4 BLANCH GAZETTE 13 October 2011
EMPLOYMENT: SLIGHT MONTHLY DROP OF 1.2%
OPENING LauraLynn House at Children’s Sunshine Home
Fine Gael’s Eithne Loftus
Fair share of job creation next months Q LAURA WEBB news@gazettegroup.com
THE latest unemployment figures have seen a slight drop in comparison to the previous statistics for August. Figures released by the Central Statistics Office this week showed the national figures for September indicate a slight drop of 1.2% on the previous month. Fine Gael Dublin West byelection candidate Eithne Loftus said that although it was only a slight drop, it is a step in the right direction. “There are now 5,400 less people on the Live Register than there were in August. While there are still over 442,000 people nationwide still unemployed, today’s figure is the first drop in unemployment figures that Ireland has seen
since April 2007,” she said. “Undoubtedly there is a mountain to climb to create jobs; however, this news confirms that the Government’s Jobs Initiative is making an impact across the country and those vital green shoots are starting to sprout. “In Blanchardstown, unemployment figures fell slightly over the past month. The difference is by no means dramatic, but it is moving in the right direction. Dublin West needs to elect a TD who will be part of this Government, which is making inroads into getting Ireland working again. Myself and my constituency colleague, Minister Leo Varadkar, will be working together to ensure Dublin West gets its fair share of job creation and investment,” Cllr Loftus said.
Sophia and Carol Ann Aragano with President Mary McAleese, and Michelle Fitzpatrick with Paul Ciaran Fitzpatrick. Picture: Jason Clarke
Brave parents turned personal tragedy into new children’s hospice Q LAURA WEBB
THE tragic loss of two beautiful young girls has been a heartwrenching experience that Jane and Brendan McKenna will never get over or forget but the brave couple turned their personal tragedy into an incredible journey that saw them help found Ireland’s first children’s hospice. L a s t we e k , B l a n chardstown resident Jane stood in front of an invited crowd when President Mary McAleese officially opened the first child r e n ’s h o s p i c e , t h e LauraLynn House at the Children’s Sunshine Home in Foxrock. Feeling nervous about speaking at such a special occasion, when it was her turn she says she suddenly lost all her nerves and said she felt her daughters’ presence and imagined them “flying with their angel wings around the place with a big smile on their faces because something so good has come from their all-too-short lives and our loss”.
“Our loss is there every minute of every day, that will never change, and things will never be the same again, but it helps to know something good has come from it,” says Jane. Their youngest daughter, Laura, was born with a hole in her heart. She had two major operations that allowed her to live a relatively normal live. But during a final repair operation in 1999, Laura did not survive and died, aged just four. The couple’s eldest daughter, Ly nn was 13-years-old when they were told she had leukaemia. In a tragic twist, the day they found out Lynn’s illness was the very day their youngest Laura died. Two years after they buried their youngest, Jane and Brendan, laid Lynn to rest, aged 15. It was through their heartache that the couple looked to turn their pain into hope by setting up Ireland’s first children’s hospice. “Laura died in hospital, and at the end of
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‘Some time after that I thought about what if Lynn hadn’t got her wish, it would have been so awful for her. I am sure most people would agree that hospital is not the place to die; if at all possible it is either at home or a hospice setting.’ --------------------------
Lynn’s life she got to die peacefully at home, she knew she was dying and her greatest wish was to die at home, which she did, she got her wish. “Some time after that I thought about what if Lynn hadn’t got her wish, it would have been
so awful for her. I am sure most people would agree that hospital is not the place to die; if at all possible it is either at home or a hospice setting. That is what put the idea into my head. “I realised there wasn’t one here, and later realised just how there were so many in the UK, at this point its 45, probably a bit less then. It surprised me. “They [hospices] really are about life and happiness and making the best of the life, and respite for the family that is a huge thing. The sadness and the death and the illness are there, but it is what you do around those, making the best of those and having the choice at the end. The option should be there for children as well as adults because it is a wonderful option to have,” says Jane. Jane set up the LauraLynn Foundation in 2002 and merged with the Children’s Sunshine Home in 2006. The sod was turned on the build of the LauraLynn House in September 2009 and officially
opened two years later on September 27, 2011. This week the Blanchardstown mum and the team at the Children’s Sunshine Home said they wanted to thank ever yone who helped raise the €5.5 million to needed to build the state-of-theart facility. But fundraising is needed now more than ever to keep the privately funded hospice r unning. It costs €2.5 million to run each year and that is now their biggest challenge. The Children’s Sunshine Home cares for children with life limiting conditions and their families. The LauraLynn house has eight bedrooms; four family suites will enable families to come and stay and be near their child when visiting the Children’s Sunshine Home. T he Butter f ly Suite will provide a “resting place” for the child and family after the child has passed away. For further information and to make donations log onto w w w. sunshinehome.ie