Marianne Heron

As I See It

Marianne Heron It’s time for a Government about turn

You know those warnings about how much longer it takes to stop on a wet road? Right: it takes double the time to pull up, never mind turn round. e Government sometimes su ers seriously from wet road syndrome, they can’t stop until it’s too late to avoid a crash.

Take the current energy crisis. You might think, given the amount of hand wringing over the swingeing rise in family fuel bills, that the Government is powerless to control the increases. Not so. Some of our energy crisis is due to the e ects of sanctions against Russia and the war on Ukraine but part of those escalating bills are due to increases which could be curbed here.

How do you explain that some European Governments have set a cap on the price energy providers can charge on the wholesale market whereas ours hasn’t done so? In the case of France, the cap set for their equivalent of the ESB is a 4% rise for this year while in Portugal and Spain gas used to generating electricity is limited to €50 a megawatt hour, a fraction of the price charged for electricity generated by wind power here.

Without a similar cap on the charges for wind generated power here the price is set to increase sevenfold.

What about those handsome pro ts being accrued by retail energy providers while we will shiver in energy poverty this winter? Bord Gais increased its pro ts by more than 70% for the rst part of this year, while Energia paid a €40m. dividend to its investors. Surely it is time to nd a way to hit the brakes on charges for public utilities on behalf of consumers, rather than dig into taxpayers’ pockets for handouts to compensate for greedy providers’ price hikes.

You might wonder why the HSE would think twice on the issue when the NHS took the decision to close down the UK Tavistock gender identity clinic given concerns by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health that patients were being rushed into treatment by unquestioningly a rmative practitioners.

Alarm bells might have sounded too, given that the clinic faces class action on behalf of around a 1,000 families where young people have su ered “life-changing and irreversible e ects”. But no, the National Gender Service is set continue referring children to Tavistock until it closes next year. Up to 230 have been referred in the last 10 years.

Several of these children were as young as ve and you might question what TDs and Ministers, especially those with children, feel about pre-teen children with gender identity issues being referred for puberty blockers, likely to be followed later by cross sex hormone treatment and surgery like mastectomies for trans boys ( ie. girls who want to gender identify as boys) or castration for trans girls. e legal age of consent for sex in this country is 17 and the legal age for marriage is 18. Are pre-pubertal children old enough to decide and give informed consent to irreversible treatment which they may later regret and to drugs, which it is now emerging, may damage their cognition and development? Time for a turnaround here by Health Minister Stephen Donnelley and the HSE and a rethink about the way that the trans gender ideology is being pushed in our classrooms and online.

For years, buy-to-rent schemes encouraged by tax breaks were considered a great idea as buyers had nest eggs and renters had roofs over their heads. But then landlords became the bad guys (Sinn Fein were particularly hot on this), were subjected to rent controls and then left the market in droves. e result is a rental famine which has deepened in the last few years. As of August 1 there were only 716 rental properties on Daft. ie for the entire country. Landlords are eeing the market, with 62% of termination notices issued to tenants because landlords were selling up.

Why? Partly due to taxation and regulations but it’s not di cult to see why when landlords in rent pressure zones are limited to rent increases of 2% when in ation is running at 10%. At the same time, demand for rental accommodation has grown due to the increased population and the fact that young people can’t a ord to get a start on the housing ladder.

Ironically the Government are now considering o ering landlords incentives to stay in the market in tandem with supports for renters.

Just shows what happens when bad policy isn’t reversed in time.

‘Alarm bells have been sounded, too...

Let’s talk about bladder infection

CLAIR WHITTY

Urinary tract infection or UTI’s as they are commonly called can be seen in adults, both male and female. Young children can have them too. A bladder infection can lead to kidney infection if not treated.

Symptoms can include an uncomfortable feeling in your lower abdomen with pressure in the groin area. You might have the need to pass water frequently. Your urine will most likely be cloudy. Cystitis is a common bladder problem if you have this, you’ll experience painful stinging or burning sensation at the end of urinating. Some of you will resist drinking water as you don’t want to go to the toilet too often on account of the discomfort caused when urinating. Drinking water is important as concentrated urine is extremely irritating to the bladder. Aim to drink one and a half litres of water per day.

Supplements can include D Mannose, Cranberry, and Optibac For Women. If you get recurring infections, I would suggest a combination of all three. Optibac For Women is a probiotic that can be taken alongside antibiotics to help keep the delicate pH in balance and help prevent recurring infection. D-mannose attaches itself to the bad bacteria and ushes them out of your system. Cranberries may help prevent the bad bacteria that causes infection from sticking to the wall of the bladder. Cranberry juice is refreshing and will help you get extra uids in. Choose a sugar one like Biona Cranberry Juice, as sugar will only aggravate the problem.

For less frequent infections I would suggest Quest Cranbiotix it contains probiotics and cranberry in the one formula and is one that I have taken myself. It worked quickly and got me back on track.

Children can get UTI’s too, for them there’s Waterfall DMannose Children, it can be taken o the spoon or mixed with water. It helps reduce frequent urination caused by urinary tract infections. It ushes out E.Coli bacteria, the bacteria responsible for most bladder infections.

A.Vogel Golden Rod tea is one of the best teas that you can drink to support the urinary tract. Foods to avoid include tea, co ee, zzy drinks, red meat, and sugar because they a ect pH balance. Salty and spicy foods can irritate the bladder.

I hope this information helps you have a healthy bladder.

Shop online@naturalhealthstore.ie Natural Health Store, Market Cross Shopping Centre Phone: 056 7764538 Email: info@naturalhealthstore.ie

Death of a Bachelor

Hard to imagine a time when a young man was paid £1 {2 Euro} per week. Said week being six ten-hour days. In the old currency, this worked out at forty pence per day – or three shillings and fourpence. A pound of butter was three and sixpence – forty-two pence. So, you see, the old talk about ‘things being chape’ is very relative indeed. A day’s wages wouldn’t even buy one pound of butter – and less than three pints! ink: how many packs of ‘im’ would you get now for a day’s pay? Maybe fty? So ‘pull the other one’ about the good old cheap days. In some ways they were; in most – not.

In the early ‘ fties I was ‘digging it out and throwing it back far’ for a small farmer. For the stranger, it’s important to point out it’s the farm that was small. e farmer could be any size at all. I will have to disguise the setup by adding or subtracting people in the family involved. e old Army cliché – ‘no names - no pack drill.’

I’d show up at eight in the morning, having walked a good few miles from home, wet or shine. Sometimes down one road, across elds, over the river on a fallen tree-trunk, then up through woods to the house. ere was always rain, snow, or dew on the grass, so, after the trudge, my feet would be wet all day. is due to my Welly boots being useless – having been spiked by thorns, the tines of an ill-used sprong, or the odd demented-doggy bite. A week’s wages to replace them, even from a ‘Chape Jack’ at the Fair.

More times, I’d walk all the way round ‘by the other road’ – as we used to say. But that was a mile farther. My feet would have been drier – but who cared? Nostrils were well attuned to the rank smell of ‘toe-jam’ – a black and foulsmelling hot damp OXO-like substance that accumulated between the indescribablygrimy toes over months of sweaty foot-con nement. Still, I was used to it all, knew no better. Such a life only looks grim in retrospect. But you could be happy in any kind of shite in those times. Lots worse o .

Having got to Latitudes, a bit of breakfast would be served up by the Mam – as good or better than most farmhouses, I freely admit - {credit where it’s due.} en out I go with the only son, Jack, to dog away all day. We might be scarthing {cutting} ditches, ‘laying’ them {intertwining the bushes}, setting spuds, turning hay, spronging dung, or ‘spinning’ it, making stooks or handstacks, hay cocks or tram cocks, cutting calf-horns - {saw’ly} - relieving young piglets of their future daddy-joy equipment, sitting on three-legged stools milking cows – or any of many tasks, depending on the time of day or year. {Note: why three legs? Because three legs always balance - even on cobbles.}

Jack was a grand lad, and a pleasure to work with. He was no slave-driver, and didn’t expect me to do any more than himself. Which, sometimes, wasn’t a lot…. He had two sisters married, and one home - a spinster. You heard lots of stories about ‘bitter oul maids?’ All those writers must have known the diminutive Kathy! She wasn’t the prettiest girl in the world – but not the worst-looking, either. It was the old acid smile and the cruel, bitter, word that done for her, romantically. Couldn’t resist having a snap, whoever she was with. But I always thought the ‘divilment’ was in her from her Mam. Basically, I’d say Kathy could have been so di erent.

Her love of small animals was true. Before I got there, she’d visited a cousin. ere she saw a shep dog – one of those black and white lads with bright ‘china’ eyes. Seeing his abused state, and being able to count his ribs, she returned that night – and stole him! e doggy loved his new home – and owner. I often saw, at dinnertime, a plate of our type of food put down for him. Bacon, spuds and cabbage! He’d gulp it all down – the only time I ever saw a madra eat cabbage. And Kathy called him Nell – in spite of his obvious ‘dog-ness!’ Her cuz knew where his shep dog was, used often pass the gate on his way to the Creamery. Would call the dog when he saw him. e happy canine lad would ignore him! Cuz was too scared of the ammable K to ask for ‘Nell’ back. I only saw Kathy’s really beautiful smile – when she looked at Nell.

Getting on into her thirties, in the end Kathy’d probably have had a lash at any hero with a few acres who showed up. Even a villain might have done, in her fading days. But she ran right out of men to bite. No phones much – but the ‘hard word’ travels. So, she was stuck. Even though I always had a secret liking for her, she’d not waste a word on me. By the time Kathy realised her many mistakes – it was all over. ‘ e bus was gone,’ her old schoolmates on it – boys and girls - happy – or hapless - with their choices. A man-less and childless future loomed. Which may have been some unknowing bachelor’s – and some unborn unconceived baby’s - great and good fortune. Everybody’s good luck, maybe; except her own. A cruel situation. But if any woman ever dug a loveless grave with her tongue - it was Kathy. And it could have been so di erent - with a few of those glorious smiles - for lads.

So, the only soft target now was Jack. Her mother didn’t su er – being only too willing - and able - to ght her corner, and ‘dish it out’ herself. Both loved a vicious verbal brawl, and when they’d clash, they’d circle each other like ghting greyhounds – darting in quick for a fangy verbal snap – then out again. It seemed to be their only pleasure in life. A rather doubtful one. ey’d hardly ever speak to me. A blessing, that. I didn’t matter, anyhow. A raggy youth. I was a ‘nobody.’ It was the only farmhouse I ever worked in where the females lived for the insulting word. In spite of having a rather modest position in life, they still had big ideas: ‘I’m a larger dungbeetle than you,’ sort of thing. I suppose if you look at tramps on the street in any city in the world, there’s a pecking order. Even day-old pups and cats brawl their way towards the best milk-point! {As they say in Oz about lucky people: “Must have sucked on the hind tit!”} Which, biologically speaking re our human mob, is not at all feasible. But there’s the Aussies for you…. e tormenting of Jack took many forms. But the main one was………

To be continued

Ned E

Disclaimer

e opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily re ect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of e Kilkenny Observer.

ere are increasing reports of a rise in social anxiety among overly cautious 18 to 25-yearolds who often interact online, with many young people, increasingly deciding to stay within a comfort zone of a small network of like-minded friends, often online, according to newspaper reports. ey have been deemed ‘Generation Sensible’ for their focus on social issues, healthy living and drinking less alcohol. But therapists say Generation Z could miss out on a wealth of life experience due to their overly cautious attitude to taking risks.

Many young people increasingly choose to stay within that comfort zone of a small network of like-minded friends in which much of their social activity is virtual, according to mental health experts.

While this can give them more control over some aspects of their lives, it can also lead to social anxiety when they have to interact with people o ine, the experts added.

Natalie Phillips, a psychotherapist who works with children and young people aged from 11 to 25, told the Guardian: “I’m seeing a disproportionate increase in referrals for social anxiety, professional anxiety, general self-con dence and relationship issues for this generation when they are confronted with the reality of being in an o ce, being in a nightclub, being in a pub, or being on a date.”

Her comments came after an academic study, published in the British Journal of Sociology, said Generation Z claim they drink less alcohol than their parents because they feel under pressure to perform academically, are more health conscious and do not want to lose control.

Ms Phillips said: “I do have the sense that [this generation] are possibly missing out on making mistakes and the sense of being young. I think they’re quite old before their time.”

She said many of the young people she works with have “restricted comfort zones” because they work from home or largely interact with colleagues online, and have a small number of friends who are of the same mindset.

“ ey are not in social situations to the same extent that we were generations before them. ere’s a danger that your world becomes inwardlooking, and that can then cause self-perpetuating anxiety. e outside world is much more scary because you haven’t got the experience to deal with that.”

is trend has been exacerbated by the pandemic, which has led to more young people working remotely and socialising in person less frequently, the psychotherapist said.. e study, entitled ‘More Options ... Less Time in the Hustle Culture of Generation Sensible’, says another report entitled ‘Individualisation and Drinking Decline Among Twenty-First Century Young Adults’, found 70% of the young people surveyed felt they were under greater pressure than their parents to achieve academically and get a good career, leaving them less time to party.

e researchers from the universities of Kent and Leeds surveyed 517 people aged 18 to 25 who described themselves as moderate or nondrinkers in 2020.

Seven out of 10 respondents said they felt they did not need to drink as much because they have a better choice of hobbies than their parents’ generation.

Many also said that they reduced their alcohol consumption due to the rising cost of drinks, university debt, and pressure to succeed in academia and their future careers. e researchers also interviewed focus groups of university students who were members of “sober” societies to understand why they abstained from drinking.

One focus group member, Jennifer, said: “[We are] hyperaware of the world as it is, and the problems with climate change and the political climate in the world, creating pressure on us to be doing our best to be making the world a better place, rather than just like living for the moment and having fun.”

Jane Darougar, a psychotherapist at Central Saint Martins school of art and design, said she was surprised to discover how many students said they were teetotal.

Ms Darougar attributed this to their greater awareness of the adverse impact of alcohol on their mental health.

“I’ve had students who said, I have underlying anxiety, I know that if I drink my anxiety will be through the roof the next day, and I just can’t deal with that,” she added.

“I remember when I was young people would say dutch courage, and you’d take a drink before you went do something that seemed a bit frightening. I think that’s gone, people don’t see that as a sensible or constructive way of managing.”

SPECIAL REPORT ‘Generation Sensible’ risk missing out on life, therapists warn

‘Much of their social activity is virtual...

I was never a fan of devValera , says NeilJordan

e writer and director of the acclaimed but controversial 1996 lm Michael Collins, Neil Jordan, has said he followed the structure of a “gangster lm” to portray the Irish revolutionary’s journey from violence to politics.

Collins’ role in Ireland’s independence struggle came to prominence following Jordan’s biopic of the leader and Tim Pat Coogan’s book, Michael Collins: A

Speaking on RTÉ Radio, on the centenary of Collins’ murder, the Irish lmmaker(pictured) said he was inspired in part by the peace process in Northern Ireland. at whole idea of a violent movement, disengaging from violence – apparently – and engaging in politics in a real way – that’s the story that Collins was emblematic of, really

“I took the template of a gangster movie, you know the Warner Brothers movies of the 30s and 40s that’s how I wanted to structure the lm.”

He recalled the erce controversy surrounding the lm upon its release: “I was being accused of making some kind of apologia for political violence.

“It was it was the [structure] of a crime movie and people misinterpreted that in certain ways ... nobody seems to mention the amount of which we did get right.” e lm was well received in Ireland and abroad, but it was criticised for certain historical inaccuracies, including what some viewers interpreted as the suggestion that de Valera was involved in Collins’s death.

“If you believe Tim Pat Coogan’s book, which I did, because it was the was the biggest, most extensive biography to have been published by that time, de Valera was in a farmhouse near a Béal na Bláth on that night, and he left the next morning.

“ at’s what I show in the movie, and I’m sorry if people some people take the implication from it that de Valera era had a hand in his assassination. I didn’t intend that at all.”

When asked if he thought the portrayal of de Valera in the lm was fair, Jordan said: “No, of course not.”

He added, laughing: ” I was never a fan. I grew up in de Valera’s Ireland.

“It was a fair portrayal of the broad, a broader political set of decisions de Valera made at the time,” he said, adding that Rickman played the anti-Treaty leader “brilliantly”.