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A SOCIAL stigma continues to pre- vent people seeking help for depres- sion, according to a consultant psy- chiatrist based in Ennis.

Dr Moosajee Bhamjee said that while many people are more will- ing to seek help for mental illnesses, several others are hiding it from the public and are not getting the medi- cal assistance they require.

He said that from a genetic stand- point, if one person in a family suf- fers from depression there is a pro- pensity for at least one other person to also suffer, as genetics play a sig- nificant role.

‘There is a proneness to increased psychiatric illness. The risk is in- creased if the person is close to you, especially in schizophrenic and bi- polar conditions.

“Close families are at higher risk. That is why we do a family history with each individual and we ask these questions,’ he added.

“If a family member suffered from depression, we would ask what tablet

worked for that person and we may recommend it for the individual,’ he added.

He said it was up to the individual to tell medial personnel if a family member suffered from depression, but said there were stigmas affecting Webi

“This has decreased a little bit in that we talk about it now. Newspaper articles and magazines all talk about depression. However the stigma is contributing to people taking their own lives,” he said.

He said that while people generally seek help for depression more and more, a stigma prevents many others from doing so.

“People do not want to admit it. They feel they are letting themselves down,” he added.

However, many people are very much opposed to the idea of going into a psychiatric hospital, “even though they are depressed and sul- cidal.”

THE cocaine-related deaths of two west Clare men has prompted gardai to issue a stern warning on the avail- ability of toxic forms of the drug.

A 22-year-old man died from a suspected cocaine overdose in Au- gust, while details have just emerged about another cocaine-related death – also in the greater Miltown Malbay

area – afew months earlier.

In that incident, a 29-year-old man was found dead in his apartment by his girlfriend. He had cocaine in the pocket of his jeans, while cocaine and alcohol was detected in his sys- 008

At an inquest last week, a doctor said that his death was due to acute cardiac respiratory failure, second- ary to the presence of opiates, co-

caine and alcohol. This has prompted gardai to warn about the devastating effects of the drug. “We are still seiz- ing significant quantities of cocaine, which is a worry. Our advice for anyone thinking of experimenting with cocaine is not to,’ said a garda spokesman.

“Cocaine is generally cut with oth- er substances. People who prepare cocaine are unscrupulous as to what

substances they use to bulk it,’ he said. He said that buyers do not know what they are getting and cocaine can be toxic. The speed at which people get into trouble with cocaine is frightening. We are amazed at this. People are more likely to get into fi- nancial bother, followed by addiction problems,” added the source.

In Clare, cocaine is sold at around €100 per bag, or €50 per gram.

THE Minister for Health Mary Har- ney last night personally apologised to the family of Edel Kelly, over her misdiagnosis.

The 26-year-old mother-of-two from Kilrush died from cancer in June, having previously been misdi- agnosed at Ennis General Hospital.

Last week, her parents Una and John and partner Noel McGreene came out publicly to speak of their anger in relation to the Edel’s situa-

intone

In the wake of their revelations, an independent review of services at En- nis General Hospital was announced by Minister Harney.

The Kellys met with Ms Harney in Dublin last evening and were heart- ened by her words.

“She apologised profusely. The family was appreciative of the apol- ogy. She indicated the terms of ref- erence (of the independent review) would include an examination of Edel’s case,’ said solicitor for the

Kelly family, Eugene O’ Kelly.

She said the Minister said the in- ternal report into the hospital will be disposed of as soon as possible and this will be followed by the independ- ent review, within three months.

“She has promised three months,” said the solicitor.

Fears that the revelations and subsequent review would lead to a downgrading for the hospital were raised by the Kellys, but the minister allayed any such concerns and de- nied that this would happen.

Mr O’Kelly said that Ms Harney was very sympathetic in her apology during the hour-long meeting.

‘The parents have a wish to remove themselves from the limelight and deal with their grief now,” said Mr O’ Kelly.

He said the legal action taken by the Kelly family, against the HSE, will proceed. This had commenced by Edel, prior to her death, and her family has pledged to continue it in her memory.

Mr O’Kelly said that the Kellys

were disappointed with certain as- pects of the meeting with the head of the HSE Professor Brendan Drumm last week.

“While Professor Drumm _ was apologetic to them, he would not apologise for the misdiagnosis. He apologised for the delay in treatment. They were impressed by the sinceri- ty of the apology but they felt 1t could have gone a little further,” he said.

He said the family remain grief- stricken but are pleased that the cir- cumstances surrounding the tragic

INTENSIVE lead analysis is being carried out on the Ennis water supply in the wake of revelations concerning water supplies in Cork and Galway. Town Engineer Tom Tiernan con- firmed yesterday that more rigorous testing procedures are being imple- mented following news of lead con- tamination of the water supply in parts of Galway City and Mallow. Mr Tiernan said that under law, the council was already required to reg- ularly test the water for lead but that

given recent events these procedures have been intensified.

“We were already conducting these tests but in response we are carrying out more intensive lead investiga- nova icra

Mr Tiernan said the council were awaiting test results but that no prob- lems had yet emerged with the En- nis supply. He added that there are certain areas of the town where lead piping is in place but that the council had removed a substantial amount of piping during re-development work on O’Connell Street, Abbey Street

and Parnell Street.

Independent councillor Frankie Neylon has called for individual test- ing of homes in the St Flannan’s Ter- race, Connolly Villas, St Michael’s Villas and Hermitage areas of En- Wh

Cllr Neylon said that piping net- works in homes there are most sus- ceptible to the risk posed, if any, by lead contamination as they are among the oldest built houses in the en aee

“Connolly Villas was built in 1932, St Michael’s was built in 1954. These

areas were built before the 1970s and these are the type of homes that would be affected,” said Cllr Ney- lon.

He added, “I’ll be calling for tests to be carried out on all of these areas in Ennis. The supply in the houses themselves needs to be analysed and not just the supply from the pump- house to the house.”

On Friday last the Environmental Protection Agency wrote to all local authorities to advise them of the steps that need to be taken if the local au- thority becomes aware of lead levels

in excess of the parametric value ina public water supply.

According to the EPA there are 944 public water supplies in Ireland and that the latest testing results indi- cate that over 99 per cent of samples taken were compliant with the lead CI TILOrKOR

Since the introduction of the Drink- ing Water Regulations in March 2007, eleven local authorities have notified the EPA of exceedances of the lead parametric value in relation to 23 out of the 944 public water sup- plies.

, their mother paid tribute to the men who

were involved in the dramatic life- saving rescue. The drama occurred shortly before 8pm last Thursday, when the girls were caught in rip currents while they splashed around in the water. The girls’ mother, who lives locally but did not wish to be named, said she looked on in horror as the girls were dragged out to sea.

A man in his 20s who had been surfing paddled out to rescue the girls, while two others also helped out, as they were brought safely to shore.

“The waves took the little one’s legs away. My 10-year-old then went to help her. I dived in to get them but

I couldn’t get them. I ran back and screamed for help. People came run- ning from everywhere to help,” said Meloy Dam peLOlNetorm

“My youngest daughter shouted, ‘Mammy, I’m drowning. My 10- year-old went to help her,’ she re- called. “It all happened in about 10 minutes. It was that quick. It was just one of life’s freaks. It happened so quickly it was terrifying,” she added.

“My little one said, ‘Mummy, I thought I was going to die’,” recalled iW elom palelaales

The two girls were not injured but suffered shock from the ordeal and were seen by a doctor at Shannon-

doc, aS a precautionary measure. Their mother said those involved in the rescue were fantastic.

‘They were heroes. They were calm and collected; completely profession- al. I fell to pieces. The two lads took charge and the other guy was great as well. I will be eternally grateful to them. What mother wouldn’t?” she added.

The two girls are strong swimmers and were wearing wetsuits, which stood to them in the face of the dif- ficult conditions at sea.

“It was a lovely evening. they want- ed to go to the beach. They have done it a million times,” she added.

GOVERNMENT regulations which require shopkeepers to place all to- bacco products under the counter and completely out of sight of their cus- tomers will deal the final death blow to local convenience shops according to a prominent Ennis retailer.

Jim O’Dowd who is a member of the Convenience Stores and Newsa- gents Association (CSNA) and own- er of O’Dowds Convenience Store at

the Turnpike in Ennis claims that if civil servants have their way, small newsagents will face higher costs and fewer customers because of the way new rules restricting the sale of tobacco are enforced.

“No-one will have a clue whether we even Sell tobacco or not,’ he HOR

Under the new rules, customers who want to buy tobacco have to ask for a special menu and shopkeepers fear their turnover will be dramati-

cally reduced as frustrated custom- ers queue to view a menu and then wait while the shopkeeper retrieves the tobacco.

“Our shops are all about speed and convenience for the customer. If you take that away you are destroying our business model and taking the last advantage we have left”, the En- nis shopkeeper said.

Shopkeepers say there is al- ready a simple solution to the problem. The Bill passed by the Dail

that restricts tobacco advertising does not insist that all products are put out of sight; it allows for a sample pack of each product to be displayed behind the counter to provide cus- tomer information.

“Our members will have to foot the bill to train staff how to use the new system – couple this with the fact that it will now take us twice as long to stocktake and you have a huge im- position on local shop owners,” said Vincent Jennings, Chief Executive of

the CSNA.

‘Furthermore, there is no way that all the shops in Ireland can possibly be re-fitted in time for the supposed deadline of next summer. This will leave shops exposed to prosecution that could devastate their business at a time when they are already under severe economic pressure.”

Minister Mary Wallace is due to decide whether to impose the single pack or the stricter menu option in October.

CROKE Park is a place for winners — losers tend to blend into the back- ground, forgotten in the euphoria of others, save the post-match ritual of winning captains calling for those three cheers.

Those cheers and the stock in GAA trade of ‘is mor an ondir dom an chorn seo a ghlacadh….’ are two staples of All-Ireland finals days, whatever the code and whatever the grade.

So it was on Sunday afternoon when the Clare ladies inhabited this lonely existence. The week before it was Kerry who lost an All-Ireland they were supposed to win; Clare now knew how their neigbours on

the southern bank of the estuary felt, because this was an All-Ireland they were supposed to win.

But like Kerry, there were no ex- cuses. Only grace and humility in defeat.

“In fairness to Tipperary they de- Served to win,’ said team trainer David O’Brien. “We were talking about it during the week that you might dream all your life of having the game of your life in an All-Ire- land final, but it doesn’t usually hap- pen. World records aren’t usually broken in Olympic finals.

“But look at Tipperary. In fairness to them, probably eight, nine or ten players had the games of their life. We didn’t have anyone who could

come off the field and say that ‘that was the best game I ever played’.

“Things didn’t happen for us and a lot of breaks went against us, but Tip- perary still deserved to win. We’re not going to say that this went against us, or that went against us. The team that deserved to win won it — that’s being totally honest about it.”

There was nothing else that needed to be said. This was Clare’s darkest hour, but they have to look to the dawn and come back.

And, like Kerry they will be back.

SCHOOL sports fans are a step clos- er to being able to play the games they love all year round, thanks to the support of local people in Scariff and the Clare VEC.

Scariff Community College has long enjoyed having two playing pitches for their sports periods, games and practice but the pitches have only been of use for a few weeks every year, because they are too wet to play on.

But recent fund-raising efforts with

a race night which raised €15,000 and a contribution of €10,000 for the VEC have enabled the school to call in the contractors and begin the process of draining one pitch.

“The first part of the drainage scheme is done, with the pipes down and the next step is to sand and level the pitch and re-plant it” said school principal Sean Daly.

“We decided to go for making one of the two pitches an all-weather pitch so that we can play year round. We have very active hurling and Camogie teams at the moment but

the long term plan is to have a run- ning track around the other pitch and maybe have a permanent long jump and facilities for other sports and ALO eN Col eee

To complete work on the current pitch, the school will be seeking help from the Munster Council of the GAA as well as running more fun- draisers.

Scariff residents are no strangers to raising money to help their chil- dren get a rounded education. The two pitches were bought with money raised locally in 1991 for the then

princely sum of €50,000.

The efforts at drainage won’t be wasted with numbers at the popular secondary school rising all the time. This year, there are 312 young people studying for their exams in compari- son to 264 last year.

THE dangers associated with swim- ming at unguarded beaches have been highlighted, in the wake of two dramatic rescues at Spanish Point over the past week.

Warnings have been issued this week after two young girls were res- cued from the waters last Thursday evening, while a 15-year-old boy was rescued after he got into difficulty while swimming, at the same spot on SLUeE NE

A passer-by grabbed a lifebelt and swam out to the boy who was strug- gling in the water. He was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. His condition was ini- tially described as serious, but later SPO) DBI oreR

Clare’s Water Safety Officer Liam Griffin said this week that people need to be mindful that the seas are OPT To ROLE

‘When people go to the beach they have to be conscious of where they are. Spanish Point is a surf beach and there are dangerous currents and it

can be difficult to get out of them,” he said.

“If you are not sure of where you are, the advice is not to enter the water. Spanish Point is a dangerous beach. You have to be careful,’ he EHR

He also said that particular notice

should be taken by beach goers, as the beaches are not frequented by lifeguards during the winter. Lifeguards were on duty throughout the summer, but their season came to an end at the end of August. The busier beaches of Lahinch, Spanish Point, Fanore and Kilkee had a life-

guard facility available during the first weekend of September, but the service has now come to a halt for the rest of the year.

“The availability of suitable life- guards is an issue. We apply the high- est standards here in Clare in relation to lifeguards. Nobody has drowned at a guarded beach in Clare in living memory. Lifeguards are for the most part students and are gone back to college in September. At the moment we are planning for the 2009 season. When you are planning, you assume the busy times will be July and Au- gust,” said Mr Griffin.

He said that lifesaving equipment was essential in Sunday’s rescue and appealed to people to respect these. “I would appeal to people to respect that equipment and not vandalise it. There has been vandalism in the En- nis area quite a bit. A ring buoy and rope was used to good effect on Sun- day. Had it not been available, God knows what would have happened,’ added Mr Griffin.

THOUSANDS of Clare household- ers will be unable to adequately heat WeCoHb Mm SCO)OOCCAMAOUISIAY SUSI Koo MEAD OCOMRY OOO MELUN fer health problems as a result.

The Renewable Energy Skills Skillnet CRESS) has also predicted that Clare will struggle to achieve building efficiency ratings of 60 per cent within ten years, as envisaged by the EU and it will cost an esti- mated €1.308 billion for the county to achieve this target by 2018.

The industry-led group claims that the combination of shrinking pur-

chasing power, energy inefficient homes and forecasts of a cold win- ter will leave many Clare families unable to afford the recent and im- minent hikes in energy costs. A tank of home heating oil will cost house- holders an average of ©800 this win- ter, compared to €600 in 2007.

RESS has called on the Govern- ment and Clare Local Authorities to examine ways of alleviating the pressures on the elderly and low-in- come households to heat their homes during the coming months.

“The Government should ensure that vulnerable sections of the com-

munity are provided with as much assistance as possible. In particu- lar, it should look at increasing the winter fuel allowance, which oper- ates from September to April’, said Johnny Flynn, RESS Chairperson. Mr. Flynn, who is an environ- mentalist, engineer and Ennis town councillor said the Government and Sustainable Energy Ireland should expand the Greener Homes Scheme to include local authority rented ac- commodation units. Long-term ten- ants should be entitled to individual- ly apply for grants to improve energy efficiency and to incorporate renew-

able technologies in their homes.

“RESS urges all Clare local au- thorities to prepare contingency plans to help tenants meet high en- ergy costs particularly in the case of poorly heated social housing units’, he said.

RESS Project Leader, Dick Whelan said the introduction of environmen- tally sound construction methods and materials in the building of new homes was being undermined by the fact that approximately two thirds of Clare homes built before 1997 were poorly insulated and energy ineffi- cient and nowhere near meeting na-

tional energy efficiency targets.

RESS was set up in 2004 to provide training and support to plumbing and heating contractors and related trades and professionals involved in the design, specification, installation and maintenance of Renewable En- ergy Heating Systems.

The group will host the fourth Na- tional Renewable Energy Heating Conference in Bunratty, on Friday October 17 when speakers will in- clude Tom Parlon, Director General of the Construction Industry Federa- tion and Junior Environment Minis- ter Michael Kitt .