Listen to the youth
I got to attend Dáil na nÓg at Croke park on Feb 15th. Dáil na nÓg is an experiment in youth participation, funded the Office of the Minister for Children. (Full info at
www.dailnanog.ie ).
The top recommendations coming from the participants included:
Education Reform
1 Language subjects should be more conversational and relevant to everyday life. Pre-examined years should take part in mandatory Gaeltacht and foreign trips that are paid for, or subsidised;
2 More focus on the oral aspect and culture in the teaching of all languages;
3 All teachers must receive training in guidance counselling and communication skills.
Mental Health
1 Accessible youth cafes in all areas. Open when needed to provide a safe space to seek help on drug and alcohol issues and other problems;
2 A positive advertising campaign that shows real life experiences and the effects of suicide on family and friends;
3 More funding for mental health services for young people, including advertising and school programmes.
For more see:
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0216/1203093372510.htmlhttp://www.kilkennypeople.ie/sport/Kilkenny-delegates-at-Dil-na.3853025.jpPhoto by Derek Spiers.
Sand Dune Man
Just listening to some nice sounds
at Ger Lane's myspace site. Check it out. Here is Ger getting some inspiration the recent Arvo Part concerts in Dublin. Taken with my nokia 6234!
Labels: music
Cérbh é Séan Ó Ríordáin?
TG4 screened a lovely documentary tonight (with english subtitles) on the life of Séan Ó Ríordáin. (Now freely available through their brilliant web service at
www.tg4.tv ) The programme was narrated by poet Louis de Paor.
There was an interesting theme throughout to do with belonging and exclusion. "If you're out, they can't put you out", noted O' Ríordáin. The poet had suffered TB in an era when the illness was synonymous with stigma, and banishment to isolated draughty sanatoria. On account of the illness he also denied himself the possibility of marriage. He finds a sense of belonging in his idealisation of the gaelic culture of corca dhuibhne. Yet his poetry shows him suffering a clearly modern angst in its midst.
In the closing section of the program, de Paor reads a passage from Ó Ríordáin's diary to the nephews and nieces he had doted on, when he would visit his brother in Mayfield, Cork. Poignant and beautiful. Lovely television.
More about the poet
here - last year saw the 20th anniversary of his death. Pity it's so hard to get a copy of his poems! Now where is my leaving cert irish poetry book??
Labels: poetry
1911 Census Fun
The
1911 Census is a treasure trove for Dubliners interested in their roots.
I can now account for the whereabouts of all 4 of my grand parents, and two great grandparents on the night of April 2nd 1911. (I'm a true blue Dub alright)
Daniel and Maryanne Dunne were staying with relatives in Reginald Street, in the Liberties.
John Barnes and his mother Ellen were at Parnell Place (near Harold's Cross bridge), while my Granny Barnes (neé Fallon) was based in Clontarf.
I also discovered
http://www.dublinheritage.ie, which records the marriage ( I think) of my great grandmother Eliza Richardson of Beaver Row Donnybrook, to my great grandfather John Dunne in 1857. Eliza Richardson had been baptized into Catholicism the year before according to the site.
Pictiúr ó Chorca Dhuibhne
A picture from my little break on the dingle penninsula. What a beautiful place :-)
The Politics of Mental Health
Last wednesday I attended a very interesting meeting organised by UCD Equality Society which brought together speakers from
Headstrong, Amnesty Ireland and the
Irish Mental Health Coalition. (I was a bit late, so there may have been others too).
I cannot imagine a similar meeting happening when I was an undergraduate of UCD 20 years ago. The stigma of mental illness is beginning to show some small cracks at least. By far the most inspiring contribution of the night came from one of the Headstrong advisory panel, a young student who summed up the failings of the bio-medical quite expertly. Her contribution exemplified empowerment, courage and honesty.
On a macro policy level, mental health remains starved of resources in Ireland. As Tony Bates remarked, it is often a case of finding help only because the sufferer has already entered into the Justice system. Tony hopes that the new A Vision for Change strategy will be implemented and resourced, rather than collect dust. He also encouraged parents and communities to become more reponsible and empowered to act themselves.
The issue of accountability to service users and the public came up again and again.
The most interesting level for me however was the socio-cultural level. The most obscuring thing about mental health diagnosis is that it is relentlessly individualistic, paying only the most tokenistic of lip service to the social factors involved in producing distress and symptoms.
Let's hope we are beginning to see a shift towards a more emotionally literate society, if that is the right term.
Just discovered the following
report on this meeting on the headstrong site:
Talented or what:
My 16 year old nephew is in a band who sound rather good to me.
http://pearlseven.bebo.com/Check out the nicely produced and recorded sample tracks.
They remind me of Stiff Little Fingers a bit. (Uncle Danny knows nothing of post-punk, emo etc).
I'm sure impressing the over 35s is not in the game plan though...maybe all the offensive stuff is at a frequency my ears can't pick up??
Oh, and here's the website Patrick made while on work experience at Holisto.com.
http://www.pearlseven.com/Who says nothing is achieved in Transition year??
New Joe Dunne Exhibition
If you like art, check out my brothers latest exhibition, showing at
Ib Jorgensen Gallery Dublin, from February 12th to March 3rd 2007.
Further info about Joe's art at
www.joedunne.net*Please note that the above image is copyrighted.
