The Hanley-Hand family.
Headed by Sandra (top) and Brendan.
One of three families chronicled in My Homeless Family on RTÉ One tonight at 9.35pm.
Anne Louise Foley writes:
In order to provide unique insight into the experience of families in this situation RTÉ provided three families with cameras to film their experience of being homeless over a three month period in the final months of 2015.
Mahmoud Khelife with his wife and children in Athens, Greece
Last September, the EU announced that it would relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy to other countries in the EU over the following two years.
But just 272 people have been relocated in the past four months.
Further to this, journalist Andrew Connelly, currently in Athens, Greece, writes:
Austria has suspended its participation in the relocation scheme, hardliners Hungary and Slovakia are challenging the numbers they are supposed to receive in court, and Denmark and the UK opted out from the beginning. Overwhelmed Sweden has reversed its involvement, asking to be a sending rather than a receiving country.
Refugees themselves have been ambivalent about the scheme or simply don’t know about it. Only six nationalities are eligible: Syrians, Iraqis, Eritreans, Yemenis, Bahrainis, and Swazis – based on the high percentage of asylum seekers from those countries who receive refugee status in the EU. Afghans, who represented around 20 percent of Europe’s refugee arrivals in 2015, are notably absent from the list as their likelihood of getting refugee status is well below the 75-percent threshold required for the programme.
[An Iraqi-Kurdish journalist and former producer for Sky News Arabic who fled Iraq] Aral Kakl says those who do qualify for relocation often wait for weeks, only to be told they will be sent to, for example, Cyprus or Bulgaria – countries they know nothing about. Many subsequently opt to leave the hotel and make their own way to a country of their choice.
Mahmoud Khelife – a 53-year-old electrical engineer from Aleppo – and his wife have three teenage children who all have severe learning difficulties. Abdul Malik, 16, Aya, 18, and Mohammed, 19, bounce around the confines of the family’s hotel room. After 47 days, they are still waiting to be accepted by a country for relocation.
“My dream is to go to Ireland,” says Khelife. “I hear the doctors are good there, and they speak English. But no problem – I just need an answer from any country soon. I’m an old man. It doesn’t matter about me. It’s all about my children. Where will they go? They need special treatment.”
Failed EU relocation plan leaves refugees in limbo (IRIN, Andrew Connelly)
Pic: Nicola Zolin
Earlier: Sex Crimes And Refugees
Ah here.
An email from Denis O’Brien to Des Carville at the Department of Finance, obtained by journalist Gavin Sheridan, under the Freedom of Information Act
You may recall how the sale of Siteserv to Denis O’Brien’s Isle-of-Man-based acquisition vehicle Millington in March 2012 came after Davy Stockbrokers and KPMG were tasked with finding a buyer by a subcommittee of the Siteserv board.
Des Carville was the Davy adviser to Siteserv during the sale. Mr Carville previously helped Davy to advise Mr O’Brien on deals involving Esat.
Some 18 months after the sale of Siteserv, in November 2013, Mr Carville, a former KPMG employee, joined the Department of Finance as Head of its Shareholder Management Unit.
Denis O’Brien’s email to Des Carville (The Story, Gavin Sheridan)
Meanwhile, separately, in yesterday’s Sunday Times, Brian Carey wrote:
“For all the world, the inquiry into loan write-offs at IBRC looks like it was built to collapse: the towering edifice, the flimsy foundation, the complex material, the entirely infeasible completion deadline.”
“It ran out of control well before it was due to begin. By estimating a duration of several years, judge Brian Cregan first rendered the whole prospect outrageous. It was the government’s decision to broaden the probe to 38 transactions and losses to the state bank of more than €10m. Now the government claims that an investigation could cost as much as a tribunal.”
“There never were grounds for a probe of that scope, depth, length or expense, nor was one ever demanded. And so the public’s quest for truth runs aground in a legal quagmire of confidentiality , privilege and enormous expenses. How convenient.”
“There were only ever a handful of questions that begged answers in this affair. Did Denis O’Brien, the most powerful businessman in the country, receive preferential treatment in his dealings with IBRC? Was he unduly favoured in his purchase of Siteserv, a utilities service company which was heavily indebted to the bank? Did he get preferential rates of interest on his own personal borrowings?”
“… KPMG could review, as suggested by Cregan, the top 12 write-offs, provided once again there is no conflict of interest. It is the job of a liquidator to investigate the affairs of a bust company. As yet, the evidence is not there to justify a wide-ranging, lengthy and expensive judicial inquiry. Frankly the public should be aghast that one should take place without, at least, establishing a case for such a probe.”
“By the same token, the Siteserv issue should not be buried with this administration. Right now, this looks like a manufactured botch job.”
IBRC loan inquiry risks being botched into oblivion (The Sunday Times)
Previously: Bringing The House Down
Andy Knightly writes:
You might like this of a blue Monday…Irish acts from the last decade.
Anyone?
Saturday.
Botanic road Glasnevin, Dublin 9
Thanks James Corcoran Hodgins
Angry Dad writes:
Rathgar Road [Dublin 6] on Saturday. Person in Car 1; Baby in Buggy forced onto Road 0…
Caoilte O Broin
Caoilte O Broin was found dead in the River Liffey on January 2, after going missing on December 29, 2015.
Caoilte had suffered from mental health problems for several years. In addition to this, Caoilte drank heavily so he had what is called a ‘dual diagnosis‘ – something most mental health services in Ireland will not treat, according to Dual Diagnosis Ireland.
Caoilte’s sister Catriona said because of Caoilte’s drinking, his doctor insisted nothing could be done to help him.
Further to this…
Shane Gillen writes:
Many of you may now be aware of Caoilte O Broin’s story. Caoilte died needlessly due to systemic failures that let families all across this country down when someone is suffering from mental health issues.
Caoilte died from his mental illness.
This could have been prevented. We are seeking legislative changes so that no other family will have to endure the suffering that Caoilte and his family have had to. On Feb 19th, we have been invited on to The Late Late Show to speak about Caoilte’s story in more detail.
On the 11th of Feb – just over one month from when we found Caoilte – we will be holding a silent candlelit vigil outside Government buildings. We will be distributing smiling face masks to represent how we tend to hide our mental health illnesses, and we will ask people to wear the masks during the vigil.
Anyone’s brother – a vigil by candlelight for Caoilte (Facebook)
Related: Dual Diagnosis Ireland
Previously: An Avoidable Death
Fianna Fail leader Michaél Martin (left) with singer Richie Kavanagh at the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis at Citywest on Saturday
The party’s director of elections Billy Kelleher described [last year] anything more than 35 seats as a major achievement.
Under new Dáil arithmetic, with the number of TDs elected reduced from 166 to 158, a government would need 79 seats to get into office. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is ruling out coalition with Fine Gael or Sinn Féin, leaving his party well short….
The party’s Seanad leader and Dublin spokesman Darragh O’Brien said Mr Kelleher was merely asked what would be a good result.
FF limits damage of 35-40 seats prediction (Fionnan Sheahan, Irish Independent)
(Sam Boal/Rollingnews)
Gullah tweetz:
Inverse gentrification..looks old timesy but it’s just a Paddy Powers camouflaged in Portobello [Dublin 8]
What you may need to know:
1. After crashing her car, a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in a bunker guarded by a caretaker (John Goodman). He says that a nuclear attack has left the outside world uninhabitable, but she begins to have doubts.
2. This trailer came out of nowhere on Friday. It’s either a “blood relative” sequel to Cloverfield…
3. …Or a completely unrelated micro-budget project formerly called “The Cellar” for Paramount’s now defunct Insurge stable.
4. Some reshoots – written by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) – were carried out to link it to Matt Reeves’ found footage disaster movie.
5. Great use of Tommy James & Shondells, though.
6. Broadsheet prognosis: Here be Monsters (Inc.).
Release Date: March 11.
