DERRY CLARKE ON AGONY OF LOSING HIS SON I’m sure my Andrew was bullied online ...we need to do more for young people
Celeb chef urges action on youth mental health
Hardest thing of all is to lose a child.. it’s more than 10 years now & the pain never goes away
DERRY Clarke has called for more mental health supports for teenagers as he revealed his son was bullied in the months before his suicide.
The celebrity chef, whose 16-yearold Andrew took his own life in December 2012, urged authorities to do more to regulate social media and protect our young people.
Derry, 66, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “The hardest thing of all is to lose a child. It’s like a nightmare.
“It’s more than 10 years now and it seems like a year or less. The pain never goes away.”
Restaurateur Derry said he strongly suspects that Andrew was being cyber bullied. He said: “Kids are getting bullied on social media, there are predators out there, it should be looked at.
“I’m not sure Andrew was bullied online but I suspect he was... toxic social media is a problem young and old.”
Urging the Government to address the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services issue he added: “They’re [teenagers] not getting enough – we’re not doing enough for young people.
“I think transition year should be a whole year on social skills, learning and relationship skills, sexual and mental health issues and stuff they will face as adults.
“It’s wrong that Gen Z get such a bad rap, mental health is a massive issue for them. We need to pre-empt mental health issues instead of fire fighting. The cost now to the Government to fund more mental health resources would be far less than what we have coming down the road.”
Andrew was found unresponsive outside the family home in Brittas, Dublin, two days after Christmas by his mother Sallyanne who desperately tried to save him by carrying out CPR.
He was taken to Tallaght Hospital where a scan showed his brain had been starved of oxygen and he died four days later, on New Year’s Eve.
Derry said the first year after his son’s death was a “blur” but he cherishes the memories they had made.
He said: “We did a lot together, Andrew was mad into racing. We’d go around Britain and Northern Ireland and Mondello every bloody Sunday morning.
“In 2006 I bought a biggish boat, it was a bit out of my price range. I only sold it two years ago, I’m glad I kept the boat.
“It had memories with me and Andrew on it, we went to Scotland, France, went fishing for four days with him. I hold those memories close, that’s all any of us have.”
Opening up on the family’s grief he said Andrew’s death has had a ripple effect. He added: “Sallyanne really felt it, we said years ago to each other and our daughter Sarah May let’s be kind to each other, whatever happens.
“Sallyanne and myself are very strong together now but that kind of thing can go either way on you. It was a real shock for Sarah May, she was still so young.
“It’s hard for everyone, nieces, uncles and aunts are all affected by it. I have three nephews who all got tattoos of him.
“I’d say to any parent when the kids are young and up to teenagers, take every day off. If it’s a choice between work and going out with them, go out with your kids.”
Derry owned Dublin celeb haunt L’ecrivain from 1989 until 2020, and has just launched a boutique hotel and restaurant, Goffs, in Kildare.
Recalling the Celtic Tiger years he said: “It wasn’t just buying the expensive bottles, it was leaving behind half of a €3,000 bottle of wine. It was people wasting money.
“It’s shameful it makes you a socialist, I am a capitalist in that my business has to work, but I am a socialist in the sense that the people I work with have to be rewarded.”
Derry told how celebs in his restaurant were mostly gracious, but their minders often caused hassle.
He said: “I used to tell the waiting staff Mr and Mrs Smith are more important, they’ve saved their money to come on their anniversary.
“It was the minders who were a nightmare, the PAS they’d pre-book and do pre-meetings. Bono would eat in L’ecrivain a good bit, he was very genuine. Reality TV shows were the difficult ones.” After doing dishes in hotels in summers as a teenager, Derry worked his way up training in Man Fridays, Kinsale, before he eventually became a Michelin star chef.
Kitchens were tough training grounds he recalled. He said: “I’ve worked under hard chefs in the early days, I was threatened with a knife and beaten up a few times.
“There was alcohol abuse back then and now there’s a lot of cocaine abuse in kitchens.”
With no plans to retire Derry takes all his success with a pinch of salt.
He added: “I don’t look upon success, people say to me oh you’re a celebrity chef but I don’t look upon myself as one.
“Yeah I was one of the first but don’t forget RTE was king back then, 10 seconds on that you were a celebrity.”