Some staff from North West Simon Community attended yesterday’s session of the 33rd Annual MacGill Summer School focusing on ‘Looking to 2016 – How Stands the Republic’. The theme of yesterday was ‘ A Republic of Justice and Equality’. The first session of the day focused on ‘Protecting Our Weakest and Most Vulnerable Citizens’. The excellent panel of speakers included Geoff Meagher National President of St Vincent de Paul, Kathleen Lynch Professor of Equality Studies at UCD, Ivan Cooper Director of Advocacy , The Wheel, Judge Michael Reilly, Inspector of Prisons and Norah Gibbons, Chairwomen of the new Child and Family Agency. The consensus was that there are people living in poverty and struggling at present and some groups are more vulnerable than others for example Travellers. There are some positive developments in relation to our prison system and the establishment of the new Child and Family Agency however much remains to be done. The overall consensus was that we need to move from purely economic view of the country to one where the needs of its citizens are looked at with a view to having a can-do attitude to providing for their needs. The second session of the day focused on ‘Mental Health in Ireland – a story of neglect and now hope’. Minister Kathleen Lynch had been due to speak but had to cancel at the last minute due to ill-health. Her speech was read and again there was an excellent panel of speakers including Dr Claire Hayes, Clinical Director Aware, Mary Mc Evoy actress and author and Dr John Connolly Irish Association of Suicidology. Mary Mc Evoy spoke of her own diagnosis and experience with depression while Dr Connolly focused on the issue of Suicide. Dr Hayes informed us that Aware have an 8 session lifeskills course based on principles of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy which can be run both in groups and online. This was made possible through their Tesco Ireland funding. In the final session of the afternoon Dr James Reilly Minister for Health spoke on the proposed developments for the health service including a move to hospital trusts, focus on primary care, new HSE management structures and a group focusing on patient safety. Overall this was an opportunity to hear the perspective of other organisations in relation to the issues and concerns with regard to the most vulnerable in society and how we can work better together to meet their needs.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 12:09:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015