Letters to the Editor: Response to GRA vote from Drew Harris was a missed opportunity 

Firstly he states, correctly, that his prime function is to protect the citizens of the State.

Secondly, he states, again quite correctly, that he has to utilise the resources available to him in the best and most efficient manner.

Few can argue with his thinking on the above.

But it’s clear where the present very negative GRA vote result emanated from — the Garda Commissioner should have gone on to say that, in seeking to attain his first two priorities, he should have given more attention to making every effort to bring all members (particularly the frontline ones) of the force along with him on his aims.

As is now plainly expressed in this vote, members have reached the conclusion that even their best efforts are not being recognised (or ironically perhaps their efforts are being overanalysed). 

This is where the commissioner has failed in his quest to deliver a top-class service which the citizens rightly expect. The commissioner says he’s not for turning and intends to implement his plans, come hell or high water — and sadly, he is again failing to comprehend that if you ‘lose’ the main workforce you command by not at least acknowledging some failings — then sooner or later such a situation will become totally untenable.

It’s time for genuine compromise and goodwill, before ultimately a bad situation becomes even worse.

Kevin McCarthy, Gouldavoher, Limerick

Ode to Johnny Sexton

A player of stature, a giant of our time,

A man of composure, with skill so sublime.

Runs, kicks and passes, all part of his game,

For province and country, we’ll remember his name.

A captain, a leader, a scorer of points,

A breaker of records, who seldom disappoints.

On field and off, he is humble and proud,

Playing through pain, not seen by the crowd.

His journey from Bective, the club of his dad,

Is littered with plaudits, all welcome and glad.

The worry of injuries, could not stop the flow,

Of the fly-half from Dublin, who never said no.

Off bench or on, he is always the same,

The love for his country, the love for the game.

The caps keep on coming, the ball’s still in play,

For the best ever player, we have seen in our day.

A milestone achieved, a thousand and 90 he scored,

He’s Ireland’s top scorer, but yet there is more.

The story’s not over, for Sexton or his team,

There is much more to come, from the doughty Boys in Green.

Martin Quinn, Father Mathew St, Tipperary Town

Over-medicalised approach 

I appreciate Kieran Moore’s candidly robust response [Irish Examiner, September 15] to an earlier letter of mine regarding Camhs’ operational and service delivery issues. I feel, though, that he may have missed the key essence of my comments. These were borne out of protracted frustration and incredulity at the total over-dominance of the biomedical-based psychiatry model in the whole area of ‘mental health’.

The notion of brain/chemical imbalance etc and consequent biomedical management has long been authentically challenged by so many professionals worldwide.

The over-medicalising of a predominantly socio-emotional developmental need, often laced with familial fragility and/or traumatic backdrop, is a detrimental distortion.

Such issues do not primarily require ‘medical’ oversight.

One must thus ask the question why would one need a medically-trained person to oversee such matters? What are their precisely relevant bona fides for same? It seems that a scenario has evolved somewhat surreptitiously over many decades and is stoutly, if indecently, defended by the protagonists in the wheelhouse.

Dr Moore blithely suggests that psychiatrists are statutorily ‘bound’ to their role, operating under statutory remit, claiming “like it or not, all medical consultant psychiatrists are legally and contractually responsible for every patient under their care”.

He juxtaposes the ‘medical consultant’ label with the psychiatrist term to copperfasten the biomedical ‘illness/disease’ model into the fray, ensuring a misplaced dominance for his colleagues.

My initial letter submission to which Dr Moore responds, was edited when published, leaving out a key comment on the matter, namely: “There is no good reason whatsoever that psychiatry should enjoy such a domineering profile within these services.

As a profession, they ‘hijacked’ the authentic ethos of the original A Vision for Change policy (2006), to ensure that, as a profession, they had absolute dictatorial management of the diagnostic, therapeutic, and prophylactic response measures.”

Having been personally, professionally, and representatively involved with submissions to the initial drafting of A Vision for Change pre-2006, I feel it was a travesty what eventually materialised when it came to be finally rolled out.

The psychiatric profession claimed immediate dominance and lobbied hard across the media spectrum for same. They insisted on their leadership control of all Camhs teams, and pressed doggedly and presumptively for the initial appointment of 17 consultant psychiatrist posts before anything else transpired. More the shame. Such is the corruptive power-mongering that distorts and persists. 

Appending the somewhat misguided descriptor “vituperation” to my initial letter on September 15, Dr Moore might alternatively like to consider the terms exasperation, flabbergast, shocking, and enduring disbelief.

Jim Cosgrove, Clinical Music Therapist, Lismore, Co Waterford