Details to be announced later

 TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE

A  Human Rights Award Winning Documentary

At  LEITRIM LOUNGE, WICKLOW TOWN

On Tuesday, 20^th January, 2009, 8pm, Admission €10 at the door

This fundraising event is in aid of WICKLOW GREEN PARTY

Taxi to the Dark Side. Dir: Alex Gibney USA 2007.  106 minutes  Cert: 18’s

This Oscar-winning documentary is framed by the story of Dilawar, a young Afghan taxi driver who picked up three passengers in December 2002 and never returned home. Five days later he was dead, murdered by American soldiers while detailed at Bagram.  He was a complete innocent, the wrong man in the wrong place; his passengers, also innocent, were sent to Guantanamo for two years of similar treatment before the international community forced their release.  The sheer horror on display goes against every value a so-called Christian nation should hold. The material here is almost overwhelming in its depiction of evil and injustice being perpetrated by a nation that prides itself in being the world’s good guy. The even more horrifying truth is that we don’t want to hear these things. Winner – Best Documentary Film /80th Annual Academy Awards®

I entered the crowded seated area and engaged the chap beside me in conversation to discover he had several prison terms behind him was now crime free for a number of years and was appearing on a minor traffic offence. I assured him at least he neednt worry about prison this time. A reporter who knew of my headlining community work smiled from the press gallery as she took a second look to confirm it was really me among the motley gathering of gardai, lawyers and defendants.

My Garda looked at me and beckoned me to follow him to the dock. He told the judge he puulled me in at a checkpoint. I admitted I had no NCT and he charged me thus.

The Judge looked at me and asked me how I was pleading. I said in a trembling voice “Guilty”.  He asked me for an explanation failing to have my car with a NCT. I said It was because I was not advised beforehand that my test was due for renewal. I did not realise the disc had expired. As the NCT previously advised me in advance of the expiry date, I decided to call to see them when I drove into the checkpoint.

The Judge said he had been in a similar situation to discover his disc had also expired because they had discontinued their policy advising car owners beforehand. He was therefore dismissing the charges against me.

I walked through the crowded court passing the press gallery to the door gobsmacked at hitting the jackpot in contrast to the terror stricken panic as I approached the bench. I mused on the saying that everyone is entitled to their day in court

By Ann Walsh, B.Sc(Hons) Psychology M.B.P.S.

When looking at any attempt to prevent suicide it should be understood that individuals need the psychological tools to cope with difficult life events, to ensure innate needs are being met. A recent UK study shows that it is not the depth of depression that predicts suicide but the number of emotional needs not being met in a person’s life[1].A depressive state of mind is contingent with strong emotional arousal, which prevents rational and logical judgement. Individuals can simply get ’locked’ into a depressive state. Excessive stress and depression are precursors to psychotic breakdown; therefore the importance of educating people regarding how they can handle stress levels and ensuring that their essential needs are met should not be underestimated.[2]

Studies have shown that both suicide and depression rates are increasing most noticeably among the young.[3] Rate of depression increase with westernisation and the World Health Organisation estimates that depression will be second only to ischemic heart disease as a cause of injury and disease by the year 2020.[4] It should also be noted that depression is known to have a knock on effect on families[5]

The best approach to psychological health is the prevention of mental illness, this can be done by educating with regard to the physical and psychological needs that have kept in balance in order to remain psychologically healthy or indeed to regain psychological health. As well as ensuring that these needs are met, individuals need to be aware of the innate resources we have at our disposal and how, if used properly, mental health is assured.

If a person is in psychological distress it should be noted that some psychotherapeutic approaches may do more harm than good, or best, not help at all.[6] [7] While SSRI’s  are deprived for depression, it should be noted that such drugs have been linked to suicidal and violent behaviour.[8] Furthermore, it has been recommended that those drugs not be prescribed to those under 20, as frontal lobe connections are not fully inplace until then.[9] It is interesting to note that in 5 year follow-up studies of people who had a schizophrenic episode, in third world countries 64% made a full recovery and 12% do fairly well when no drug treatment is involved. In the developed world, using drug treatment, only 18% were doing well after five years, 17% faitly well and 65% had poor outcomes. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Individuals need a brief solution focussed approach that enables them to engage in life again, or maybe properly for the first time. If an individual receives the correct psychological interventions mental health can be restored rapidly. Increasing in the the UK and more recently in Ireland, psychiatrists, psychologists, general practitioners, occupational therapists and other health care professionals are recognising this and have looked towards psychological intervention that uses a clear understanding of what it is to be a human being and what it takes to be psychologically healthy or t prevent mental illness. This model of mental health incorporates the most up to date research in psychology taking a bio/psycho/social approach to mental health which goes beyond any other psychological interventions to date, namely the Human Givens approach.

It should be noted that a psychologically healthy population also means a more physically healthy population. There is increasing evidence of the impact of stress on physical health. In one study depression was found to be a more accurate predictor of heart problems than severity of artery damage, cigarette smoking or high cholesterol level.[15] Depression has also been linked to cancer, both as a precursor and a predictor of recovery.[16] Therefore, for both the individual and society as a whole, psychological health has far reaching implications.

A civilisation is judged on how it treats its most vulnerable and those who do not have the necessary coping mechanism to survive in an ever changing world, along with their families, are surely amongst the most vulnerable.

The now defunct Brittas Bay Community Development Group had requested a breakdown of the revenue from the car park fees at the council owned owned car park to ascertain how much of it was reinvested in the car parks. The council responded that these figures were not available and there was no funds available for increased investment in that area.

The Brittas Bay Coastcare Group was set up under the an Taisce administered Cleancoast scheme which assists coastcare groups with beach cleaning equipment etc. The new group took part in beach cleans using voluntary effort. These events were held every month and were supported by local families and regular beach users.The beach and sanddunes were strewn with the remnants of camping parties such as broken bottles, cans, syringes, human faeces and used condoms. Life belts were regularly damaged.Dog faeces were also prominent on the beach.

The County Council provided dog faeces bins at regular intervals. They also patrolled the beach and manually removed litter from it. However this was insufficient to deal with a mounting problem.

The group launched a local media campaign highlighting their activities and repeating calls for security on the beach as well as a more mechanised method of litter management.

The Council responded by providing the car park staff with a quad and trailor as well as a ride on mower, a litter warden and a security guard, the latter on the August 

Bank Holiday.

The beach cleans involve local families with children, different community groups. Youth groups etc. and are supported by local businesses and Arklow Waste Disposal Ltd who supply the group with and collect filled plastic bags.

The group are also supported by Wicklow County Council who help publicise the groups’ activities and awarded the group with Personality of the Year 2008.

This is an example of a local authority responding in a positive way to a community coming together to take responsibility for its own future.

The forty year darkness that followed was illuminated only by the surviving brother whose left wing liberalism defended social justice for the needy.

The flame he singlehandedly kept alive appears to be about to be passed to Barack Obama and electrify another generation

These companies had local multisectoral representation on their boards were allotted funding from Europe under the various LEADER programmes to support projects in areas of rural decline.

The first Leader programme, LEADER 1, was set up in 1992 and  initiated the establishment of local action groups with emphasis on bottom up development. Its successor LEADER 2 building on the experience of LEADER 1 focussed on supporting projects which were innovative and capacity building by developing local skills through training projects etc. The main thrust of the LEADER + was to increase capacity building and identify themes under which projects were funded.

This article will examine the contribution of one LEADER company; Wicklow Rural Partnership Limited, in reversing rural decline in Wicklow during the lifetime of the various LEADER programmes it administered while Ireland was a net recipient of European funding and consider the extent to which it measured up to the original vision under which it was set up. Apart from Leader 1 which received $2.06.m. WRP which administered LEADER 1 and LEADER + funded projects totalling €7.29m

Projects were funded under the following categories, training, analysis and development, innovation, rural enterprise, craft enterprise, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, enhancement of natural, built, social and cultural environment, environmentally friendly initiatives and rural/agri tourism.

The scale of such projects is mind blowing in the wide range covered and involved an incredible amount of work by the WRP staff in administering them. Under training they included University Diplomas and Degrees for community leaders, people were shown how to draw up business, resource audits, feasibility studies and develop prototype products and services.

Alternative farm enterprises supported included farmhouse cheeses and  yoghurts, fruit farms, self-catering units, reiki for horses, pony clubs, windfarms, mazes, museums, caravan parks and organic farming.

Community efforts included community halls, music groups, nature trails, tidy town groups and village design statements in which local groups designed the future growth and appearance of their villages.

WRP set up other bodies to administer certain types of activities. These include Wicklow Information Network which oversaw the development of several IT centres throughout the county. This brought computer facilities to rural areas as well as providing training courses to rural dwellers thus reducing problems of rural isolation.

Rural Isolation was also addressed by the setting up of the Rural Transport Initiative. This scheme covered the more remotes parts of the county such as South and West Wicklow where almost 3000 people were identified as having unmet rural transport needs. There are several routes operated by local bus operators. Some of these routes are; Shillelagh-Gorey, Rathdangan-Baltinglass, Donard-Tallaght, Aughrim-Arklow to mention a few. Each of these routes serve villages and townlands in between.

These are a few of the examples of categories and projects covered by WRP.There can be no doubt that the face of rural Wicklow which was facing decline has been reversed by the injection of EU investment.

The LEADER programmes as they were largely funded by the EU are coming to an end. The nature of the funding has changed from one programme to another as different needs were identified as they emerged and were addressed.

LEADER+ will be replaced by a government funded programme with three times the funding of its predecessor.

The test that its predecessor met its targets as envisioned by the EU can be measured by the extent to which rural areas which were in decline are now economically self sufficient and viable with stable populations living from the indigenous resources of the area.

The emasculation of our county councillors interventions in these issues by county management reversing their efforts in the courts raises questions on the usefulness of electing a council chamber at all.

An attempt to include the community/voluntary sector in policymaking by providing them with seats on council committees had little effect as the tools promised initially but later withdrawn for creating policymaking such as access to information, research facilities and training.  The voluntary sector found itself in the further insidious position as the weakest link competing against stronger bodies as funding was cut.

The watering down of the development levies took place against a backdrop of sustained public protest by an amalgamation various groups from groups from the voluntary sector, farmers, first time house buyers and groups trying to protect their local identity while developers can swamp villages with housing schemes out of proportion to the size of these villages while local people are banished to nearby towns poses interesting challenges for the future governance of this county.

Wicklow Communities Networking held a number of seminars covering matters of concern to the community and voluntary sector. The network has been in existence for some years but up to now failed to make a significant impact on the community sector.

An intensive drive in recent times saw the network blitz the county with seminars on sustainable energy, leader funding, and suicide. A further seminar on caring will be held on December 2^nd.Unlike previous seminars these were exceptionally well attended.

Guest speakers who are leading experts in the topics they addressed and were listened to by an audience with community involvement in these subjects. There was considerable response and interaction from the floor to these issues.

Wicklow Communities Networking is an umbrella organisation for all community and voluntary groups in Wicklow. It acts as a vehicle for the community and voluntary sector, it helps with sourcing funding and works to identify and address local issues in the county.

Core funding for the networks is provided through Wicklow County Council

Wicklow Communities Networking was set up in 2000. It is open to community and voluntary groups around the county. It is run entirely by volunteers and has the support of over forty organisations. Their activities include; holding public consultation meetings, publishing annual newsletters and sharing information through networking.

The network is represented on the County Development Board, the Housing and Corporate Estate Strategic Policy Committee, The Transport and Roads Infrastructure Strategic Policy Committee, The Wicklow County Childcare Committee, The Regional Drugs Taskforce Committee, The Joint Policing Committee, The County Development Board subcommittees of Urban Shadow and Social Inclusion.

Wicklow Communities Networking is run by an executive board of sixteen members with four or five from the North, South, East and West. The board meet at least once a month. It is supported by a project worker who operates on a contract basis.

Groups supported by Wicklow Communities Networking in recent times include Ashford Development Steering Committee who are concerned with local policing and sewerage, Baltinglass and District Community Group who are organising a recruitment drive to further local interests, Rathnew Community Development Project. Wicklow Communities Networking are also arranging cut price insurance for community groups affiliated to WCN.

WCN is one of two community fora set up under the aegis of the County Development Board . The other forum is Wicklow Community Platform which was established in 1999, is open to all groups dealing with social inclusion. Most of its current members operate in urban areas and along the east coast. Like its sister forum, WCP runs seminars which are focussed on policy formulation, publishes a monthly newsletter; Platform Update and engages in ongoing networking and information sharing. It helps travellers groups, the RAPID programme and matters of social inclusion.

The recent cohesion measures introduced by the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht affairs forced the amalgamation of local Community partnership companies such as Leader plus company Wicklow Rural Partnership and Arklow Community Enterprise whose funding will now be largely from domestic than European sources.

It was feared that the same process would see WCN. lose its identity as it was subsumed into a single community forum.

The recent performances by WCN. in Glendalough went a long way to dispel those fears.