

Paul I am puzzled – On what basis do you make this cynical accusation? Just because Sarah is a Fine Gael supporter/member does not mean that everything she comments on is a party political broadcast.
By the same logic I am an Anglican priest and yet I can speak against or despite my tradition when the situation calls for it. For instance today I applaud the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe for their brave stand against Robert Mugabe and I hang my head in shame at the capitulation of the Anglican Church (my church) on the African continent to that evil regime with a few noteable exceptions! I have followed this thread and the party political angle has escaped me – please explain?

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:08:42 +0000

Paul could YOU tell me what is the job of the Minister for Health? What are politicians for?
I can asssure you if FG were in government and had done nothing since Sharon Grace I would be just as critical.
I have consistently argued that it is total bollox to accuse people of peddling party politics with tragedies. This is WHY people go into politics – so they can change something whether its class sizes or nursing home regulations.
There should be an out of hours emergency psychiatric service. It’s a no-brainer. With Sharon Grace we had a clear warning (not that people don’t go into crisis every weekend, but her case made explicit what people with mental health problems have known for years).
The fact that two years after her death there is still no service is a disgrace.
Isn’t that the tragedy? Or is iteasy for you to throw your hands up and say that nothing could be done? I believe we should try to do something and providing an emergency service that the gardai can call for help should be the foundation of psychiatric services.

I totally reject accusations of using this incident for political opportunity. Incidents like this, and the smaller chronic tragedies that take place all the time make me absolutely furious when I know that just a tiny bit of help could improve people’s lives dramatically. The ONLY people who change the system are the people in charge of it – the unions, the civil servants and the politicians. And we elect the politicians to make the civil servants and unions carry out our wishes.
Don’t tell me its not political. Of course it is. You talk to any person working in psychiatric services in this country and they will tell you about the systematic running down of the services. Who knows, maybe if FG got in they might fail. I don’t know. But I do know for a positive fact that the incumbents with more money at its disposal than any other government in Irish history HAVE failed. So give some one else a shot at it.

By: paul clark

paul clark — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:22:33 +0000

Once again Sarah Carey uses a tragic public story to peddle party politics. Why don’t you simply declare this a party political broadcast on behalf of Fine Gael and fly the relevant masthead at the top. This post is a disgraceful manipulation of a dreadful tragedy in the service of small minded opportunism.