“Heartbreak” as intellectually disabled adults denied day service slots
The new school year is usually a mixed bag of emotions for parents and for the parents of children who attended St. Michael’s school in Baldoyle, the new school term was fraught with emotion.
In late August, parents of those who attended the school protested outside Leinster House, after they were unable to secure day placements for their intellectually challenged adult children. Ali Field, whose son James was diagnosed with autism in 2017, organised the protest and said that the situation was “heartbreaking”.
Field said that last October, parents of 13 children applied to St Michael’s House for adult day services, following on from their enrolment with St Michael’s school.
Redrawing of Dublin political map sees winners and losers
The publication of the Electoral Commission’s constituency reviews is akin to Eurovision or Christmas for political geeks, and there was a lot to digest for voters in Dublin. Significant changes to electoral areas and two extra TDs are the headline-grabbers from the report, with the political map of South Dublin undergoing something of a makeover.
Dublin Mid-West joined Dublin South-West in having 5 seats up for grabs, while Dublin Rathdown gained a seat to bring its total up to 4. Dublin Bay South, Dublin South-Central and Dun Laoghaire remain on 4 seats.
The much-anticipated constituency review also redrew the political map of West Dublin. Nationwide, 14 new Dáil seats will be added, with major political implications for Dublin. The Electoral Commission recommended that the 5-seater Dublin Fingal be split into two 3-seater constituencies, Dublin Fingal West and Dublin Fingal East. Another headline figure sees Dublin West being upgraded from a 4-seat constituency to a 5-seater constituency for the next general election.
Stardust fire inquests resume
The Stardust Inquests into the deaths of 48 young people in a fire at the north Dublin nightclub in 1981 recommenced this month following an eight-week summer break.
On Monday, September 4, at The Pillar Room in the Rotunda, coroner Dr Myra Cullinane addressed the jury by informing them of the “significant” amount of work that had to be carried out.
Pictured at the launch of the new partnership between RehabCare and Southside People, from left: Conor Sullivan, Programmes facilitator, Dale Greenwood, Dublin People, New employees Ben Wallace Tallant and Kevin Dooney and Larissa Russell, New Horizons Supervisor.
Rehabcare teams up with Southside People
This month the fine folks at RehabCare teamed up with Southside People to launch a brand-new initiative that saw southside communities link up.
Local businesses in selected areas will be visited by our friends from Park House who will deliver copies of the newspaper.
Speaking at the launch, Dale Greenwood, General Manager of Dublin People Group Newspapers, said “we are delighted to launch this initiative in Stillorgan and could not be happier with the response from the Rehab staff involved.”
“It is our aim to roll this Community Initiative out to other areas of the Capital and we see this as an important link between the papers and business community as well as being a great opportunity to work closely with the young adults within RehabCare”.
The first two adults taking part in the initiative are Kevin Dooney and Ben Wallace-Tallant who said they “cannot wait to get started” and are delighted at be playing an active role within their local community.
Their huge personalities and broad smiles have been a welcome addition to the local business market, every Monday.
Kenny to see out qualifiers
Stephen Kenny got to stay on as manager of the Irish football team for the remaining Euro 2024 qualifiers despite qualification chances becoming increasingly remote following defeats to France and the Netherlands.