04| NEWS news in brief Poppy’s fund A fundraiser is being held to raise money for Poppy Mernagh so that her family can make the necessary arrangements to allow for her to be cared for at home after almost a year in hospital. Poppy suffers from Acute Flaccid Myelitis caused by Entreovirus D68 and is completely dependent for every part of daily living. The family are getting closer to a discharge date and hope to have Poppy home by the end of the summer. The HSE will provide the basic equipment needed but there will be a lot the family will need to supply. Some example’s are large external storage unit, a comfort chair, internal storage, some small changes to Poppy’ s living space and eye gaze equipment that will promote independence for Poppy. There is a Roundwood Community Charity Under 30s V Over 30s match and family fun day at Roundwood AFC on June 17. The festivities include a bouncy castle, BBQ, fun games and a tuck shop from 12pm with kick off at 2pm. Following the match, there will be finger food and music at The Coach House, Roundwood. The family are looking forward to seeing you all there.
wicklowvoice.ie June 15, 2017
All smiles as centre goes green
Vicky Brown, CEO of Cool Planet Experience with Little Bray Community Centre and Crowley Carbon staff By Michelle McGlynn Fassaroe Community Centre has taken steps to save the centre up to 50% of its energy costs as it goes green. The cooperative venture between Wicklow’s Crowley Carbon, Little Bray Community Centre and Stephen Donnelly TD is part of the Cool Planet Better Energy community. After almost six months planning, a full day energy retrofit was undertaken which included work to improved heating systems for
the sports facility, insulation, energy efficient lighting and numerous other small changes. Crowley Carbon agreed to pilot the programme and 16 young people from the area were directly involved in the project on the day, gaining valuable work experience. “The local residents of Fassaroe and the staff of the community centre deserve enormous credit for the amazing sense of community they have created,” Fianna Fail TD Donnelly told the Wicklow Voice. “The team does amazing
work with groups across the area, including providing facilities for young people, community childcare, sport and older people.” This work will ensure that thousands of euros each year are saved and available to reinvest in both the centre and local community. “This project is a great example of how Wicklow businesses can work together with their communities and look forward to seeing this partnership grow and deepen over the coming months and years,” he added.
Man (32) charged with murder
A 32-year-old man appeared in court on Thursday charged with the murder of a woman whose remains were found in the Wicklow Mountains. The body parts of Patricia O’Connor – a grandmother in her 60s – were found scattered along a 20 to 30km stretch of the mountains. She was reported missing on June 2. Part of her torso was discovered by a family group near Military Road on Saturday evening and a full scale garda investigation was launched. A number of other remains were found by gardaí and members of the Defence Forces. Kieran Green of Mountain View Park in Churchtown, Dublin appeared before Tallaght District Court charged with her murder. The court heard he was charged at Bray Garda station at 11.28am on Thursday and replied ‘it was self defence’. Gardai are appealing for witnesses.
85 women travel to the UK for legal abortions By Michelle McGlynn
Eighty-five women from Wicklow travelled to the United Kingdom to obtain an abortion in 2016, according to the latest statistics. The UK Department of Health has released statistics relating to abortions carried out in England and Wales revealing that women from Ireland accounted for 83% of legal abortions provided to non-residents in England and Wales. A total of 3,265 women resident in Ireland made the journey to obtain the procedure in 2016 with Wicklow women accounting for 3% of these. Wicklow had the seventh highest number of women seeking abortion while the capital had the highest at 1,175. Of those Irish women who underwent the procedure 48% were between the age of 20-29 and 66 were under the age of 18. Married women and women in civil partnerships account for 19% of legal abortions for Irish republic residents while 51% were involved with a partner. “In the five years since 2012, 441 women gave a Co. Wicklow address to the English and Welsh services,” Wicklow Pro Choice spokesperson Abigail Rooney said. “On the back of revelations concerning a teenager being sectioned for asking for her legal right to a termination under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, it is dis-
tressing to note that 15 girls under the age of 16 were forced to travel abroad for healthcare that should be available to them at home in Ireland.” The statistics were released within days of the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) decision that Ireland violated the human rights of a woman who had to travel to Britain for an abortion after her baby was diagnosed with a fatal foetal abnormality. It also says Ireland needs to prevent similar violations of the rights of women by changing its laws on abortion. Following the UNHRC decision, Wicklow TD and Minister for Health Simon Harris said that he hopes to see a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment of the constitution next year. On the day he was elected Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar confirmed that a referendum on abortion would take place sometime next year. Following the UNHRC decision, Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign said, “Ireland is perfectly entitled to determine its own laws in this area and it is outrageous for the Committee to interfere in Irish democracy by ordering us to introduce a procedure which ends human life.” Addressing Mr Varadkar’s announcement, Ms Sherlock said, “It is disappointing to hear Leo Varadkar confirm that he will hold a referendum on abortion in 2018.”
Unemployment at 13%
By Jake Maxwell
The number of persons in the labour force in County Wicklow has increased by 3% in the past five years. According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office in Part 2 of the Census 2016 Summary Results, there were 67,737 persons in the labour force in County Wicklow in
April 2016. However, the unemployment rate for the county was 12.7% with 8,603 individuals unemployed in Wicklow. Both of these figures are in line with the overall State figures. Also in Census 2016, some 13.5% of Wicklow’s population indicated that they had a disability, the same as thenational figure. While 88.7% rated their health as either good/very good.