Hampshire: Royal Navy Veteran Killed By Lethal Cocaine Drink: Inquest Told

A Royal Navy veteran working at a food import company died after drinking a mouthful from a pear drink shipped from the Caribbean which contained cocaine in a concentration at least 20 times the lethal level, an inquest has heard.

Joromie Lewis, 33, of Kings Road, Gosport, Hampshire, became ill after trying the drink which he spat out because of its bitter taste.

Mr Lewis consumed the drink in Southampton on December 5 last year and died that night at Southampton General Hospital.

The inquest jury heard that tests showed that the drink, called Pear D - imported by his employer Kelly's Shipping UK Ltd on behalf of a client - contained an "overwhelmingly high" concentration of cocaine.

Graham Short, coroner for Central Hampshire, said: "Joromie worked for a company which imported food and drink from the Caribbean and distributed them in this country. He was a driver and general assistant working mainly on a part-time basis.

"On December 5 2013, Joromie drank from a bottle at his employer's garage where he was unpacking a delivery of drinks. The bottle was labelled Pear D, a form of pear cordial not normally available in this country.

"He took only one mouthful and he felt it tasted bitter and spat it out.

"After this he started to feel unwell and he was taken to hospital by his friends. He died later the same day at Southampton General Hospital.

"Tests of the contents of the bottle showed it had a very high concentration of the drug cocaine in solution."

Basil Purdue, a Home Office pathologist, said he had been informed that Mr Lewis consumed the drink at the home of his employer and fell ill immediately.

He said the bottle was part of a consignment of 90 cases imported from the island of St Vincent but the bottle had tested for dissolved cocaine - a smuggling method for the drug.

He said Mr Lewis was a healthy man whose only medical issue had been a problem with his back which had led to him receiving a medical discharge from the Navy in 2012.

Dr Purdue said: "Joromie had inadvertently taken a swig and no more than that from one of the bottles."

He said Mr Lewis was obviously ill as he began to shake and collapse and was rushed to hospital by his friends.

Stating that the cause of death was cocaine intoxication, Dr Purdue said toxicology tests showed that Mr Lewis had a "very high" cocaine level of 21.3mg per litre of blood, with a fatal level being as low as 1mg.

The drink would have contained 1g of cocaine in 3ml of liquid.

He compared the level to that of a drug smuggler who died after four cocaine packages burst in his stomach, leaving him with a level of 4mg/l.

Dr Purdue said that as a "naive user" - someone who was not a cocaine user - the drug would have had a greater effect, and added: "We are dealing with an overwhelming overdose of the drug."

He added that one of Mr Lewis's colleagues put some of the liquid on his tongue and it caused it to go numb for three hours.

Juanette Allen, company secretary of Kelly's Shipping UK Ltd, said the firm imported drinks from the Caribbean at the request of customers.

She said: "In this case we didn't source the drink, we just facilitated the process of bringing it from St Vincent to the UK."

She explained that the van-load of drinks arrived at Portsmouth docks on November 24 and, once duties had been paid, Mr Lewis collected it two days later and took it to the garage at Ms Allen's home in Southampton where the company is based.

She said the company had not ordered any Pear D drink and she had not come across the brand before.

She told the hearing at Winchester Coroner's Court that the client paid £750 for the consignment.
Ms Allen said: "I was familiar with a drink called Pear Drops and I assumed it was linked to this drink."

She said Mr Lewis arrived at her home at about 6.30pm with a colleague, Carlos Deabreu, with a van of items collected for export.

She said he picked up a bottle to drink, which he was allowed to do, and she saw him in the kitchen drinking a mouthful from it.

She said: "When he had a sip of it he said it didn't taste right. I am not sure if he swallowed because he went out to the sink, I do not know how much he swallowed.

"He was trying to get it all out, trying to make himself sick. I asked him when he said it didn't taste right, I asked him if he broke the seal on the bottle, he said yes."

She said he complained of the bitter taste from the drink which he pointed out was not carbonated as it should have been and asked for some sugar to get rid of the taste.

She told the hearing Mr Lewis had said he wanted to get the contents of the bottle tested at a hospital and he left with her partner, Phillon Kelly, and Mr Deabreu before he began showing physical problems.

Ms Allen said she heard Mr Lewis say to Mr Kelly: "Do not let those people use you."

She said: "He was probably thinking this bottle that he had a drink from probably had come from the customer and they knew exactly what was in the bottle and the company was using the company to get them."

She added: "Probably we were a bit naive, it's not something we thought someone would try to do to us.

"Since this incident we have not imported any drinks, not for the customer, not for ourselves. We have taken the decision that any drink we have to source ourselves."

Ms Allen said she had known Mr Lewis, who was paid £10 an hour for his work, since they had both lived in St Vincent and they had joined the Navy at the same time.

Carole Willis of Hampshire Scientific Services said an examination showed the bottle contained 189g of cocaine.

Detective Sergeant Glyn White, of Hampshire Police, said Mr Lewis was taken to Royal South Hants Hospital by Mr Deabreu but because it did not have an accident and emergency department he was taken by ambulance to Southampton General Hospital.

He said: "Carlos steps around the vehicle to open the door for Joromie who by this stage already appears to be beginning to fit. He's not able to exit the vehicle and collapses."

Det Sgt White said that once the danger of the drink had been established, the Food Standards Agency issued an alert to local authorities to check for bottles which might have reached shops in the UK.

He said the rest of the consignment was not recovered, including other bottles of Pear D imported at the same time, and he believed that someone slipped the contaminated bottle into the crates being exported.

He said the customer, a Samantha McDadi, was investigated but not traced, with her telephone number and email address no longer in use, and he added that he did not believe this was a genuine identity.
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Dublin: Crystal Meth Epidemic Threatens To Engulf Working-Class Housing Estates: *Graphic Images

An anti-drug advertisement shows the devastating physical transformation addicts experience after years of meth use. This article is not for those of you who may be faint-of-heart.The article and some of the (links) contain GRAPHIC IMAGES:

The photos, that show a shocking Dorian Gray-like deterioration, were compiled from mug shots of drug users that were arrested repeatedly over the years.
*www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244031/the-horror-meth-before-pictures-reveal-shocking-transformation-faces-users-hooked-deadely-drug.html 
The continued drug use caused horrific damage to the drug users' skin with sores and scarring - that can be caused by uncontrollable scratching during a hallucination when the addict imagines bugs are crawling under their skin.
The-horror-Meth-Before-pictures-reveal-shocking-transformation in the faces of crystal meth abusers. *www.drugfreeworld.org & www.drugs.ie & www.drugscope.org.uk

Crystal meth is an extremely dangerous and highly addictive street drug that's widely available in certain areas of Dublin, Ireland due to the availability of over the counter products containing pseudoephedrine and much simpler methods of production today.

*www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23453028

According to RTE News some pharmacies in Dublin were seeing repeat purchases of cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine, which is a main ingredient, used to illegally manufacture crystal meth. Sudafed is a cold medication that contains pseudoephedrine and a popular medication that was being purchased over the counter in large amounts from some pharmacies in Dublin which pharmacists are now being warned about.

Crystal meth is being manufactured in small makeshift labs in domestic settings in Dublin, Ireland obviously the same as it is here in the United States which makes the illegal drug more of a serious concern. Crystal meth may produce an intense rush when the drug is abused but it leads to a devastating crash hours later which intensely drives the user to repeat their use.

Repeated use of crystal meth leads to addiction which not only destroys the user, the families and communities are also seriously affected.
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Gardai are investigating a rash of DIY crystal meth labs as pharmacists are put on alert to report large sales of Sudafed, the cold remedy that can be used to make the lethal drug.

AS part of an operation by the Garda National Drugs Unit, about nine kilos of a synthetic drug -- worth €800,000 -- was seized in Waterford yesterday.

A 32-year-old man was arrested and in a follow-up operation a further quantity of the drug was seized.

Gardai have warned that tablets such as Sudafed, normally taken for colds, are being used as ingredients in homemade crystal meth.
*www.crystalrecovery.com/meth/national-meth-news-and-headlines/crystal-meth-in-dublin-ireland.html

Pharmacies in Dublin, Limerick and Kerry have already reported significant purchases of the cold remedy.

Gardai believe some of the manufacturers got the idea from watching the hit US TV series Breaking Bad, in which a chemistry teacher turns to producing crystal meth after being diagnosed with cancer.

Officers here said that users of crystal meth usually die within 18 months and suffer horrendous side-effects.

The drug makes users tear their skin by constant scratching and their teeth rot.

Last month a Polish man was arrested for questioning after gardai found a makeshift laboratory during a raid in Tralee.

Purchase:

Detectives also recovered an €8,000 haul of crystal meth and a quantity of Sudafed tablets.

The man was later released without charge, but a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Unusual purchase patterns of the cold remedy have also been noted at pharmacies on the southside of Dublin and in Limerick city.

Buyers were either purchasing large quantities in one go or groups were making daily visits to the chemist to buy in smaller quantities. Most of those involved are eastern Europeans.

Sudafed contains pseudo-ephedrine, which can be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, or crystal meth.

Chemists have been told they can refuse the medicine to a customer and to notify gardai if they are suspicious.

The Herald has warned for more than a year that a number of gangs in Dublin have been dealing and using crystal meth.

Last October, two gardai were assaulted in Ballyfermot by members of a crystal meth gang.

stabbing:

A key member of the gang is the chief suspect in stabbing electrician Kevin Kenny (32) to death outside a Ballyfermot pub in August, 2011.

The man, in his early 20s, was linked to Tallaght drug dealer Stephen O' Halloran (20), who was shot dead in January.
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A CRYSTAL METH addict responsible for a spate of burglaries in upmarket Dublin 4 is the chief suspect for the brutal assault on a woman who was seriously injured when her car was hijacked in Ballsbridge last week.
Liz Turley, 59, was left in a serious condition in hospital after the assault at the gates of her apartment complex last Tuesday morning. She was knocked to the ground and suffered head injuries. She was unconscious when neighbours came to her help.

Her car was later found abandoned in the Kevin Street area of south inner Dublin. One of the main suspects is a 28-year-old man who is suspected of a series of burglaries in the Dublin 4 area over the past two years. He is known to travel in the company of his girlfriend, also a drug addict, on his raids.

Both are said to be addicted to methamphetamine – known as crystal meth, the drug that featured in the Breaking Bad US television series – which gardai say is becoming increasingly prevalent across the country, particularly in Dublin.

The drug is highly addictive and causes erratic and sometimes violent behaviour when overused. It has already been linked to one killing here which is before the courts.

Gardai believe the drug is being (imported into Ireland) *MADE IN IRELAND by eastern Europe and African gangs. Cheaper than crack cocaine, meth has become popular with Irish addicts because of its intense "high".

The quality and purity of "traditional" addictive drugs being sold here has declined in recent years. Less heroin is reaching Ireland, say sources though there have been record crops of opium in Afghanistan, the main supplier of heroin.

The boom in opiate use in China and India has meant that less of the drug is reaching Western countries. Tests have shown that the average purity in heroin sold here is now 10 per cent or less.

Addicts are increasingly turning to drugs like crack and meth and inevitably turning to burglary and other crimes to pay for their habits. The upturn in burglaries throughout Ireland is associated with drug addiction.

The main suspect in the Ballsbridge car hi-jacking is described as violent and has a severe drug addiction. His girlfriend, in her mid-20s, is also seriously addicted. The man has multiple convictions for burglary, public disorder and other offences.

After stealing the car, the pair abandoned it in the south inner city and it is being examined by forensic officers for fingerprints and DNA.

Gardai believe the woman was targeted because the couple wanted to get to one of the drug-dealing locations in south inner Dublin in a hurry to buy more meth.

Gardai appealed for assistance from anyone who saw the grey 03 Ford Focus from when it was stolen in the Serpentine Road area and when it was abandoned in Kevin Street. The thieves made no attempt to disguise themselves, neighbours said. Gardai asked anyone with information to contact Irishtown Garda Station (01) 666 9600.

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Dublin: Grey Power Wisdom Can Prevent Discrimination In Old Age

We need to tackle age discrimination and recognise the valuable contribution of older people, writes Bette Browne

Grandparents can take heart in the growing clout of one the world’s most powerful clubs — that of global grandparents who run economies, captain industries and wield political power across the world from Ireland to Iceland.

Bill and Hillary Clinton are the latest to join the club even as the former US secretary of state eyes a presidential bid, while here in Ireland grandmother Mary Robinson is busy playing a global peace role and German Chancellor and grandmother Angela Merkel is Europe’s most powerful leader.

Such examples of grandparent power should inspire the older generation, said Eamon Timmins of Age Action Ireland, the organisation behind Positive Ageing Week.
*www.ageaction.ie & www.alone.ie 

“What those examples of Mary Robinson, Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel and others show is that older people have a key contribution to make in bringing to the table experience and knowledge.

“There is an element of age discrimination that associates old age with less activity and less influence and less importance but I think older people are playing a key role. What we’re doing in Positive Ageing week is focusing on the fact that we are all growing older and ageing is something to be celebrated rather than feared.

“We are trying to highlight the contribution that older people have made and are continuing to make to their communities and their families. Much of their contribution in many cases is not paid for; therefore it’s not valued because unfortunately we’re a society that doesn’t value what we don’t pay for.

“This afternoon, if you go out to any national school gates, the number of older people collecting grandchildren, as carers or as neighbours or as friends, are playing a very, very important role in the economy. Those children’s parents in many cases are both working, so grandparents are enabling families to get through the recession and pay big mortgages while knowing their children are being well cared for.”

Ireland could make greater strides by tapping the skills and experience of older people to a much greater extent and this would also help to boost the nascent recovery, Mr Timmins said. He cited the approach to older workers of German carmaker BMW.

“In Ireland older people tend to take the brunt of early redundancies so we are losing a lot of experience. By contrast, BMW have adapted one of their production lines in Germany to cater to older people. About 18% or 19% of the German population is over 65; ours is about 12%, so they are desperately trying to hang on to their older workers.”

Older BMW workers now sit on specially designed ergonomic seats and the plant has enhanced lighting, while mobile trolleys make accessing tools easier. Germany knows it desperately needs its older workers and BMW is painfully aware that the number of its employees over the age of 50 will increase to 40% in the next decade from 25% today.

And the approach has worked out well. Workers on the newly adapted production line have been outperforming the younger workers on other lines, producing as many parts but with fewer faults than those produced by the younger workers. This pattern was borne out in a study by the Max Planck 

Institute for Human Development in Berlin that found workers aged 65 and over are more productive and more reliable than their much younger colleagues.

“Older workers do have a key value and as a society in Ireland we are slowly coming round to that but there is still quite a lot of age discrimination in Irish society,” according to Mr Timmins. “We are also moving the retirement age out much faster than other European countries, so there is also going to be a need for older workers to continue working.”

No doubt to the amusement of many grandparents, some US commentators have wondered how Hillary Clinton would be able to juggle the roles of president and grandmother if she were to run for the White House in 2016. But they needn’t have lost sleep over it. The first President Bush, for example, had 14 grandchildren.

“Hillary Clinton would be a role model if she runs [for the White House] and being a grandmother she would bring extra talents like wisdom and expertise,” says Third Age founder Mary Nally, whose organisation designs programmes and services for the elderly. “Age should never be a barrier for older people.”

Certainly, it was never a barrier to statesmen like the late Nelson Mandela. While he was busy shaping a democratic South Africa, he was both a grandfather and a great-grandfather. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, now a great-grandmother, at 88, is often seen as the glue holding this often turbulent family together.

Former Icelandic prime minister Jóhanna Sigurardóttir, who resigned last year after steering the country towards economic stability, was grandmother to six grandchildren when she came to power in 2009, the same year that Forbes magazine listed her among the 100 most powerful women in the world. Some world leaders have also been raised by their grandparents, most notably Barack Obama, and their world view has been profoundly influenced by the older generation.

The elder set has also blazed a trail in the media and entertainment industries in the person of such figures as Rupert Murdoch and, closer to home, Gay Byrne. In the world of literature, some of Ireland’s best works have come from writers like Brendan Kennelly as they moved into their later years, while some of Seamus Heaney’s most moving poems were inspired by his grandfather.

Grandfather Michael Smurfit remains a driving force in Irish industry, while in the United States Warren Buffett, dubbed “America’s grandpa investor,” continues at the age of 84 to make his clients billionaires. But, at the other end of the scale, ageing for large numbers of people in Ireland can be a nightmare.

After a lifetime of working hard and raising families they face grinding poverty in their later years and sometimes even the horror of elder abuse. Their choices are often as bleak as deciding between eating and keeping warm and if they end up in hospital they must wait for hours on cold, uncomfortable trolleys.

“None of these conditions should be acceptable in a wealthy country like Ireland in 2014,” says Age Action CEO Robin Webster.

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Dublin: 130,000 'More' Children In Poverty, As Families Loose Ten Years Of Income: UNICEF

The UNICEF report looked at the impact of the economic crisis on child well-being

A new study from UNICEF on the impact of the recession on children in 41 developed countries places Ireland close to the bottom of the list.

The report has ranked Ireland in 37th place in the league table measuring relative changes in child poverty.

Only Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland finished below Ireland in the UNICEF league table.
The report looked at the impact of the economic crisis on child well-being.

It found Irish families with children have lost the equivalent of ten years of income progress.
The child poverty rate rose by over 10% to 28.6% between 2008 and 2012.

This corresponds to a net increase of more than 130,000 poor children in Ireland.

Comparatively, poverty among older people has increased by 2.5% during the same period.
Of the 41 countries surveyed, 18 recorded a reduction in child poverty, including Chile, Australia and Poland.

UNICEF said the data showed a strong correlation between the impact of the financial crisis and a disproportionate decline in children's well-being.

UNICEF Ireland Executive Director Peter Power said: "Countries should place the well-being of children at the top of their priorities during economic recessions.

"Not only is this a moral obligation, but it is in the long term self-interest of societies.

Children living in poverty are more likely to become impoverished adults and have poor children, creating and sustaining intergenerational cycles of poverty."

Keywords: unicef, child poverty

Related Files

• UNICEF report media summary
• UNICEF report card

Dublin: Man Dies Following North-Inner-City Shooting: *UPDATED Man Charged

*A 31-year-old Dublin man has appeared in court charged with robbing a taxi at gunpoint in the north inner city on Sunday evening.

Sean Ducque of Cloonlara Crescent in Finglas has been remanded in custody to appear in court again on this day week.

He is accused of robbing a taxi driver at gunpoint at Terrace Place in Dublin 1 at around 7pm last Sunday.

Sergeant Enda O'Sullivan told the court that the 31-year-old made no reply when he was charged with robbery at Mountjoy Garda Station this afternoon.

The sergeant said to a second charge of possession of a firearm he answered: "I had no shotgun on me when arrested".

Sean Ducque, who is in receipt of social welfare, wore a grey tracksuit and stood with his hands behind his back during this evening's court appearance.

Judge Ann Watkin refused him bail partly because of the seriousness of the charges.
She was told the evidence includes CCTV footage and an audio recording from a camera inside the taxi.

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A man has died following a shooting in Dublin’s city centre: *Ciaran Farrelly (33), who is also known as Ciaran Brooks, from Tallaght in Dublin, was blasted in the face with a shotgun.

*It’s understood the shooting occurred just before midnight last night. A man was shot in the head close to a housing complex on Buckingham Street in Dublin’s north inner city.

*www.independent.ie/news/gardai-detain-man-31-in-relation-to-gun-murder-in-dublin-last-night-30696385.html 

It's believed a shotgun was used in the attack.
The street has been sealed off by gardai who are now investigating the murder.

Following the incident, gardai mounted a number of searches in a bid to locate the suspect.

Gardai are also investigating the possibility the shooting may be connected to two other incidents in the area.

At approximately 7.30pm, a taxi driver was robbed and it's believed a shotgun may have been used in the incident.

The shooting occurred at 11.45pm at the back of the Killarney Court housing complex.

Several hours later, another incident occurred on a laneway just off nearby Talbot Street in which a homeless man was severely beaten.

A man has been arrested in connection to the assault and is currently being detained at Store Street Garda Station.

It is understood that a woman has also been arrested on suspicion of witholding information.
*UPDATE: A murder investigation is under way following the shooting of a man in Dublin last night. The man was shot in the upper body and face just before midnight at the rear of Killarney Court off Empress Place in the north inner-city. He died at the scene.

RELATED AUDIO & VIDEO

Listen: Man dies after shooting in Dublin

Detectives are trying to establish a motive for the killing. A man in his 30s and a woman have been arrested.
The man is being detained in connection with the robbery earlier of a taxi driver, the  woman is being held on suspicion of withholding information. Both are being questioned at Mountjoy Garda Station.

Gardaí say there were other people in the area at the time and while they have spoken to them, there are still a number of others they wish to speak to.
Gardaí identified a person of interest in relation to the murder and a number of other crimes over a 24-hour period - including the robbery of a taxi driver at 7pm yesterday and an attack on a homeless person on Mabbot Lane at around 6am today.

A man in his 30s was arrested shortly after that assault, the victim was taken to the Mater Hospital. 

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Dublin: IRA Hitman Still To Be Ruled Out 'As A Suspect' In Annie McCarrick's 1993 Disappearance

Crumbling loyalties could lead to breakthroughs in many of the missing women cases, according to a senior garda who investigated them.

Retired detective sergeant Alan Bailey told the Irish Examiner that people have “covered up” for those responsible in a number of the cases, either out of love of fear.

In a forthcoming book about the six missing women, Mr Bailey reveals that an IRA hitman was the only suspect in the Annie McCarrick case yet to be ruled out of the investigation into her disappearance in March 1993.

Gardaí believe the suspect was subsequently flown out of the North by the IRA to the US after claims he sexually assaulted the daughter of a republican.

The revelations, first reported in yesterday’s Sunday World, come against the backdrop of reports that IRA men alleged to have sexually abused girls were sent out of the North to escape prosecution.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner in the run-up to the publication of his book, Missing, Presumed, Mr Bailey said the loyalty of people close to those involved in the disappearances “doesn’t last forever”.

He said: “There are a number of missing persons cases where people are aware of what happened and who committed the crimes, who have covered up for years and years out of misplaced loyalty of one form or another.”

Mr Bailey worked as a detective for 13 years in Operation Trace — the investigation into the six cases — and afterwards in the Serious Crime Review Team, which continued the work.

As well Ms McCarrick’s case, his book covers the investigations into Eva Brennan, who went missing in Dublin in July 1993; Fiona Pender, who disappeared in Offaly in November 1995; Ciara Breen, who went missing in Louth in February 1997; Deirdre Jacob, who disappeared in Kildare in July 1998; and Fiona Sinnott, from went missing in Wexford in February 1998.

Mr Bailey said the loyalty of people was based either on love or fear, adding that “fear is as strong as an emotion as love”. He was hopeful that these people — which may now be former girlfriends or partners — will at some stage decide to talk to the gardaí.

“That loyalty doesn’t last forever and the recent developments in the Fiona Pender case is an example of that, hopefully,” he said.

This is a reference to the recent arrest abroad of the main suspect in her case for a suspected assault on another woman. This woman gave police information in relation to Ms Pender which she said the suspect had told her.

Ms Pender, aged 25, was pregnant when she disappeared from her home in Tullamore on August 26, 1996. Gardaí from Tullamore have flown to the country and spoken to the woman.

In Ms McCarrick’s case, Mr Bailey said the IRA hitman still had to be eliminated from the investigation.

“A large number of people were nominated as potential suspects,” said Mr Bailey. He said all of those suspects were investigated and ruled out, “except this one”.

The man is still thought to be in the US, but Mr Bailey hopes that, in time, he will come back to Ireland and be questioned.
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Newquay, Cornwall: Three Surfers Die In Sea Tragedy

Three surfers have died after getting into difficulty in the sea off Cornwall.
*The three included a female in her 30s, a male in his 50s and a male aged in his 20s or 30s, an ambulance spokeswoman said.
Coastguards received "multiple 999 calls" from people at about 13:15 GMT when the group got into trouble in what is believed to have been a rip current.
The South Western Ambulance Service said the initial call reported "seven people had been caught in a rip tide" [sic].

Officers were called by the Coastguard after reports that seven people with surfboards, four children and three adults, were in trouble off Mawgan Porth beach, Newquay.

Two men and one woman, found unconscious in the sea, were taken to Treliske for treatment.

All three were pronounced dead in hospital. The remaining four people are accounted for and safe.
The RNLI, Coastguard, police, ambulance service, and air ambulance were all involved in the rescue.

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "The four children were all located safe and well on shore but the three adults were recovered from the water.

"Two of those recovered from the water were given CPR at the scene. The three casualties were transferred to hospital by the rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose and both the Devon and Cornwall air ambulances."

Superintendent Jim Pearce, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "This is a tragic incident and our condolences go out to the families of those involved.

"Along with the other emergency services we are now working to ascertain the full circumstances of this incident and our priority is to contact the families of those involved and offer all the support we can."

A spokeswoman for the South Western Ambulance Service said the surfers were caught in a rip tide and the three who died consisted of woman in her 30s, a male in his 50s and another male in his 20s.
They have not been named.
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Dublin: Ballyfermot Gardai Appeal Over Missing Teen Aoife Coogan (14)

A public appeal has been issued by gardaí concerning a teenage girl missing from her home in Ballyfermot. 

Aoife Coogan, 14, has been missing from her home in Ballyfermot since yesterday.
She was last seen yesterday at 10am.

Aoife is 1m 64cm has a fair complexion, is slim with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

When last seen she was wearing a black bomber jacket, grey hoodie, light blue jeans and black/grey Nike runners with white soles.

Gardaí are concerned for Aoife’s welfare and anyone with information is asked to contact Ballyfermot Garda Station on 01 6667200. www.garda.ie

Or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111 or any Garda Station.
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Dublin: Trans-National Cocaine Trafficker Aisha Ahmed (49) Wanted In Italy, Arrested In Tallaght

A MOTHER-of-six who is wanted to serve a 20-year sentence in Italy for her part in a multi-million euro drug trafficking conspiracy has been arrested in Dublin.

Aisha Ahmed (49), who has been living in Tallaght, is sought for extradition to be jailed for her part in a cocaine importing operation in Naples 14 years ago.

She is the wife of a taxi driver Yemi Moshood Olatunde (47), who was arrested earlier this week following an international manhunt.

Both maintained they were arrested in cases of mistaken identity but the High Court heard their fingerprints were "absolute matches" for the couple being sought by Interpol.

Mr Justice John Edwards remanded Ahmed in custody yesterday after making the same order in the case of her husband on Wednesday.

He said he was satisfied the woman before the court and Aisha Ahmed were "one and the same person", despite her denials.

The couple's cases have been adjourned pending full extradition proceedings.

Keiran Kelly BL, for the respondent, had argued that the identification documents - fingerprints and a photograph - were not admissible in evidence.

Ahmed's arrest hearing was told the respondent was a naturalised Irish citizen and had been living under the name of Gloria Aro at Sundale Parade, Tallaght. Her husband had been living under the name Roy Yemmy Andrew Aro.

Ahmed's sentence was for the offence of, as promoter, leader or organiser, taking part in an association with the purposes of committing an indefinite number of crimes involving the importation, sale, distribution, trade and illicit possession of "remarkable quantities" of cocaine at locations in Italy between 1999 and 2000.

She had been given a 22-year sentence in 2005 which was later reduced to 20 years.

The court heard a diffusion document - requesting the location and arrest of Ahmed - was sent to the Irish authorities by Interpol in Italy.

Attached were her fingerprints and a her photograph.

Sergeant Jim Kirwan told the court when he went to the respondents' home address on Thursday, she was not at home and he left his card with her family.

He returned yesterday in possession of a European Arrest Warrant and spoke to Ahmed. When asked her name she said she was Gloria Aro and denied that she was also known as Aisha Ahmed.

She gave a date of birth in December 1967 and said she was Nigerian but told him she had never lived in Italy.

Passport:

Sgt Kirwan showed her the photograph from Interpol and when he asked if it was her, she replied: "No."

Ahmed said she had never been to Italy. She was arrested and brought to Tallaght Garda Station where she provided fingerprints that matched those of the person being sought.

The court heard she was a naturalised Irish citizen and had a passport in the name of Gloria Anwelika Aro.

She had registered with the Garda National Immigration Bureau in the same name when she arrived here.

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Belfast: No 'Sinn Fein' Conspiracy To Protect Child Abusers: ADAMS

Gerry Adams said there had been no cover-up by him or Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said party members are not part of any conspiracy to protect child abusers.
Speaking at a party rally in Belfast, Mr Adams referred to criticism of Sinn Féin by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the Dáil during the week.
*www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/adams-hits-out-at-opponents-over-politicisation-of-cahill-affair-1.1977273
The criticism was made during Leaders' Question when debate was dominated by the accusation made by Belfast woman Maíria Cahill that she had been raped by a member of the IRA in the 1990s.

RELATED AUDIO & VIDEO

Watch: SF president says Cahill controversy politicised

Watch: Gerry Adams addresses recent controversies

Watch: Adams rejects suggestions of cover-up of abuse

MORE RELATED CLIPS +

 

Maíria Cahill made the accusations in a BBC Spotlight documentary.
Ms Cahill alleged she was raped by a member of the IRA in 1997 when she was a teenager.

She alleged that she was later interrogated by the IRA about her accusations and she says she was forced to confront her attacker.

Ms Cahill went to the police and a case was brought against the alleged rapist and those said to have been involved in the IRA inquiry.

All charges were subsequently dropped after Ms Cahill withdrew her evidence.

Ms Cahill has said Mr Adams’ claim that he had asked her uncle, Joe Cahill, to urge her to go to the RUC, was not true.

She said she did have a conversation with her uncle in August 2000 following her own meeting with Mr Adams.

Ms Cahill noted that during that meeting Mr Adams did not tell her to go to the RUC.

She said, in fact, it was made clear during that conversation that if she did, the RUC would try to use her to gain information about IRA members.

Ms Cahill said her uncle told her that if he had known about the abuse before her alleged abuser had left the jurisdiction, he would have told her to go to the police.

She said not only had she been told not to go to the RUC, her family were all told not to go to the RUC.

In the Dáil this week, Mr Adams said there had been no cover-up by him or Sinn Féin.

This morning, Mr Adams rejected what he called "allegations made against myself and named Sinn Féin members by Maíria Cahill."

This assertion came early in his speech at the Sinn Féin rally, but after he said that nobody doubts that Ms Cahill has been through great distress and I have never doubted that she suffered abuse.

Later, in what party officials say is a significant development, Mr Adams called on any former IRA volunteers who may have any information about any allegations of sexual abuse to pass this on to the appropriate authorities.

He was critical of Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and accused opponents of using the controversy to to further their narrow political agenda.

Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin has said Mr Adams still has questions to answer as to how his party and the IRA dealt with allegations of sex abuse within their own ranks.

"Mr Adams opted to use his speech this morning to attack his political opponents for continuing to pursue the truth, and demand answers about the manner in which sex abuse allegations were handled by members of the IRA and Sinn Féin.

"This vain attempt to deflect attention from the cover-ups within those organisations, which are now emerging is sickening", he said in a statement.

On Tuesday Northern Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory QC announced he is establishing an independent review into three cases linked to the alleged rape.

Mr McGrory said he believed an independent external scrutiny of the processes and procedures in relation to the cases was warranted.

He said all aspects of the prosecutions would be reviewed.

Elsewhere, the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has said that in any other party people with speak out and suggest that Gerry Adams should step down.

But he said that he thought it was of real concern that members of the party have towed the party line on the issue.

Minister Varadkar said only a few months ago, Gerry Adams was detained in a police station in connection with questions about the murder of Jean McConville.

He said there were now these allegations about the treatment of Ms Cahill, and allegations that child abusers were exported South by the republican movement.

(Blog Editor's comment: Surley, the level of 'social deviance' can be no different within the ranks of Sinn Fein, than within the ranks of any other political party, state security, the gardai, army, courts, prison service, navy and so on. However, what is different, is the states ability through the use of its spy and law enforcement agency, the gardai, to use certain people reputed to be (for example, gay, a drinker, drug abuser and so on to spy on and attempt to involve 'community leaders' including anti-drug campaigners, in alleged 'past' or current criminal activity, which includes paedophilia.

Allegations are circulated secretly, by word of mouth (as so-called soft-information) throught local communities and placed on the garda pulse computer system as 'gospel thruth' more often-than-not, the person about who these alegations are made has no idea about this 'agent provocature' activity.

An agent provocateur (French for "inciting agent") is an undercover agent who acts to entice another person to commit an illegal or rash act or falsely implicate them in partaking in an illegal act. An agent provocateur may be acting out of own sense of nationalism/duty or may be employed by the police or other entity to discredit or harm another group (e.g., peaceful protest or demonstration) by provoking them to commit a crime - thus, undermining the protest or demonstration as whole.
To prevent infiltration by agents provocateurs,^[1] the organizers of large or controversial assemblies may deploy and coordinate demonstration marshals, also called stewards.^[2][3]

Keywords: gerry adams, sinn féin, maíria cahill

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Dáil to debate Maíria Cahill controver
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Dublin: Blanchardstown Gardai Release Photofit Of Sex Assault Suspect: *Updated Link

A man is being sought in connection with a sexual assault on a woman in her 30s in west Dublin on 18 October.

The woman was attacked at around 7.30am last Saturday at Carpenterstown Park, known locally as Tir Na nÓg Park, on Diswellstown Road.

The woman was approached and assaulted by a man while walking through the park.

The man is described as being Caucasian, around 5'8" (1.76m) tall, aged in his late 20s, with straight brown hair that is short at the back and longer in the front.

He wore braces on his teeth. He spoke good English with a foreign accent.

He was wearing a grey hooded-top and dirty, beige trousers at the time of the incident.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information, particularly those who were in the vicinity of Carpenterstown Park on Saturday morning between the hours of 6.45am and 7.45am to contact them at Blanchardstown Garda station on 01 6667000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111 or any Garda Station. www.garda.ie  

Anyone who may have noticed any activity in the park over the last number of weeks is also asked to call Blanchardstown Garda Station.
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*www.rte.ie/news/2007/1004/94292-athlone/ 

1. Athlone: Is The Brutal Bonavalley Bridge Rapist Being ...

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   By J. P. Anderson It is a ten or 12 minute walk from the Athlone Institute of Technology ... Gardai in their search for the rapist. These photofit ...

2. October | 2007 | ARCHIVE: Citizens Free Press Ireland.com

   drugsinfonewslineireland.wordpress.com/2007/10   Cached
   

   Athlone Serial Rapist New Photofit ... Athlone Serial Rapist New Photo-fit. By J. P. Anderson. A new photo-fit image of the main suspect in the investigation of three ...

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County Louth: Gardai Arrest Three In Counter-Drugs-Sex For Sale Operation

Gardai in Co Louth have arrested three people as part of an ongoing operation targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs.

Searches were carried at number of premises in Ardee, Drogheda and Dundalk.

Two men in their 20s were arrested. One was released without charge, while the other was charged and released, and will appear before Dundalk District Court at a later date.

As part of the same operation, a 40-year-old woman was arrested and charged.

She appeared before Drogheda District Court this afternoon, where she was convicted and fined in relation to brothel keeping.
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Dublin: Clondalkin Gardai Appeal Over Missing Teen' Catherine Hayes/Rice (14)

Catherine is approximately 1m 75cm in height with brown hair, blue eyes and is of slim build.

A public appeal has been issued over a missing 14-year-old girl from Clondalkin, Dublin last seen 20 October.

Catherine Hayes Rice was last seen in the Clondalkin area at approximately 8.30pm on 20 October 2014.

Catherine is approximately 1m 75cm in height with brown hair, blue eyes and is of slim build.

When last seen she was wearing a green coat, a pink coloured top, blue denim leggings and grey runners.

Gardaí are concerned for Catherine's welfare and anyone with information is asked to contact Clondalkin Garda Station on 01 6667600, The Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111 or any Garda Station. www.garda.ie
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Dublin: Clocks Go Back By One Hour On Sunday

The clocks will go back one hour on Sunday 26 October, meaning mornings will be lighter and evenings will be darker – but some people want to keep British Summer Time all year round.

The UK and IRELAND will spend five months in Greenwich Mean Time before returning to British Summer Time (GMT + one hour) on the last Sunday in March.

BST, also known as daylight saving time, was introduced during the First World War in a bid to save coal. The UK tried out different systems over the following decades, including double summer time (GMT + two hours) and permanent British Summer Time (GMT + 1 hour), but the current system has been in place since 1972, explains Dr Louise Devoy, curator of the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in the Daily Telegraph.

Proposals to keep the clocks at least one hour ahead of GMT all-year round have been debated frequently in parliament but never implemented.
Here are the pros and cons raised over the years:

Pros of BST all year round

Health: Lighter evenings would have a positive benefit for public heath, say researchers. One recent study of 23,000 children, published on the BBC, found that their daily activity levels were 15 to 20 per cent higher on summer days than winter days and that moving the clocks back causes a five per cent drop in physical activity.

Energy: Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that an extra daily hour of sunlight in winter evenings could save £485m each year in electricity bills, as people use less light and heating.

Traffic accidents: The AA backs the campaign for year-round BST in order to increase road safety. The latest research estimates that around 100 lives would be saved a year by preventing accidents in the dark evenings, it says.

Business: Moving the clocks forward by an hour would bring the UK in line with Central European Time, which would be good for business with the continent, say campaigners.

Crime: With British Crime Surveys suggesting over half of criminal offences take place in the hours of darkness in the late afternoon or evening, campaigners say lighter evenings could help reduce crime or at least the fear of crime for those reluctant to go out on dark evenings.

Tourism: The British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions claimed in 2011 that an increase in lighter evenings would increase tourism earnings by between £2.5bn and £3.5bn.

Cons of BST all year round

Scotland: One of the biggest obstacles to change has come from Scotland, where MPs warned that the sun would not rise until 10.00am in some northern parts of the country. Alex Salmond once called the campaign an attempt to "plunge Scotland into morning darkness".

Dangers of darker mornings: The pro-BST crowd points to the dangers of dark evenings, but those against year-round BST have suggested that children walking to school in the mornings could face higher risks in the dark.

Well-being: Both sides argue the benefits of more sunlight for general well-being and health, with sunshine increasing vitamin D syntheses and reducing the incidence of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). However, the time at which an individual is normally exposed to sunlight would depend on their own daily timetables.

Benefits for early risers: Lighter mornings have traditionally been supported by postal workers, the construction industry and farmers. Those living in Scotland voice particular concerns about people having to travel to work in the dark. · 

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/61009/clocks-go-back-the-pros-and-cons-of-all-year-daylight-saving-time#ixzz3H8M9OfVs 

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London: Record £200,000 Haul Of 'Smart' Drugs Seized By UK Authorities

Experimental medicine Sunifiram among record haul of drugs that are increasingly being bought online by students. Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit disorder, is among several drugs being targeted towards UK students.

A record haul of “smart” drugs, sold to students to enhance their memory and thought processes, stay awake and improve concentration, has been seized from a UK website by the medicines regulator, which is alarmed about the recent rise of such sites.

The seizure, worth £200,000, illustrates the increasing internet trade in cognitive enhancement drugs and suggests people who want to stay focused and sharp are moving on from black coffee and legally available caffeine tablets.

Most of the seized drugs are medicines that should only be available on a doctor’s prescription. One, Sunifiram, is entirely experimental and has never been tested on humans in clinical trials.

Investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) are worried at what they see as a new phenomenon – the polished, plausible, commercial website targeting students and others who are looking for a mental edge over the competition.

In addition to Ritalin, the drug that helps young people with attention deficit disorder (ADD) focus in class and while writing essays, and Modafinil (sold as Provigil), licensed in the US for people with narcolepsy, they are also offering experimental drugs and research chemicals.

MHRA head of enforcement, Alastair Jeffrey, said the increase in people buying cognitive-enhancing drugs or “nootropics” is recent and very worrying. “The idea that people are willing to put their overall health at risk in order to attempt to get an intellectual edge over others is deeply troubling,” he said.
“The fact of the matter is that if you are acquiring medicines over the internet without a prescription then you are purchasing from an unknown, unregulated and ultimately an unlawful source that has one objective – to take your money.”

It also worries Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. Sahakian has been warning about the growing interest in drugs to enhance the workings of the brain. “I am extremely concerned that young people are accessing these cognitive-enhancing drugs via the internet, which is very unsafe, as it is unclear what the drug sent actually contains.

 “There are also no long-term safety studies of the effects of these cognitive-enhancing drugs in healthy people. Healthy people are using these drugs without consultation from a doctor.”
The drugs could be harmful for people who have particular medical problems or are taking other medication, she adds.
But whatever the risks, the use of “smart” drugs is rife among students, says Andrew, who is in his final year at a top-tier London university. “I knew a couple of people at A-level who had them because their older brothers had them,” he said. “But at university a lot more people are using them. People will have done well in their A-levels. If you have been smart enough at A-level, you should be smart enough at university.”
Andrew had a prescription for Ritalin for ADD from the time he was at school. In his second year at university, “I really struggled and started to use Ritalin quite a bit. I’m a sports person. My body shrank,” Andrew said. “I lost weight. It takes a lot out of you and is quite an antisocial drug as well. Whenever I was on it I wanted to be on my own.”

He and his flatmate tried Modafinil instead, which felt like having regular cups of strong coffee, he said. He realised how many other students were taking that and other “smart” drugs. There were many Americans with substantial supplies of Adderall – an ADD drug similar to Ritalin – who were taking cocktails of different drugs to keep themselves focused, he said.

Andrew, who has stopped using the drugs, worried about what he thought was his flatmate’s growing dependence on Modafinil. “He was using it on virtually a daily basis. He had to pick up another job to help pay for university because his parents had split up and he wasn’t getting enough money from student finance. So he had long hours. About 18 months after he started taking Modafinil he said if he didn’t have it in the morning, he didn’t feel awake any more.”

The most worrying trend, however, is the use of other drugs and even research chemicals by those – not just students – who want to sharpen their mind. Nootropics websites encourage users to buy an assortment of drugs, to build their own “stacks” – a personalised cocktail of medicines that will give them the particular edge they want. The sites claim the drugs have few side-effects, low toxicity and that some are herbal supplements such as Ginkgo Biloba. But others are chemicals with known risks of dependence, cardiovascular problems and psychosis.
www.drugfreeworld.org  & www.drugscope.org.uk & www.drugs.ie & www.spunout.ie

Sahakian has been investigating many of these drugs for possible use in patients with Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions and brain injury. She has been warning for some time that they are increasingly used by healthy people, without evidence of their effects or safety, and is pleased that action has been taken against at least one website.

But she thinks attempting to lock the stable door is the wrong answer. It is not only students, but also academics under pressure to perform who are taking “smart” drugs, she said. She herself was offered Modafinil by a colleague when faced with giving a lecture in the US and suffering from jet lag. “He said ‘I take it all the time’,” she added.

“[In the US] school students want to get into the best college, other people are trying to get a competitive edge over their colleagues and they also have very long working days. They want to stay alert over a long period of time.”

“Smart” drugs can help people to be motivated to complete tasks they would otherwise struggle to concentrate on. They may be better than caffeine for the surgeon who has an operation that will last for hours and needs to keep a steady hand as well as an alert mind. They help shift workers cope. The US military sometimes gives them to soldiers.

Sahakian says the best way forward is to get the drugs trialled, tested and licensed, so that there will be specific products that people can use safely, in the same way that they would drink black coffee. “I have tried to advocate that I would like the government to get together with a company and say let’s look at this long term and through a study and see if it is effective and safe,” she said. Unfortunately, this is a low priority for regulatory bodies, because they are focused on cures for diseases, not enhancement of the well, she added.

But she acknowledges a further worry. If mind-enhancing drugs become legal, will that mean everybody feels compelled to take them, or lose out to the competition?
But trying to close down the illicit trade looks impractical, too. The raid by the MHRA investigators on a lock-up facility rented by the website owner, after a tip-off by the Norwegian Medicines Agency, which intercepted packages of drugs sent from the UK to customers in Norway, sent a shot across the bows of the “smart” drug trade, but may prove little more than a rippling of the waters. MHRA sources admit this is akin to the game “whack-a-mole” – close down one website and three more pop up instead.
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London: New Barnardos Website Highlights 'Squalid' B&B Accommodation Offered To Young Care-Leavers

Children’s charity Barnardo’s has unveiled a spoof B&B website to highlight the terrible housing conditions facing young people leaving the care system in England. It is launching the website to support ‘National Care Leaver’s Week’, which kicks off today:

 At first glance (www.carebandb.org.uk )  (#carebandb) looks like a glossy website for tourists booking desirable and comfortable B&B accommodation.  However, visitors to the site soon see examples of the disgusting places some young people leaving care are placed in.

The online brochure builds on the actual experiences of care leavers. It advertises a selection of cheekily-named B&B’s including ‘The Grim Retreat’ and ‘Mournful Inn’.  The reviews for each parody those found on tourist websites with feed-back like ‘Be unpleasantly surprised’ and ‘Isolation with a cold shower’. The reviews are accompanied by dismal pictures of run-down bedrooms and filthy bathrooms.
insidecroydon.com/2012/10/05/croydons-bb-nightmare-an-indictment-of-modern-britain 

The skit site urges people to support Barnardo’s Beyond Care campaign. The charity is urging campaigners to contact their local councillors to demand better conditions for the country’s care leavers in desperate need of a suitable roof over their head.  Members of the public can bring the issue to the attention of their local councillor by simply entering their details on the site.  An email will be then issued to their councillor from their own email address, via ‘Carebandb’.  

Ahead of the Government’s assessment of the care leaver strategy, due to take place this month, Barnardo’s hopes the site will give a clear sense of the harsh reality facing these young people. The charity is asking supporters to help put pressure on local authorities to reduce use of B&Bs to emergency instances only.

Figures previously gathered by the charity show that 51% of local authorities are placing care leavers in squalid B&B accommodations for long periods of time, against government guidelines.

Barnardo’s CEO Javed Khan says: "The site is a tongue-in-cheek way of getting across a serious message about care leavers forced to live in cold, stark accommodation. The reality is that while many browse inviting websites filled with cosy and welcoming B&Bs for the perfect weekend away, our vulnerable young people have no choice but to accept the unacceptable.

“We recognise that local authorities are working with limited budgets but they need a range of ways of providing emergency accommodation. Our new guidance for local authorities and our Beyond Care campaign aims to help councillors provide better support to care leavers.”

“Many young people leaving care have already had horrific childhoods. We owe them a better start to adult life than this.”
 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclucive-vulnerable-people-under-threat-in-unregulated-bbs-8786827.html 
18yr old care leaver, Jack had no option but to stay in B&B accommodation when he left care aged 16yrs old.  He stayed there for over three months.  Commenting on the experience, Jack said; “When I stayed in B&B accommodation I was constantly scared and worried about what could happen to me.

The B&B was above a pub so I’d have to endure extreme noise levels and drunk people banging on my door very late at night.  There was no heating in the room and the TV wouldn’t work, so I quickly became very depressed and lonely.  On more than one occasion I contemplated suicide.

“Barnardo’s offered me support in the form of a mentor who was always there to chat and offer advice when I needed it most.  The charity also helped me find the bed-sit that I currently live in and I’m very settled there.”

 To help Barnardo’s improve living conditions for young people leaving care, visit www.carebandb.org.uk #carebandb

 LINKS: www.barnardos.org.uk  & www.barnardos.com & www.barnardos.ie & www.barnardos.org.uk/northernireland.htm
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Dublin: Cost Of Water For Some Families Could Be Near €800 or €900

The Government is preparing an additional package of “comprehensive” changes to the water charging system, to be announced in the coming weeks, in an effort to blunt the political damage to Fine Gael and Labour. 

Speaking in Brussels yesterday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government would provide clarity “in the next few weeks”, while Tánaiste Joan Burton told the Dáil the original timeline for water charges was “too ambitious”.

With the Government set to cap water bills at a fixed rate in order to provide certainty – with speculation the freeze could be in place until late 2016, when the majority of meters have been installed – TDs and Senators have raised the issue of families with adult children living at home.

There is concern among Government TDs that some families fear they will face annual bills running towards €800 or €900.

The issue was raised at parliamentary party meetings earlier this week.

Assessed charges – a fixed rate based on the number of occupants per home – apply in homes where meters have yet to be installed. But all homes will have their bills capped at the assessed rate until next summer, even those with meters.

Exact usage

The mooted freeze would extend this cap out for a number of years while still showing those with meters their exact water usage so they can get used to full metering.

The assessed charge is set at €176 for the first adult, with an extra €102 per additional adult in the home. This would mean a family with two dependent adult children would face an annual bill of €482. Children under 18 will not be charged for water, as per Government commitments made earlier this year.

Discussions have already taken place at the Economic Management Council (EMC) on additional water charges measures, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks.

While changes for parents of dependent children still living in the home are in play, sources stressed no details or measures have been finalised. However, any changes are likely to focus on the €102 rate for additional adults rather than any additional tax or welfare proposals.

Wider reductions

While there have been suggestions there could be wider reductions to the assessed rates, a number of sources said such a move is unlikely.

Discussions are still at an early stage, with various ideas being tested to ensure they are financially viable and do not threaten the current arrangement whereby most of Irish Water’s spending and borrowing is kept off State balance sheets for the purpose of judging EU targets.

However, Ministers say they will not be bounced into any new moves by another planned water charge protest. The scale of the water protest earlier this month, which an estimated 50,000 people attended, shocked Government figures and another march is planned for November 1st.

“They know they only have one shot at it, and have to get it right,” a Minister said. “There is a feeling they are not going to rush it.”

A senior Minister also said work on the package was ongoing, adding it could be announced after the protest. 

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