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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 06 May 2022
kilkennyobserver.ie
Opinion AS I SEE IT MARIANNE HERON
Little things sometimes say a lot. Like the way someone mentioned the other day that they were going on holiday to Ireland. Good plan, yes, but the odd thing about it was that the person involved comes from the North of Ireland. To this individual the 26 counties are seen as a different country and there are plenty of people in Ulster who think like that, not necessarily those who have voted Unionist in the Northern Assembly elections on May 5 Like many of us here in the South, Northerners are in favour of a united Ireland, but not just yet, thank you. It’s too early and it’s hard to see how the arrangement might work in practical and financial terms isn’t it? According to a survey carried out earlier this month only 30% of those surveyed in the North want a united Ireland now but a third would be in favour in 10 to 15 year’s time. Aspirations are similar here and like our Northern counterparts our main concerns are around issues like the rising cost of living and the state of the health service. But emotionally and sometime in the future it doesn’t make sense for most to have one of our four green fields
The more we share, the less the Border will matter
cut off by a border. So we need change over the next a decade or a decade and a half before we are ready to embrace a united island. Having lived both sides of the Border I believe that trying to rush the issue and hold a border poll — as some nationalists and Sinn
Fein in particular want to do is unwise at this point, would raise Unionist hackles and delay unification. Back in the day in the aftermath of the Troubles I reported on an experiment where schoolboys from the Protestant Shankill in the North were brought down
What will climate change mean for allergies? CLAIR WHITTY
Many people get hayfever every year. It’s frustrating. It affects your eyes, nose, and mouth. It’s caused by pollens from grass, flowers, trees, and weeds. You cannot escape these pollens that arrive every year. But what would you say if I told you that you can expect to see longer hayfever seasons? You wouldn’t be impressed would you. I recently listened to a lecture given by Dr Ross Walton, an Immunologist and clinical researcher. He spoke about climate change and how we may see longer hayfever seasons. He said that increased CO2 levels leads to faster, larger growth of plants and trees and this can lead to a change in the total pollen burden with pollen being produced for longer. Where there is a warmer climate with milder winters it can also lead to prolonged flowering of native flora. We are all familiar with the changes in the weather. We are seeing more frequent forest fires, droughts, heatwaves, thunderstorms, floods, storms,
and hurricanes. Some of you have already noticed that your symptoms last longer or are more severe in recent years. Dr. Walton suggested a healthy diet that includes probiotic and fermented foods as well as exercise, and stopping smoking can also help. You’ll need a good strong immune system to help protect you. When you inhale pollens, your immune system reacts inducing a release of histamine which causes the symptoms that you experience. Inadequate sleep
and high levels of stress and external environmental pollutants can also have a negative impact on your immune system. Rather than avoiding going outside he surprisingly suggested the opposite, get out a little every day to help increase your resistance. Every year I talk about Hayfever, and I talk about taking supplements in advance of the season to help lessen the problem. One of my long time favourites is A.Vogel Pollinosan, this is because I see real results with it. Start it before the season even begins, now would be a great time. You can get A.Vogel Luffa Complex for young children. Choose A.Vogel Pollinosan Spray to cleanse the nasal passageway and to ease symptoms. You can also get Pollinosan Hayfever Eye Drops with chamomile and HLA to soothe itchy, irritated eyes. Customers love these products; I hope you will too. Shop online at www. naturalhealthstore.ie where you’ll be able to take a look at these brands. Natural Health Store, Market Cross Shopping Centre Phone: 056 7764538 Email: info@naturalhealthstore.ie
to visit a school in Shankill in Co. Dublin. Initially the atmosphere was tense, the Northern lads had never been south much, less to a Catholic school. Then the facilitator asked which football teams the two groups supported and which trainers they were wearing? A forest
of hands went up for Manchester United and Nikes and the ice was broken. The group became one. We need more crossBorder initiatives like the ‘Shared Island’ projects for infrastructure, tourism and climate action. We need more co-operation — look
at the madness of having two different sets of rules operating between North and South during Covid. We can look at what can be learnt from institutions operating on an all-Ireland basis, in business, sport and the church what can we share and save by doing so. On the one hand duplication in a small island doesn’t seem to make economic sense, on the other there is the question of how much it would cost to take on the North where the British subvention runs to £10billion a year and a quarter of all employees in the North’s less dynamic economy work in the public service. The cost element is one of the factors that makes people say ‘not yet’ when it comes to a united Ireland. More optimistic estimates put the cost of unity much lower when the benefits pay off. For instance, North South trade has increased dramatically since Brexit, a symptom of the way relations are beginning to normalise outside the political sphere. The more we share the less that Border will matter. And let’s forget our shared attitudes: a majority in the North wanted to remain in the EU. And can you imagine Northerners agreeing with Boris Johnson’s latest wheeze to ship cross -channel refugees off to Rwanda rather than offering sanctuary to 20,000 Ukrainians as we have done here?
Rural communities vulnerable to loan sharks BY: DEPUTY KATHLEEN FUNCHION SINN FEIN TD FOR KILKENNY CARLOW SINN Féin TD for Carlow Kilkenny Kathleen Funchion TD has called on the Garda Commissioner to establish a specialised Garda operation to target illegal loan sharks operating in communities across Carlow and Kilkenny. This follows a continuing and worrying trend in unofficial reports of families falling victim to unregulated illegal loan shark groups within their communities. Teachta Funchion said: “Communities are afraid to make official reports to Gardaí for fear of the consequences. “Pay-day money-lenders such as Provident have ceased trading, which was welcomed at the time. “However, we now have a situation where the cost of living has vastly increased and families are struggling, so they have turned to illegal moneylenders. These lenders are often members of local criminal gangs. I am fearful that we
will see a rise in people from Carlow and Kilkenny turning to money lenders as families continue to struggle to make ends meet. “When people are unable to meet the extortionate interest and repayment costs, they are then threatened or their property is damaged. In some circumstances, these people are being intimidated and assaulted. “Sinn Fein have written to the Garda Commissioner to make him aware of the ongoing situation, and I have asked him to put a targeted Garda team in place to tackle the activities of these criminals who are a blight on communities. “Due to the fear these gangs instil in their victims and the fear they have of reporting the crime, a specialised approach will be required. “People are in such dire financial straits that they perceive these
money-lenders are their only avenue to make ends meet. This vulnerability is being fed upon by criminals across the Carlow and Kilkenny and it cannot be allowed to continue.”
