General Meeting of IMPERO

by Sean Crudden - IMPERO Sat Jun 13, 2009 16:57 sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

A general meeting of IMPERO began at 12.05 in The Strand Hotel, Omeath, Co Louth. It followed a communal breakfast which began at 11.10.

Present. Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes OMD PhD, Kevin McGeough, Kevin Hynes, Joan Hardy (mentor), Mrs Anne M Muldowney (chairperson), Sean Crudden (secretary).

The secretary said he had been in contact with Bishop Tom Daly by letter and by phone. Tom and his wife Ita are well and happy. Tom for practical reasons is unable to attend this morning’s meeting but he is content to go forward again for election as president of IMPERO and he has written a letter to the secretary and sent a donation.

The chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for coming. She remarked that the breakfast had been very nice.

The meeting led by the Archbishop recited the Our Father as an opening prayer.

The minutes of the previous general meeting held on 7 June 2008 were read by the chairperson and adopted unanimously on the proposal of the Archbishop seconded by Joan Hardy.

Joan said backers like Sound and Vision want detail about our proposed film. What specifically do we want to do? Who will appear? Have we got agreement? The secretary said he had received a very poor reception when he tried to make an enquiry to CREATE recently. Kevin McGeough remarked that it was a huge project and our resources are inadequate. “Is it a step too far?” he wondered. The secretary remarked that Alan Gilsenan’s documentary about Portrane broadcast on RTE 1 a few years ago presented mental patients as a comedy. “I think it is a tragedy,” the secretary asserted. He called for any film to be an authentic voice of mental patients. The chairperson remarked that depression was often characterised by disordered thinking and for that reason the views of mental patients were neither sought nor listened to. The secretary remarked that that was an absurd situation.

The secretary was instructed by the meeting to raise the issue of a film with Aisling to see what might be done. He also undertook to send his thoughts in writing to Joan so that she might revisit some of the application forms.

The Archbishop said it was likely that the drug addiction treatment clinic proposed for Dundalk would now go to Drogheda. He suggested the Ladywell Mental Health Services campus. It was agreed by the meeting that the Archbishop be empowered to write on behalf of IMPERO about this and about rationalisation of services in general to MOHC and MHC as well as circulating his views widely.

It was decided to hold an interim meeting in December.

Dessie and Sean are to attend a DFI North East Platform meeting in Farney Workhouse, Carrickmacross, on Wednesday 17 June 2009 and will travel to Omagh later in the year to visit Tom Daly.

A motion of sympathy with the family and friends of Dr Mary Grehan RIP was adopted unanimously on the proposal of the Archbishop seconded by Kevin Hynes.

The Archbishop remarked that in the interests of democracy IMPERO should continue in existence. We might have a low profile but like a boil in the system things could flare up. He mentioned Asset-Based-Community-Development. The chairperson remarked that the mental patient does not have a say and that, perhaps, the system is not patient-centred. She continued that it was a good idea for IMPERO not to wind up. “It should be a seeing eye and a listening ear for mental patients,” she concluded.

“You don’t have to be making a riot?” the Archbishop advised.

It was decided that IMPERO should register with North Louth Area Forum. Sean Crudden was nominated as IMPERO representative on that forum.

The committee was re-elected as follows. President, Bishop Tom Daly FRSA: Chairperson, Anne M Muldowney: Vice-chairperson, Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes OMD PhD: Secretary, Sean Crudden: Joint Treasurers, Kevin McGeough and Edward S Crudden.

The next general meeting was fixed for 12 June 2010 starting with breakfast at 11.00 in The Strand Hotel, Omeath, Co Louth.

The meeting closed at 13.10 following a short extempore prayer/homily given by the Archbishop. He reiterated the theme of forgiveness taken from The Lord’s Prayer which opened the meeting.

Anne took a photo and Sean took two before everyone left.

by Sean Crudden Sat Jun 13, 2009 17:32

No-one seemed depressed after this morning's IMPERO meeting. A day marked by early heavy rain cleared at least partially and it became warmer than recent days.

Joan Hardy, Kevin McGeough, Anne Muldowney.

by Sean Crudden - impero Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:20 sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

1 June 2010

Notice of General Meeting

A general meeting of IMPERO will take place in The Strand, Omeath, Co Louth, starting with breakfast at 11.00 on Saturday 12 June 2010. You are cordially invited to attend.

As you may be aware IMPERO following a period of gestation of about 9 years was formally founded at a public meeting in Ballymascanlon House Hotel on 1 April 1989 so this year’s general meeting is a sort of milestone, more or less the 21st anniversary. Hopefully IMPERO can find some work to do in the coming year and so continue to play a seminal role in mental health services reform.

Agenda

1. Read and adopt minutes of general meeting held on 13 June 2009
2. Matters arising from minutes
3. Report on two interim meetings held since last summer
4. Re-elect Bishop Tom Daly as president
5. Confirm Joan Hardy as mentor
6. Elect officers for the coming year
7. “Accountability in the Delivery of A Vision for Change – A Performance Assessment Framework for Mental Health Services.” A report (2010) by AMNESTY international and Indecon, international consultants
8. Report from Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes OMD PhD on proceedings of North Louth Joint Policing Committee
9. Set a date and pick a venue for the next general meeting.

I remain

Yours faithfully

Sean Crudden
secretary

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:59

Ta for the invite.No doubt mental health is a major issue in many dimensions in this state.I dont wish to offend,but I find it strange that you list at least one bishop and an archbishop as major movers.Given the behaviour of Irish bishops in covering and colluding in psychotic behaviour in relation to children and the overt catholic references to prayer, my confidence fails to be inspired.When I hear a bishop publicly declare that it was wrong for the government under Minister Michael Woods to hit the working taxpayers of this country to compensate for the crimes of the Fathers I will believe that there is a glimmer of mental health to be found in the catholic church.Otherwise I would prefer to be in the hands of a witchdoctor.

by Sean Crudden Tue Jun 08, 2010 08:18

Hi Opus. Thanks for your comment. Hope to see you (without a mask) on Saturday in Omeath. As Shakespeare said, "What's in a name?" It's too easy to tar everyone with the same brush. Sloppy thinking. Anyway we are all sinners and speaking for myself I certainly feel I am a tarnished man. But no-one can abdicate all responsibility in the face of obvious disorder. Last week thinking about the issue in general it occurred to me that the mental system is not only universal it is depraved even though it is operated by the nicest of people. Far worse than the church in my estimation and far more abusive?

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:41

Sorry sean,you'll have to clarify your use of the phrase.As I understand it the church is integral to the prevalent mindsets that need structural reform. Stepping outside the rotten structures does not mean you 'abdicate all reponsibility'.Quite the opposite, the true responsibility of a healthy mentality is to stand against the contradictions that riddle the church.Down the centuries many have payed dearly,from Galileo to the patriarchially supressed women and children,for the opposition they offered to the dogmatic ideology of Roman Catholic totalitarianism.The church has fought any progress on this island that did not serve its interests and kiss its feet.It retards the mental health of our people with superstition and blind 'faith', in the place of the moral and intellectual courage to pursue the truth of issues that we should cultivate in our children.It has repetitively blocked the way,the truth and the light,as it continues to do today to those of its victims who have sought and fought,against its stubborn self-conservatism, to reveal its crimes to the judgement and justice of its members.To my mind it is controlled by people who are mentally immature and dependent on ritual and mantras,whose hypnotic influence is finally being cast aside by a generation who can see through its continuing recidivist betrayals.When I hear a bishop call on the church to lift the burden of compensating for its crimes from its gullible and exploited members and pay its dues to Caesar from its Roman coffers I might conclude it is changing.The only argument for its behaviour might be that if you survive its predations you should be immune from most varieties of superstition after you have achieved a semblance of mental health.But its casualties exclude any possibility of redemption on those grounds.Saying 'we are all sinners' is a cop out from the responsibility to ensure those responsible for covering psychotic criminality can dump the guilt evenly on the backs of the many innocent.Some of us survived the Jesuitical logic without succumbing to its seductive charms.Mental health does not need to dominate.It can stand comfortably among equals,recognise merit without requiring titles,and seldom thinks it is infallible.

by Sean Crudden Tue Jun 08, 2010 17:10

Well, Opus. Let me make it plain. I am a practicing Catholic; a member of the pastoral council in my parish of Ravensdale; a eucharistic minister; I contribute to the support of my pastors; I sing in Our Lady of The Wayside church choir; I visited the Vatican last September and saw the Pope; I won the Cardinal's prize for religion when I was a senior student in St. Patrick's College, Armagh, in 1961. In short I am the very picture of a church hog. I have heard often the sort of talk you are spouting - and there is something in it. But a lot of the old dogma you are referring to is already dead. The church is not humbled but it is humbler. I think it is possible for a thinking person to take part in church life without compromising personal integrity or independence. It's possible even if it is not easy. It's a part of my life and of my own personal history and I think it is possible to get it right as well as to get it wrong. But it does require thought effort skill staying-power. The best hurlers often sit on the ditch. When you get involved your perspective can be different and possibly more grounded.

But the meeting on Saturday is not about the church; it's more about mental patients and mental health. You know, Opus, the dogmas that rule today's world are no longer religious dogma. They are far more insidious. I used the word depraved in connection with the mental health system. If it is not depraved it is certainly dogmatic and prescriptive.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Jun 08, 2010 19:20

I thought I was being reasonable and giving critical feedback.But your reaction typifies all I find wrong with those conditioned to the pontifications of their pontif.Not, to my mind ,mentally receptive.
Oh the church does not have a monopoly on obfuscation,but it certainly promotes and benefits from the ignorance and unquestioning attitudes it perpetuates.
I am on ditch ? I reply to your post out of a sense of responsibility to the mental health of the victims of your chosen church's predations.The institution is sick.It treats its 'heretics' as Caiaphas treated it's founder.Many of the church's victims were so badly damaged they never got their chance to respond.My responsibility is to these still voiceless.Your responsibility should be to ensure your church purges its guilt by relinquishing the thirty pieces of silver it extracted over its gloious decades from the bodies of often kidnapped,enslaved, tortured, abused and murdered children.
I repeat it once.Put your energy into demanding the church pick up the bill it passed back to its victims when Minister Woods levied the compensation for your church's extended brutal crimes.That,to my warped and spouting mind,would be the beginnings of mental health.

by Sean Crudden Wed Jun 09, 2010 16:57

Hi Opus.

I really don't want to be insulting or annoying towards you. Things don't stand still. I am already 66 years of age and most things have already passed me by. In general terms I agree where abuse or injustice has occurred there should be an effort to compensate and make restitution to the fullest possible extent. For one thing that is the necessary precursor to forgiveness. We have all been hurt in life but it is not a good idea for anyone to nurse their hurt and hold onto it. Better forgive and forget, let go of the hurt, try to move on. Wrongdoers are often victimised too. Their crimes and transgressions are pinned to them. They are tarnished and almost permanently paralysed. We sometimes forget that we are all human beings. No-one should be stultified whether they are on death row or in the locked ward of a mental hospital.

I have a friend who thinks that all rejects, wrongdoers, addicts, outcasts, should be literally put into an incinerator.

Anyway, Opus, I catch your drift about the church. What about mental patients?

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Fri Jun 11, 2010 13:25

Third time posting a reply,Sean,keeps getting taken down.And I have not been impolite. You ask 'what about mental patients?' immediately after referring to a 'friend who thinks all rejects, wrongdoers, addicts, outcasts, should be literally put into an incinerator'.
My reply was, and remains that your friend sounds like the Father God who dispenses his 'sinners' into the flames of Hell. The same doctrine used to terrify children, from infancy, into submission and bend them to the perverted wills of paedophiles and torturers and murderers. I think we need look no further for 'mental patients', and trust your 'friend' is being monitored by someone more mentally healthy.Again, you make the prosecution's case against the indoctrination I had, along with most of my generation, literally, with mother's milk, given that our ancestors had undergone generations of such terrorisation. This deity is a deity of fear, and his fruits betray him.

by Taxpayer. Sat Jun 12, 2010 15:39

If IMPERO were abolished nobody would miss them.
.
.

by Sean Crudden Sun Jun 13, 2010 09:17

Hi Opus.

LIkewise. My last comment was hidden. Well I think your view of God is a bit one-sided. As far as I am aware no-one however well informed knows very much about God. Nor can anyone be sure whether or not the God we imagine, or any God, really exists. But I prefer the christian idea that God is a god of love.

"Hail, Mary, full of grace
The Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb
Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen."

That is the most common prayer of the catholic church and we all learnt it at our mother's knee. I don't think there is anything dangerous or threatening in it whether you recite it like a mantra or think about it. And for me, at 66, the word that I emphasise when I am saying this prayer is "now."

Sorry you were not present yesterday for the impero meeting in Omeath. There were 9 people there and Conor Duffy filmed the proceedings for The Dundalk Democrat. When the video goes up on the Democrat site I'll put a link to it here. Meantime I am giving a link you can try for a few photos which I took myself yesterday, i.e. if you are wildly or even remotely interested.

by Gracie - Impero Sun Jun 13, 2010 15:39

Sean

you may be 66 but for the 6 years or more that I virtually know you and Impero - I hope from the bottom of my heart that Impero will not go under....

as a little girl we had a dog called Gracie, a corgi with one dimension i.e. me an only child for a number of years in a rural landscape. Gracie protected me, that was her nature. My link to the Hail Mary is simple. I would be brought to the Church and as people would say Hail Mary, Full of Grace....I would recite: Hail Mary, full of Go Go....I could not pronounce the word Grace. The moral being I suppose - I could see Grace in my friend the dog....hence my belief in all that contributes to the positive of an integrated whole universe through the mindset of a child.

Impero has held its hand out virtually and through imagery and the truth is because it is virtual the evidence of say 7 people being present is not about the amount of support given in numerate terms but about when you give something in a virtual way the market is an unknown quantity and thus so is the good or (evil unfotunately).......

Gracie

by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:50

Following a communal breakfast at The Strand, Omeath, Co Louth, a general meeting of IMPERO took place there commencing at 12.00 on Saturday 12 June 2010.

Present were; Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes OMD PhD (outgoing vice-chairperson); Anne Muldowney (outgoing chairperson), Sean Crudden (outgoing secretary); Kevin Hynes; Kevin McGeough (outgoing joint treasurer); Paul Jennings; Leonard Hatrick; Conor Duffy (Dundalk Democrat), Joan Hardy (mentor).

Apologies; Bishop Tom Daly (outgoing president); his wife, Ita; Edward S (“Teddy”) Crudden (outgoing joint treasurer).

The minutes of the previous general meeting held on 13 June 2009 were read by the secretary and adopted unanimously on the proposal of the Archbishop seconded by Kevin McGeough.

Arising from the minutes the proposed IMPERO film was discussed. The Archbishop suggested an approach to Paddy Drumgoole in Louth County Council to canvass the possibility of getting a grant. The Archbishop is the current chairperson of County Louth Community and Voluntary Forum. It was noted that Sound & Vision probably would want to know what the proposed film is all about? Joan suggested a page or two. She asked would Aisling help with this? The theme suggested was, “How mental patients are.” Some suggested the film should be ½ an hour long; others suggested 15 minutes or less. “Talk to people who have been mentally ill,” the chairperson suggested, “Look at it from the patient’s perspective.” Kevin McGeough asked if we might have to bear 50% of the cost. Conor gave the benefit of his advice about how much IMPERO might expect the overall cost of the project to be depending on the length, complexity of the film, etc. The secretary undertook to ask for tenders from different people like Aisling, Squid Productions, Conor himself perhaps, if progress were made about funding. In order to give everyone a chance. Kevin McGeough reported that IMPERO has 235 euro in the bank. The chairperson asked if anyone had any ideas? “Cancel the breakfast in future,” Kevin suggested.

The secretary read detailed reports on the two interim meeting of IMPERO, one held on 28 November 2009; the other on 27 February 2010. Both of these meeting were held in The Terrace Bar, Ballymascanlon House Hotel and Country Club. He also reported that he, the Archbishop, and Dermot Mooney had driven to Slieve na Man nursing home, Tircur Road, Omagh, on 31 March 2010, through the snow, to visit Tom and Ita Daly.

The secretary read a letter from Tom Daly and showed the meeting the 50 euro cheque enclosed with the letter. A donation. Tom stated that it was an honor to be president of IMPERO and he was unanimously adopted by the meeting as president for a further year.

Joan Hardy received great praise from the secretary and she agreed to continue to be mentor. For the third annual term.

On the proposal of the Archbishop seconded by Kevin McGeough it was unanimously resolved to allow all the outgoing officers to remain in situ for a further year.

The secretary showed to the circle the report “Accountability in the Delivery of A Vision for Change – A Performance Assessment Framework for Mental Health Services.” The report (2010) had been prepared by Indecon, international economic consultants, for Amnesty International. The secretary had also previously circulated a link by e-mail to the report on-line. But no-one had read the report it seemed and no-one placed much value on it. “It does not even include a picture of a mental patient,” the secretary commented. There followed a discussion on mental health services. The chairperson outlined a case where a family had difficulty in getting a daughter admitted. Someone said the service is a sham. As regards inputs and outputs the chairperson summed up the mental health services as, (2 + 2) = 3. Leonard Hatrick outlined the general position of Ardee mental hospital. It was a mistake to try to sell the land, he opined. “There are people going in and out of Ardee mental hospital on a daily basis,” he reported and he suggested that the mental health facility attached to Navan General Hospital had been a failure. The chairperson agreed that it was wrong to sell the land. Leonard pointed out that money for land that had been sold at other mental health facilities had not gone to mental health improvements as it was promised the money would. Other items mentioned, surprise ideas, better to live outside the hospital, not let vegetate, have occupational therapy, Tony Bates, music, art, drama, self-expression, imposing on people who have mental illness, the capitalist system creates a cruel world, live in the community, the mental health system poisons the well of human motivation, get activities moving. “Why should my life-expectancy be 25 to 40 years less than yours?” Sean asked Leonard, “Where’s the equality in that?”

Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes OMD PhD presented a comprehensive report about the North Louth Joint Policing Committee. He was complimented by the secretary on his success in the election to that committee. He had been proposed by IMPERO for election through the County Louth Community and Voluntary Forum. The Archbishop said he would not allow the committee to paint a rosy picture or to cod people. He was lugubrious about policing in Cooley mentioning discrimination, drug smuggling, drinking in the streets. He maintained in connection with some of the politicians on the committee, “Their signal is too weak!”

The next general meeting was fixed for The Strand, Omeath, County Louth, beginning with breakfast at 11.00, on Saturday 11 June 2011.

An interim meeting will be convened in November. Kevin McGeough and Sean will try to arrange a meeting with Paddy Drumgoole some Wednesday morning soon.

Sean took some photos. Conor Duffy video’d an interview with Sean before breakfast, the breakfast, the general meeting; for The Dundalk Democrat. The photos and the video are intended for publication on the internet.

The meeting concluded at 13.30.

by Sean Crudden Wed Jun 16, 2010 16:21

If you can spare the time have a dekko at this short video created by Conor Duffy which he shot in The Strand on Saturday morning.

by Sean Crudden Sun Jun 05, 2011 09:37 impero at iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

The time of year has quickly crept round for IMPERO's general meeting. We have had a taste of summer this past few days but the rain is back again this morning as I look out the window here in Jenkinstown. Well I suppose a little rain is badly needed right now. It will do the plants no harm. Anyway here's hoping next Sunday afternoon will be fine and DV we might be able to hold our meeting out of doors! For those of you who do not already know The Strand I am talking about is not in London. It is situated on the shore of Carlingford Lough in the village of Omeath, Co Louth, about 100m to the right as you approach the pier there. We are affable people but we mean business and we could do with all the help we can get. So the invitation to attend is not an empty letter. If you are able to make your way to Omeath I think you will not be disappointed.

Notice of Meeting

Circulated on 30 May 2011

A snag has arisen in connection with this year’s general meeting of IMPERO. On enquiry in the past few days I found that The Strand is unavailable on 11 June the date fixed last year for this year’s meeting. They have to cater for 2 “buses” on that day. Discussing possible dates with Maura I plumped for Sunday 12 June 2011 to avoid undue procrastination. She is prepared to supply us with a lunch consisting of salad, chips, tea bread and butter at 13.00 that day. I was trying to suggest a slightly more exotic menu but Maura pointed out that she will be busy the day before preventing her from preparing anything special.

I am sending out this notice a little early so that if anyone feels sufficiently strong about it I could cancel the above arrangement and try for another day. In any case I would be grateful for a reply to this mail from each individual so that I can make a fairly accurate forecast for Maura of how many will be attending for lunch on Sunday 12th June.

The meeting itself should be able to kick off around 14.00 after lunch and after, maybe, taking a few photos. The agenda is long but many of the items on it are connected to one another so we should be able to get through it in 90 minutes or so.

If you know of anyone interested in mental health please let them know about IMPERO and invite them to the meeting. I will make an assessment of the situation at the weekend and if it is all systems go I will publish on indymedia a notice of the meeting inviting anyone interested to attend. That is more than a mere formality to make our meeting a properly notified one.

Meetings of IMPERO have been constructive and friendly, so far, and there is every reason to believe confidently that this one will be no different. Needless to say, you are cordially invited to attend.

Yours sincerely

Seán Crudden
secretary
IMPERO

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Agenda

Read and adopt minutes of general meeting 2010 held on 12 June 2010
Matters arising including election of officers
Read minutes of interim meeting held on 19 February 2011
Matters arising
Correspondence
Report on ENUSP/MHE capacity building conference, Brussels, 19 to 22 May 2011
“Peers in Progress”
Application for researcher under new program, Tús, being administered by Louth Leader Partnership
Sponsorship
Suicide prevention
Strategy
Web-site
Finance
Fix date and venue for the next interim meeting and also for the general meeting 2012.
Any other business

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by Serf Sun Jun 05, 2011 13:27

opus is right.
All that extra money the taxpayer was forced to pay out to victims of child abuse, rape and buggery at the hands of evil religious paedophiles because of the cynical FF/church indemnity could have instead have gone towards proper state facilities for people with mental illnesses.

How do you answer that charge Sean / archbishop x etc?Until the church pays for the damage it has done out of it's own pocket instead of draining state coffers that could be better used for such purposes as mental health then such lip service and crocodile tears about the plight of the mentally ill as spouted at IMPERO meetings are just a big cynical PR job. and ring very hollow in my ears.

In fact if you think about it, people who ended up with mental illnesses as a result of abuse (the ones that didn't kill themselves that is) were asked, as taxpayers, to pay part of the compensation bill on behalf of their abusers. How disgustingly cynical and ironic.

How dare the church through IMPERO make pontifications about the disadvantaged while foisting their deviant rape bill on the victims and the mentally ill

by Sean Crudden Sun Jun 05, 2011 15:17

Thanks for your feedback. In particular I would like to know whether the people you represent consider themselves to have suffered greater abuse in state facilities for the mentally ill when they became mentally ill than they suffered originally from their clerical abusers? That is not a trick question. I do not know whether opus is right or wrong. All I know is that he is pretty hot and I am seldom able to understand his prose.

by Serf Sun Jun 05, 2011 19:13

"I would like to know whether the people you represent consider themselves to have suffered greater abuse in state facilities for the mentally ill when they became mentally ill than they suffered originally from their clerical abusers?"

what a disgusting question. It equates the deliberate rape of children with genuine (albeit clumsy and underfunded) attempts to help people.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:50

wtf does that mean?I think when it comes to clear prose you might do a little homework, sean.

I also detect definite symptoms of hubristic self-certainty when it comes to mental health. Rumour has it the condition precedes a fall. If thats too obscure, sean, try a dictionary.

To clarify, its the selfsame self-certainty of automatic moral rectitude displayed by ALL religious bigots, from the 'infallible' pontifications of Rome to the Wahhabi fundaMENTALists and bible-thumping Paisleys and their fellow-racists in the American southern states where he bought his doctorate in divinity from the Bob Jones hahaha university(you can set one up for a five dolar deposit)and in Dutch Reformed apartheid SA and Zionist Israel.

To neglect the social dimension of mental health is to fail to recognise that the external reflects the internal, and that the human project is a collective exercise. A healthy ego and clean shirt does NOT a healthy mind constitute. If it did, George Bush would be the epitome of psychological salubrity.

If that still fails to register I can only repeat the Cockney Hamlet's injunction to Ophelia in her time of trial, get thee to a dick-shunnery.

by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 06, 2011 14:37

Well, Opus, what serf says seems to me to be something like genuine feedback. What you scribble seems to me to be just noise. We are like ships that pass in the night. You don't see me and I don't see you. We are not really talking to one another in any kind of meaningful way. Incidentally, serf, one can do a lot of damage in an overt attempt to help other people?

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Tue Jun 07, 2011 13:19

Thats not difficult. I was raised and indoctrinated into the Roman cult and it took me quite a bit of research to see the perverted double-think and lip-service deceptions of its self-serving heirarchy, and its exploitation of the goodwill of many honest and sincere people.

That you find my comments impenetrable does not surprise me(I was programmed by the CBS system so I realise how one way its 'communications' systems flow).

But if you insist on refusing to try to understand my plain english perhaps you might read your own posts, and recognise that '..you can do a lot of damage in an overt attempt to help other people'.

Perhaps when you find yourself capable of digesting honest criticism(all I offer)you will be better placed to make judgements on the mental health of others.

Then perhaps you might turn your scrutiny to the mental health of the institution that has done so much to retard the psychological development of our culture through its substitution of blind obedience and faith in pyramidic power elites with 'specialised' and exclusive knowledge(theology)for the exercise of concientious intelligence.

Try it sometime, I have faith in you. I'm convinced that deep down somewhere you posess a brain. You seem literate and english does not seem a major problem, unless it challenges your prejudices.

Failing that, you could ask me to clarify any word or phrase of my 'scribbles' that you perceive as 'noise'. I assure you I believe(that must be my concession to faith)that mental health in our society, given its centrality, deserves the attention. And YOU may believe that I shall not allow quackery on the subject to pass without comment.

Make the effort. A healthy mind GROWS. Dont let the growing pains deter. It might help if you think of it as your god-given intelligence. You shouldn't waste it. But more important, you shouldn't overestimate its superiority to those you fail to understand.Slan.

by Sean Crudden Tue Jun 07, 2011 18:54

Hi Opus. I was not ignoring you and I really don't want to fall out with you. I sang at Peter Begley's funeral mass this morning in St. Mary's Church, Ravensdale. There was a flower bed that needed weeding this afternoon outside our front door. And I had a few routine tasks to complete on my lap-top before I had time to open latest comments.

This is well tilled ground, Opus. We have been over this many times before. I explained where I stand as regards the church. Your writing is eloquent and emotional. But it would require far more than that for me to relinquish the habits of a lifetime. I do not feel I am harming anyone by my religious practice and I get a sort of a kick out of it because I was trained in liturgical practice from my youth and now it brings me back to the days of my youth. Just because I use a few buzz-words you often seem to lose your cool and look on me as something sub-human. Maybe if you knew me better or lived beside me you might temper your view?

As regards your views I can see you are aware of the traps and pitfalls involved in membership of the Roman Catholic Church, or any church. And you are entitled to your views and entitled to live by them. I am utterly tolerant about that and I have no quarrel with the atheists who had their convention in Dublin recently. To me its all a question of narrative. No-one, including Richard Dawkins, has a crystal clear understanding of creation. I am an old man so I understand my world in terms of the christian narrative. You have your own way of looking at it. Your wife probably looks at it differently. It's not up to me or you to dictate to people or tell them how to understand life. Everyone has their way of working these things out for themselves, that is if they ever think about it.

There is no danger of me diagnosing anybody or passing judgement on anybody's mental state. I saw too much of that crack in my time and I know the diabolical ramifications of that attitude.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:49

And that reads just like the psychological cocktail of distortion and patronising superiority that fuels the jesuitical manipulations of factuality I am accustomed to from the forementioned youthful indoctrination I shook off decades ago. Reminds me of an unctuous teacher whose record preceded his arrival at a former school I attended.

My only emotion in the matter is the hope I may prevent your predations impinging on those who may just be vulnerable to such falsifications as you produce.

But you do confirm, again, that you are incapable of addressing a simple matter without presumption and prejudice, a tendency of the religiously closed.

Nor will I accept your age as excuse. I know plenty of octogenarians who have the courage and honesty to think for themselves without obscurantist crutches and psychological sophistry masquerading as rational analysis.

As for 'falling out', little fear. So far you show no sign of falling in with any attempt at objective understanding, a basic requirment of mutual respect.

I suggest you keep on with the weeding. Mind you, the worst case scenario is that the weeds might smother your corn.

by Sean Crudden Wed Jun 08, 2011 20:45

Hi Opus. I finished the weeding yesterday. This morning I had coffee in The Terrace Bar, Ballymascanlon Hotel, with my friend, Kevin McGeough. Then I shopped; for groceries, a slashing hook, a vice-grips, an edging tool, a bow saw. This afternoon I retired to bed for a nap.

Well Opus, I am not an out-and-out thinker. But I have always tried to be independent and to think for myself. That does not mean that I am an original thinker. In fact my views are, at least on the surface, very conventional. To be exact about it the fact that I think from myself does not imply that I think differently from everybody else. Stock ideas and stock attitudes serve my purposes well enough if there is nothing horrible or objectionable about them. As Thomas Hardy in his famous poem remarked, "Few could conceive such a sweet fancy in these years." So I am a catholic, I practice my religion as best I can. The christian narrative suits my termperament and I feel no motivation to seek out something new or to reinvent the wheel this late in my life. Of course life is unpredictable and when we think we have everything nailed down and secure it is often then the storm erupts?

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Wed Jun 08, 2011 21:17

No offence, and no insult intended, my argument is with the sick institution you promote.

you are probably one of those individuals of general goodwill i referrred to earlier.
But that institution needs deconstruction for the very sake of general mental health, a subject too long swept under the carpet of presumption that the ego is the mens sana in corpore sano. A gross, and dangerous inversion of the reality as I understand it to be, and I am no fresh pullet meself.

But if you have not realised, after the revelations of the last three decades, that the roman catholic church is a sad and dangerous travesty of its moral claims, I am afraid the charge of mental laziness and willed ignorance is due.

mental health requires that we take responsibility for our actions, and that includes the corporate churches and their actions, if we identify with and assist their promotion.

As such I cannot accept this institution's protection of its criminal cartels of child abusers, for the founder the same church(according to its literature) the one unforgiveable crime, for which it were better the perpetrators accompany a millstone trans-cliff into the depths. There comes a time for a parting of the ways and an exercise of your responsibility to the victims of these vicious and unrequited crimes. Silence on these issues is not mentally healthy.

I met a friend and former neighbour today I have not seen for maybe 15 years. he still suffers from his childhood in Letterfrack. He is one of many. He bears his history without malice, but he carries the pain you shirk. Nor is he a young man.

by Sean Crudden Thu Jun 09, 2011 09:42

You use an interesting word there, Opus, "deconstruct." It has not been in my lexicon but I looked it up:

Definition of DECONSTRUCT

transitive verb

1: to examine (as a work of literature) using the methods of deconstruction

2: to take apart or examine in order to reveal the basis or composition of often with the intention of exposing biases, flaws, or inconsistencies

3: to adapt or separate the elements of for use in an ironic or radically new way

4: destroy, demolish

— de·con·struc·tive adjective

— de·con·struc·tor noun

First Known Use of DECONSTRUCT

1973

Related to DECONSTRUCT

Synonyms: anatomize, assay, break down, cut, analyze, dissect

Maybe it is only wishful thinking on my part but I feel somehow that there is a good deal of deconstruction going on within the church and in society in general at the present time in senses 2 and 3 of the word as defined above.

I read

"Towards Healing and Renewal"

sitting in Ravensdale Church before the funeral mass started on Tuesday at 11.00.

The pamphlet published by Veritas is described as:-

A pastoral response from the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference to mark the first anniversary of the publication of the "Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholics of Ireland."

The publication is dated March 2011 and for anyone interested in clerical child sexual and other abuse; such as you, Opus, or Serf; it is worth a read.

I will enquire if there has been any feedback from Cardinal Murphy O'Connor regarding his recent inspection of Armagh Diocese on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI. At the parish pastoral council meeting in Our Lady of The Wayside Church tonight DV.

Now I am off to play a game of golf!

by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:21 impero at iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

Yesterday's meeting could not possibly take place in the open air. Sunday was the worst June day I remember for weather. Cold wet overcast. Inside The Strand everything took place as planned on the button. We more or less have our team picked and we can face the coming year with a modicum of confidence. But who knows what the future will bring?

Readers of indymedia who are sufficiently interested could look up http://imperodotorg.wordpress.com/ for pictures and and minutes of yesterday's meeting.

Incidentally Opus Diablos and Serf invaded this thread from their own particular angle. In some ways that is disconcerting and distracts from the business I have been concerned with this past week or two. However, although they seem to have deserted this particular arena, I am not unwilling to debate with them further on this thread or perhaps, more logically, on a thread of their own.

Incidentally I would welcome any enquiry about IMPERO and I hope readers of indymedia will pass on information about IMPERO to people they know who are interested in the many issues surrounding mental illness.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Jun 13, 2011 13:36

Beg pardon.

I thought it was a public space, open to comment. And as the topic(mental health) is one i have some interest in I also felt obliged to counter a few presumptions.

I'll leave serf to plead his own case, but I thought his comments relevant.

No offence intended. What would you like to debate?

The Roman catholic church''s record on mental health was my head-scratch. Not too strong, in my estimation.

For starters, Roman catholic seems oxymoronic to me. To be truly catholic(universal) requires ecumenism, something the heirarchy has been rolling back since I was introduced to the term back in the sixties. I was brought up in your creed. It confused my mental health for a while, and others more so.
Democracy, it does not even pretend to practise, and it has retarded the best efforts of science to spread enlightenment down the centuries , including the torture and vicious murder of those who only sought to speak truth to its power.

Hans Kung, who opens many necessary debates is STILL silenced, I believe. In an earlier age his(and even mine or serf's)fate would have been more fatal. And a cabal of purportedly celebate men continue to dictate womens reproductive rights to them. Mentally healthy??
Necessary feedback, given the crimes of your advertised church institution against children and women, and indeed fathers. And the continuing refusal to make adequate amends.
I see no need to open a fresh thread.

by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 13, 2011 23:34

Pardon me, Opus. I had a nap this afternoon and this evening I attended a meeting of County Louth Community and Voluntary Forum in Donegan's, Monasterboice, where I took part beforehand in an interesting conversation with Paddy Donegan's daughter a very diplomatic and distinguished young woman. You see I am the recording secretary of the forum.

The idea that science spreads enlightenment is a 19th century simplification. I need only mention Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Big Pharma; Psychiatry which I heard described in Thessaloniki as a "scientific monologue" i.e. the opposite of enlightenment. Frankly I have doubts about medical "science" in general and that scepticism was not bred in me by holy mother church.

There are many more issues I would like to discuss or debate with you but the hour is late and tomorrow is another day.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:42

Science didn't drop the big one. That was the Pentagon. They use science for their own ends.

If I hit you with a microscope, they wouldn't charge the instrument, they'd charge the guilty, mise.

See, thats theological superstition(false generalised association).

And dont throw out the psychiatric baby with the practitioner bathwater either. A little more rigor with the thinking. I've had my own arguments(ongoing, check the thread below)with spurious science and its hubristic dictation. Yes science is dangerous, no argument there, but it remains a tool. You dont throw the knives out of the kitchen because of Jack the Ripper.

Big Pharma wont stop you taking an aspirin if you get headache, will it?

Try not to confuse the instrument with the actor. I dont attack you personally for the crimes of the Roman heirarchy. I give you the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven otherwise. but I do attack the proven crimes of the institution you defend.And the institution for its criminal cover-ups and collusion.

I hope that clarifies, rather than obfuscates.

by Sean Crudden Wed Jun 15, 2011 22:03

Your image of the microscope harks back to a more idealistic era for science a time of discovery leading onwards towards an optimistic vista. But, Opus, it was not a microscope that was dropped on Hiroshima. I do not know what has formed my impressions but we are looking now at degradation of the environment and since the last century more aggressive and more destructive wars. At a cultural and political level enlightenment has led to a lurch to the right which seems to me a contradiction in terms. "Scientific" development has a lot to do with it.

Indeed science which stood for independent thought processes and a flight from superstition a few centuries ago has become in this century a tool of capitalism. For example medicine in our era is poorly concealed exploitation of the weak and the ill. Indeed it seems to me to be impossible for something which has lent itself as a tool to widespread misuse, destruction, exploitation, can be considered to be spreading enlightenment in our age. Enlightenment is a quality of the soul and it must if it means anything be based on justice and independence. Fundamentally, in my humble opinion, modern science has nothing got to do with it.

Incidentally, Opus, I doubt if you could hit me with a microscope i.e. unless I was already unconscious or, else, bound hand and foot.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Thu Jun 16, 2011 19:23

Are you being serious or facetious?

I just came from the optician. With a bit of luck I'll be less myopic next week. If the optician fails to fill my prescription correctly, I wont blame optometry.

The humans were degrading the earth before modern science multiplied the power of their leverage, and scientific analysis gives us a keener awarenes of the accumulating damage, and may lead us out of our apparent collective death-wish. No amount of pilgrimages or voodoo wishful thinking will extricate us. We must abandon our infantile dream of a big daddy in the sky and apply ourselves as responsible adults, rather than dumping the problems on another generation. Santa is ok for lulling the fears of children, but we have to break out of that emotional dependence.

Enlightenment can only dawn if we do our homework, and recognise our common humanity, which will require the demolishing of the sectarian walls religious institutionalisation has raised. Science can assist that process, and is doing so, despite the frailty of the human egos involved. Science did not create the frailty or the ego, they evolved from our animal origins, and religion had its place in assisting us develop from that primitive state, but we have to transcend it, and soon.

The man(or more likely woman) who harnessed fire for our use, back in the savannas, is not responsible for every arson attack. Those observations, and experiments, were the beginnings of science, as was the recognition that animal skins kept out the cold, and the systematic use of such learned techniques allowed us survive where other animals went extinct. We are now, however victims of our own success.

And I'm not clever enough to throw microscopes through cyberspace, so relax. Its not a high priorty of mine, even with those who do seriously annoy me.
As I said, the church almost shed its regressive sectarianism back in the sixties, but the conservative fears of the insecure sabotaged, and still sabotage, those efforts. Jesuitical sect-protective rationalisations must be replaced by the greater vision of men like Pelagius who had a more holistic understanding of the human project. That one is easily checked. You wont need a microscope.

by Sean Crudden Fri Jun 17, 2011 11:33

Hi, Opus. A rainy morning here in Jenkinstown. But it may brighten up after dinner?

My wife, Rosanna, often says to me, "You don't want to listen to me because I am telling you the truth!" Well, Opus, I think the lie I believed when I got up this morning will be superseded by another lie tomorrow and so on so that the truth always eludes me. Human knowledge is never exact. At best it is an approximation. I know from my teaching days that human comprehension is definitely not foolproof. Then there's the people who deliberately misunderstand one!

A Messianic tone and a sure-fire solution nearly always leads to disappointment.

But if you leave out our tendency to argue what you believe is not much different from what I and everyone else believes.

Bernhardt Langer asked his caddy once how far it was from a sprinkler head on the fairway to the flag on the green. "135.5 metres exactly!" The caddy replied. "Is that from the front of the sprinkler head or from the back?" Bernhard innocently enquired. Really I think he was making the same point I am trying to make in a different way.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:32

At best it is an approximation.

That, sean is as neat a summation of the scientific method as there is. All science, as I understand it(and i'm an all round amateur), does is try to refine that approximation and maintain a critical attitude to found results, on that same condition.

by Sean Crudden - impero Sun Jun 10, 2012 19:53 sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

Notice of Meeting

The annual assembly of IMPERO will take place beginning at 13.00 with a communal meal in The Strand, Omeath, on Saturday 16 June 2012. Anyone interested is entitled to attend. To help the caterers please let the undersigned know at least a day or two beforehand of your intention to attend.

Agenda

Minutes of the previous annual assembly held in Omeath on 12 June 2011
Election of officers
Discussion of activities during the past year. See http://imperodotorg.wordpress.com
To read and adopt a written constitution
Annual account
Application for ECOSOC status with the UN
Funding
Human Rights
Strategy for 2012/2013 and beyond
Any other business

IMPERO is as fragile an organisation as its work is important. Every bit of support however small is valuable so I look forward to seeing you at the assembly if possible.

Signed

Seán Crudden
secretary
IMPERO

by Atheist Sun Jun 10, 2012 20:56

human rights?? I take it that includes the right not to have your children raped by religious perverts who get away scott free along with their enablers in the hierarchy?

by W. Finnerty Mon Jun 11, 2012 09:46

Reply to Atheist at Sun Jun 10, 2012 20:56

For the Vatican, "support" for human rights also appears to include the TOTAL ignoring of the contents of the United Nations excerpt immediately below -- since 1948, STILL ongoing in 2012, and with no sign of any change for the foreseeable future -- in connection with the huge amount of control the Vatican has regarding the educational content of many national education systems all around the world (including the Republic of Ireland of course):

"Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction." (Excerpt from the Preamble at: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml )

Related Links:

Link #1: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/101884&comment_limit=0&...89934

Link #2:
Thanks to all the consequential, widespread, and rampant ignorance about BASIC human rights caused by the ignoring of the above United Nations excerpt since 1948, "Governments and legal professions continue to commit extremely serious crimes with impunity": http://www.humanrightsireland.com/UnitedNations/4April2...l.htm

by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:20

Many thanks for your comment, Atheist. I will remember your intentions, and William's as well, when I sing DV in Our Lady of The Wayside Church at the vigil mass on Saturday.

Many people think they own their children. I am not entirely sure when you use the phrase, "your children," whether you are referring to my children or to your own or to a person's children in general. I want to point out that in my orthodoxy a child has usually 4 parents, 2 natural parents + 2 god parents. In addition a child is believed to have a guardian angel and one or two patron saints to watch over and guide her. But in my view the rights of the child herself supersede even the rights of the angels and saints.

Not all parents, educators, psychiatrists; are prescriptive bullies. But there is an accepted wisdom that it is ok to psychiatrize, stigmatise certain children to keep them in line and make them toe the line. That is a threat, like the bogeyman of old, that hangs over every child today and, in my view, is a clear infringement of the rights of the child

by W. Finnerty Mon Jun 11, 2012 15:15

Reply by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 11, 2012 10:20

I admire the very worthwhile aims of your group, as stated at http://imperodotorg.wordpress.com/about/, and my hope is that your group might also -- on occasion at least -- be in a position to give some thought, and far more importantly (in my view) perform some constructive PRACTICAL ACTIONS perhaps, for the purpose of trying to help the many others apart from the young and those in hospitals, who also suffer severely as a consequence of human rights abuses.

"ok to psychiatrize, stigmatise certain children"

Yes, and it's also "okay" -- according to themselves -- for corrupt Governments (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) to try for all they're worth to criminalise and punish individuals (including myself) who try to challenge government crime which directly relates to extremely serious human rights abuses.

Plus, it's also "okay" -- according to themselves -- for grossly corrupt legal professions to absolutely refuse to use human rights legislation (already in place) to protect people (like myself) who have become the targets of government crime involving extremely serious human rights violations.

I'm sure you will probably be pleased to know that I have made yet another attempt this morning to bring these human-rights issues to the attention of Pope Benedict XVI, and Cardinal Brady.

A copy of the e-mail I sent this morning, which included in its recipient lists (among many others) several medical doctors, and some Republic of Ireland Government Ministers, can viewed at the following Internet location:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/DrAnneJeffers/11June2...l.htm

A final thought, and I wonder if you would agree with me (?), in that the REALLY BIG lesson Christ taught humanity was that he took human rights law VERY seriously, and demonstrated this in a most remarkable way during the final 24 hours of his life -- human rights law as in the "genetically programmed into us natural law" which sets alarm bells ringing in the human brain when the inalienable, i.e. God given rights, and consequently impossible for the tin-gods to "lawfully hijack", are subjected to abuses and injustices of various kinds -- and who refused, absolutely, to kowtow to the grossly corrupt and criminal "tin-god-ridden government/s" which had him so severely tortured, and eventually executed in one of the most painful ways possible.

Christ, the greatest, most resilient, and most influential human rights campaigner in history?

by Sean Crudden Mon Jun 11, 2012 20:03

"Who steals my purse steals trash. But he who filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed," by William Shakespeare was one of the favourite quotes of M. I. O'Flynn, principal teacher of Drakestown N.S., when I attended there in the 1950's. The problem for me and you, William, is not knowing what is wrong but in trying to get someone to listen when we try to explain. Familiar stigma and voiceless superiority leave us in the same position as if we were completely speechless; or a worse position. Our efforts are spurned and spat upon. Abuse continues unhindered and proliferates. One sometimes feel undervalued, isolated, alone, lonely, a person of no account. However I think I think very like you. But that is not necessarily a compliment? As regards being practical there is a big gap between what IMPERO can do and what should be done. Anyway we are trying to prepare the best we can for Saturday's assembly and we value help, good intentions, good wishes.

by W. Finnerty Tue Jun 12, 2012 17:11

Reply to Sean Crudden at Mon Jun 11, 2012 20:03

Sean,

I find myself in full agreement with much of what you have stated.

Great minds think alike, and fool's seldom differ!!

Best wishes for Saturday's assembly.

Earlier today I came across a web site (address provided in the paragraph just below) which seems to provide lots of clues to the mystery (as it has been for me up to now) of why Christian Churches generally -- including the Roman Catholic Church -- appear to very DELIBERATELY exclude all mention of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Principles from educational curriculums which they have a major influence over.

"This site explains the role of Christianity in the development of the concept of human rights, with specific reference to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights": http://www.heretication.info/

Related Link:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/DrAnneJeffers/12June2...l.htm

by W. Finnerty Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:51

"Given that less than 5% of the world knows of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights existence at this time, it seems that the only way to get the document seriously distributed is through the passports.

What I want is for governments to own their own document. It is for all people, but governments need to acknowledge its existence. Because passports are the official representation of government, if the declaration is in all passports, it becomes an official documentation of the world.

I would like you to WRITE A SIMPLE LETTER of this affect, asking your senator, congressmen and our new government to do this. If the United States Government were to do this, it would send a good signal to the rest of the world that we intend to live by international standards and would signal that the new government is quite serious about protecting the rights of all people.

All it takes to get this done is a presidential order. It doesn't need any new legislation.

Thanks for your support,

Jack Healey."

The above piece of text has been copied from the following Internet location:
http://www.humanrightsactioncenter.org/dyr/

by Sean Crudden - impero Mon Jun 18, 2012 14:21 sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

The link below will take those interested in Saturday's meeting to a report and a few pictures. A big contrast to The International Eucharistic Congress - in size anyway. Comments off-line by phone or e-mail are more than welcome from those who do not wish to get embroiled in public comment.

by Sean Crudden Thu Jun 06, 2013 15:12 sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

Notice

The annual assembly of IMPERO (Irish Mental Patients' Educational and Representative Organisation) will take place on Saturday 15 June 2013 in The Old Schoolhouse, Bellurgan, Jenkinstown, starting at 14.00. The building will be open from 13.00 and I hope that people attending the meeting will arrive sometime before the start and, ideally, bring some food and drink to eat before the business of the meeting begins. Something light would suit the time of year?

The meeting is open to anyone interested to attend. Candidly we would like a cohort of people with, perhaps, a scientific background; good observation skills; no axe to grind. There is a distinct orthodoxy governing "mental health" and people who are professionally involved are constrained by a sort of political correctness, a received idea that things are exactly the way they should be and that there is no other way. I would prefer people to start further back from first principles and to try to see things as they really are and as they have been. Needless to say mental patients have not fared well for over a half century now and that augurs badly for the future? There is a time to toe the line but I do not think this is it!

Agenda

1.Minutes of annual assembly 2012
2.Seán Crudden read journal for 23 May 2013 (EPF conference on active patients' involvement in health care)
3.Treasurers' report
4.Election of officers for 2013/14
5.Appoint mentor
6.ECOSOC status
7.Capacity legislation
8.Help, recovery, stigma, Obama: discussion
9.Any other business

Seán Crudden
secretary
IMPERO
http://imperodotorg.wordpress.com

Jenkinstown
Dundalk
Co Louth

0879739945

by Shanahan P. Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:25

Mental health is a good goal to aim at. Sean Crudden and friends obviously pursue this goal, for themselves and many unfortunates whose balance has tipped.

I have an impression that some detractors of the enterprise dealt with on this tread prefer to aim at mental agitation. Too much of that could tip the balance for some individuals.

Is anger always the best stimulus to social action?

by Sean Crudden - impero Mon Jun 17, 2013 18:35 impero at iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co. Louth 0879739945

Saturday's meeting was a success and certainly satisfied the necessary formalities. For a short account of the meeting and photos click on the link. Comments welcome either on-line or off-line.

by Sean Crudden - impero Fri Jun 06, 2014 08:56

Notice of meeting

The annual assembly of IMPERO for 2014 will take place in The Old Schoolhouse, Bellurgan, Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland, at 14:00 on Saturday 14 June 2014. You are invited to attend. The schoolhouse will be open from 13:00 on the day in the hope that all or some of those attending will arrive early and bring some food to eat there before the meeting starts.

Agenda

A short prayer for both Ita Daly, President, and Michael Farrelly, Vice-Chairperson, recently deceased.

Minutes of General Assembly 2013.

Election of officers.

Discussion of MHE “Bucharest Manifesto.”

Bill on Mental Capacity and Assisted Decision Making.

Strategy.

Finances.

Fix time and venue for Autumn and Spring interim meetings and for Annual Assembly 2015.

Any other business.

Yours faithfully

Seán Crudden
secretary

by Sean Crudden - impero Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:35

The annual assembly of IMPERO for 2014 took place in The Old Schoolhouse, Bellurgan, Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland, starting promptly at 14:00 on Saturday 14 June 2014.

Present: Anne Muldowney, chairperson; Seán Crudden, secretary; Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes, mentor; Kevin McGeough, joint-treasurer; Peter Murphy.

Apologies were received from Leonard Hatrick and Joan Hardy, joint-treasurer.

The meeting reminisced about the two deceased members of the committee of IMPERO: Ita Daly, president; Michael Farrelly, vice-chairperson. The archbishop concluded the discussion with a short extempore prayer, “May God give them rest. We hope they are with The Lord.”

The chairperson read aloud the minutes of General Assembly 2013 which were adopted unanimously on the proposal of the archbishop seconded by Peter Murphy.

The minutes referred to initiatives in 2013 on mental health by Obama and by The Vatican. The secretary admitted that he had no up-to-date information on where these initiatives had led.

The following team of officers for the coming year was approved unanimously. Leonard Hatrick, president; Mrs. Anne M Muldowney, chairperson; Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes, vice-chairperson; Seán Crudden, secretary: Kevin McGeough, treasurer; Peter Murphy, mentor. The role of mentor was discussed and the secretary praised the ground-breaking work of Joan Hardy who filled the role extremely competently for a number of years in the past.

The chairperson thought that the main role of the psychiatrist was to motivate their patients. “Do one deed every day to make someone else happy,” was her recipe.

The chairperson read aloud Mental Health Europe’s “Bucharest Manifesto.” The secretary sounded a caveat about consulting mental patients about the construction of The American Psychiatric Association’s 5th edition of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM 5) and about the forthcoming revision of The International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10). “Personally I would not like to have anything to do with the composition of these manuals because I am only too well aware of the downstream effects of these manuals.”

Speaking on the Bill dealing with Mental Capacity and Assisted Decision Making currently on its way through The Oireachtas Seán Crudden said, “It is impenetrable, arcane, unserviceable, impractical.”

The meeting was keen to continue relations with the European Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP). It also took a favourable view of efforts made in recent time in the field of adult education. Appreciation was expressed for the work of Sinéad Fearon of Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) who has given IMPERO great assistance in that regard during the past year.

Treasurer Kevin McGeough reported that there is €307 on deposit in the IMPERO reserve business account in Ulster Bank, 100 Clanbrassil Street Dundalk. The secretary is owed a small amount due to out-of-pocket expenses. Kevin agreed to draw up a statement of account for the year ending 31 December 2014.

Winter Interim Meeting, 14:00 Saturday 18 November 2014, Our Lady of The Wayside Church, Jenkinstown: Spring Interim Meeting, 14:00 Saturday 21 February 2015, OLOTW: General Assembly, 14:00 Saturday 13 June 2015, The Old Schoolhouse, Bellurgan.

The meeting lasted about an hour. Those attending took part in a little photography at the end.

by Sean Crudden - impero Mon Jun 08, 2015 12:29

Notice of meeting

The annual assembly of IMPERO will take place in the community facility, Tesco Extra, Dundalk, starting at 14:00 on Saturday 13 June 2015. Meals are available at a reasonable price in the restaurant on the ground floor as you enter the building. Snacks are available in Costa upstairs on the 1st floor. The meeting room/community facility is situated on the 1st floor behind the checkout lines on the way to the barber shop and the toilets. You are cordially invited to attend the meeting.

Agenda

Minutes of General Assembly 2014

Matters arising

Correspondence with Olga Kalina, chairperson, ENUSP

Financial report

Election of officers and selection of mentor for the coming year

Strategy

Any other business

Those wishing to refresh themselves about the activities of IMPERO over the past year should read http://imperodotorg.wordpress.com which is the organisation’s website. If you are an avid reader there is a considerable archive included in that site.

Every good wish

Yours sincerely

Seán Crudden
secretary, IMPERO

by Sean Crudden - impero Fri Jun 03, 2016 17:52

Hi All

There was a hit song a number of years ago, “Please Release Me: Let Me Go,” sung by Englebert Humperdinck. Nice singer: nice song. But 10 years on from “A Vision for Change” the song must find an echo in every mental patient’s heart not only in Ireland but across the globe. For we are still captives to a cruel, inhuman, degrading regime of treatment.

I hope there will be time to reflect on the many ironies of the present at the Annual Assembly of IMPERO which takes place on Saturday 11 June 2016 from 14:00 to 16:00 in the community facility of Tesco Extra, Dundalk. The main business of the meeting will be to evaluate the past year of our activites and to elect officers for the coming year. Some attention will have to be paid to the venue for upcoming meetings and other practical arrangements.

Anyway I hope to see you all there on the 11th and do not hesitate to bring any of your friends who might wish to attend. I think it is true to say that IMPERO meetings are always interesting and stimulating.

Every good wish

Yours sincerely

Seán Crudden
Secretary
IMPERO

Jenkinstown
Dundalk
Co. Louth
A91 A092

by Sean Crudden - impero Mon Jun 13, 2016 16:39

The business of the Annual General Assembly was successfully concluded. As well as that there was a free discussion about Planning for The Future an expert report dated December 1984 which has been realised in exact detail but which leaves mental patients worse off now than at any time in the past century.