Niamh Walsh’s Manifesto
My rage and shame over the story of little Harvey
WHEN my little cousin was four he was diagnosed with scoliosis. Matthew has Down syndrome, so his family were desperately worried about this additional complication.
But they put their faith in the health system and Matthew was referred for surgery to correct a curvature in his spine that seemed to be worsening by the day.
Years passed, planned surgeries were cancelled, and Matthew’s spine progressed to a 90-degree curvature, which meant that by the time he did get surgery it was less than 100% successful.
But he’s one of the ‘lucky’ ones – at least he can breathe.
So when I saw little Harvey Sherratt gasping for air because he’s been on the surgery waiting list for seven years, it brought it all back.
All I could feel was anger when I saw the video posted by Harvey’s parents of their little boy in his Christmas PJs in hospital struggling to breathe. The curvature of his spine has now gone beyond 80 degrees, which means his body is collapsing his lungs. Some 300 other children are in a similar situation.
This would be shameful in a third world country, but in one that proclaims itself compassionate and caring, it is beyond shameful... it is reprehensible and immoral.
Last week our ‘compassionate’ Government voted against measures under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities aimed at providing support for our most vulnerable citizens.
In a meeting with disability rights campaigner Senator Tom Clonan, Minister Roderic O’Gorman told him bluntly the Government was not going to support the protocol.
Things got worse when Dr Clonan put down a motion for debate in the Seanad last week and not one minister or minister of state turned up, despite assurances to the contrary.
And while all this is happening, Government ministers are out on the campaign trail, with Mr O’Gorman promising more money for ‘care’ – once we vote ‘yes’ to the forthcoming referendum to amend the Constitution.
The referendum will cost the taxpayer approximately €20m for a purely symbolic result, but that matters not. All that matters is they can portray Ireland as ‘caring and inclusive’; it is beyond nauseating.
Because anyone who wants a true portrait of Ireland in 2024 only has to look at little Harvey Sherratt, and it’s not a pretty picture.
A great TV show is going to the dogs
THE late Paul O’Grady was the beating heart of the iconic and much adored programme, For The Love Of Dogs.
A true animal lover, his visits to the Battersea Cats and Dogs Home were unparalleled in highlighting the plight of abused and dumped dogs; not only in the UK but also here in Ireland.
He cradled tiny, poorly puppies; he hunkered down and petted pooches of every imaginable shape and size.
And he searched high and low to find forever homes for thousands upon thousands of residents who had the misfortune to find themselves behind bars at Battersea.
So while nobody can fill the giant hole left by O’Grady’s untimely death, ITV is barking up the wrong tree with Alison Hammond as the new host. She’s never owned a dog, and in a 2021 memoir she wrote that witnessing a dog attack as a child left her traumatised.
‘I saw the whole thing happen: the dog took a massive chunk out of his leg and blood poured everywhere... for weeks afterwards kids on our street never stopped talking about savage dogs and gushing wounds.’
Hammond’s ham-fisted utterances are a classic case of how totally and utterly self-absorbed so called ‘famous folk’ are. Even at the outset, she’s made the show about herself instead of its four-legged stars, as she insisted, ‘That’s why I want to do the show, because I want to find out about dogs, and I’ve always wanted a dog.’
What there is to find out about man’s (and woman’s) best friend exactly isn’t a mystery to many except, it seems, Hammond – eat, sleep, walk, belly rub, love, repeat.
Perhaps had Hammond actually watched O’Grady’s work at Battersea over the past 15 years instead of waiting until someone came along waving a big pay cheque and a primetime gig under her nose, she would have already found out whatever it is she feels she needs to find out about dogs.
For The Love Of God would be a far more appropriate title for what is bound to become a dog’s dinner of a programme.
St Brigid versus female oppression
OUR inaugural new national bank holiday was a bit of a damp squib. I can’t be alone in missing the governmental memo that we had been blessed with an extra national day off in homage to St Brigid, another age-old saint from bygone years.
But while I admit to missing the memo, Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly appears to have completely missed the point.
On the same day as St Brigid was being touted as a heroine, O’Reilly announced on X (formerly Twitter) that she was celebrating World Hijab Day.
Considering the hijab is thought by most free-thinking mortals to be a symbol of oppression, St Brigid would surely be turning in her grave at what some of our modernday females get up to.
Given that many people have a duvet day on bank holidays, O’Reilly really should pull the covers over her own head if she thinks women being forced to wear a face covering is a cause worth celebrating.
Be more Miley and let yourself blossom
MILEY Cyrus certainly is, however, someone we can all celebrate: Fun, talented, funky, with a country girl’s devil-may-care attitude that can’t be taught or learned. You’ve either got it or you ain’t.
Miley was the epitome of pure, unbridled happiness when she jumped for joy as she half-sang, half-shouted and half-cried with delight while performing her latest hit song Flowers, for which she won her very first Grammy Award.
The chorus of her award-winning track includes the lyrics ‘I can buy myself flowers’ – a rallying call to women around the world that says we don’t need men but they’re sometimes nice to have around.
So with that other saintly celebration on St Valentine’s Day this week, remember ladies: you can buy your own flowers, though if a fella wants to buy them for you all the better.
But if you can be anyone in this world, be Miley Cyrus.