19th April 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 13 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie The Newspaper with the BIGGEST circulation in the North County
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Students of Malahide Community School on stage performing their comemmoration play for 1916. See story on page 3
Charitable Malahide Walk Into Light The people of Malahide are generous. From their massive contribution to Daffodil day every year to the Malahide Lions Club, it seems that selflessness comes as second nature to many of the residents of Malahide and the North County.
By Aoife Read ‘Darkness Into Light Malahide’ is an annual walk that takes place in Malahide Castle and Gardens that is in aid of Pieta house. Pieta House are an organisation which provides professional one to one therapeutic services for people who are experiencing suicidal ideation, people who have attempted suicide and people who are engaging in self harm. They do not require a letter of referral from a psychiatrist or a doctor and all of their services are offered free of charge. Speaking to the County Leader, Fiona Letch of Malahide Darkness Into Light said; “We have been in Malahide for 3 years now and last year we had over 5,000 people walking with us. It is so great, people can either run or walk it and we start at 4.15 am. It is such a worthy cause, Pieta House provide vital support for people who are experiencing difficulty and they don’t require that you be referred by your doctor or have to go through the usual procedures so they do a very good service.” She went on to say; “It costs about €1,000 to put a person through the treatment that Pieta House provide so that is why we need to hold fund-raising events like this. Malahide Castle and Gardens are so beautiful and it is a 5 km circuit on the day and every single penny that is raised goes to Pieta House.
Councillor Darragh Butler, Tracy and Michael McEnery (from Virgoe McEnery Landscaping) and Claire Ralph (River Valley) on the Pieta House Malahide Darkness into Light walk last year in Malahide Castle and Gardens
There are one other walks happening in North County Dublin, in Skerries. You can still register, pricing and T-shirt collection points are available on the website. Last year we had over 5,000 we really hope that this year we have that again if not many more than that.” She concluded by saying; “We are currently looking for people to volunteer with us too, we need people to hand out T-shirts on the day and act as marshall throughout the trek so if anyone is interested in doing that with us they should contact us at dilmalahide@gmail.com.” According to Pieta House the tragedy of suicide is one that is becoming increasingly prevalent within Irish society. A mental health care system that is under strain, and long wait times to see mental health professionals means that the Continued on page 17
‘Enough Is Enough’ - Jimmy Guerin Independent Councillor from the Malahide area, Jimmy Guerin says the stress of the housing crisis is laying heavily on people’s mental health and last week called for an emergency meeting amongst the local County Councillors, to finally put to bed the housing crisis issues in the North County. Speaking at the monthly County Council meeting, Cllr Guerin said that there have been three suicides in his constituency recently, ranging in ages from 22-53 years of age. Cllr Guerin has said that the weight of stress and pressure on individuals who are caught up in homelessness, or even at risk of homelessness, is wreaking havoc with their mental health. He went on to say that month after month the County Councillors meet to discuss relevant issues and that housing is always on the agenda. He feels that the time has come to focus on the urgency of this issue and wants a special meeting scheduled to tackle and discuss “nothing more than the housing needs in Fingal.” The issue of housing was, of course, on many of the councillors’ agendas at this months meeting, with Cllr. Guerin many of them raising the personal issues of their local constituents. It was noted by many that there has been a significant change of trends with the homeless population and that there has been an increase in elderly pensioners and retired people who are either homeless or facing homelessness. Sinn Féin Councillor, Paul Donnelly told of a local man of 75 years of age who has been on the housing list for over 1 year and who has been told it will likely take anywhere from 6-8 years for him to be given a home. This man is currently facing homelessness with no idea of when he will be re-housed. Cllr Donnelly feels this type of new homelessness needs to be looked at as part of the housing strategy. While speaking with Anti Austerity Alliance Cllr. Matthew Waine, who feels very strongly on the issue of homelessness, he had proposed that a plan needed to be put in place for emergency accommodation, as the figures in this area have risen since January. According to these figures, the number of homeless in the Fingal area has dropped from 204 to 159 but the number of people in emergency accommodation has risen from 150 to 181. This shows that there is a need for a long term strategy around the emergency accommodation situation and that emergency accommodation in itself, is not solving the homelessness issues. The Local Authority said that the Age Friendly Alliance who are working with a housing subcommittee, will have reports completed next month which will shed more light into the development of age friendly housing in relation to homelessness and our older citizens. It was also stated that the County Council are treating the homeless issues as a top priority and that they are utilising all mechanisms and funding available to them, but that ultimately they are awaiting further plans in this area from the Government.