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Irish Times
16-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Ireland's ‘unhealthiest region': Limerick and the midwest suffering extreme health inequality
A child is woken up in the middle of the night by gardaí raiding their house. The child's parents are on the wrong side of the law, battling with addiction, poverty and unemployment. The child goes to school the next morning, exhausted, anxious and stressed. As a result, they're unable to focus on their education, affecting their learning, life path and – most surprisingly – their health. This, according to Dr Anne Dee, consultant in public health medicine, is a situation children in some areas of the midwest region – Limerick , Clare and north Tipperary – experience due to levels of extreme deprivation. But these adverse childhood experiences, she says, are more than just about poverty or crime. Such incidents, she says, are a significant determinant for the health of the people in the area. READ MORE 'Internationally, we know well that people who live in areas of deprivation or who are unemployed, or who have poor levels of education, or poor housing, that they have poorer health,' Dr Dee says. 'People who live with disadvantage are more likely to have chronic disease, which is heart attack, asthma, diabetes, respiratory disease.' According to the 2022 Census, the population in the midwest is more deprived than the national benchmark. We have double standards around what is acceptable and what is not, who we need to consider and who we need to dismiss — Dr Anne Dee In 2022, the most recent year for which figures are available, 24 per cent of the population in Limerick were considered disadvantaged, very disadvantaged or extremely disadvantaged; 21 per cent in Clare; and 23 per cent in north Tipperary. 'Children are more prone to having adverse childhood events if they're living in poverty. If their father or their parents are unemployed. If their communities are unsafe. If we can start changing that, we can create communities and environments that are much more healthy.' In light of this, Dr Dee, the recently-appointed president of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), is leading a new project in the midwest that seeks to examine the social determinants of poor health and reduce them. Under the project, which is sponsored by the newly-elected mayor of Limerick John Moran, and Sandra Broderick, regional executive officer in the HSE, the 'big players' in education, employment, the probation service, Tusla, the HSE and other organisations will come together to try to improve the health of the region. 'Data from Scotland would show that about 30 per cent of children who have more than four adverse childhood experiences will go on to potentially succeed in life. Seventy per cent of them will not. They'll either end up dead, incarcerated, addicted or with chronic mental illness,' Dr Dee says. 'It's about looking at our population of children and saying, how can we change the trajectory of their life in terms of outcomes? There are really excellent healthcare initiatives but they're not across the whole population. We need to make sure that where the need is greater, there is extra available.' The midwest consultant analysed a random sample of emergency department attendances at hospital in Limerick, and coded them by deprivation. 'We were able to show if you lived in extreme deprivation or severe deprivation, you were around 2.5 times more likely to use the emergency department than if you lived in an area of affluence,' she says. 'They were also more likely to be hospitalised and more likely to wait to be seen than people from other areas of deprivation.' These people are 'not spurious' users of the health system, she says, adding that often wait until they're at crisis point before seeking help. There is a lack of trust among many of these vulnerable groups, and the project aims to mend that, she adds. Part of the problem, she says, is the prevalence of a culture of blame. 'Instead of judging them for their behaviour or telling them they need to stop smoking, stop drinking, stop eating rashers, we need to start supporting these communities to be able to function much better,' she says. The unemployment rate in Ireland is 4 per cent, according to the CSO, but in parts of Limerick city it's up about 70 per cent. 'It's not just that people are lazy. It a very, very complex mix of poor educational attainment, intergenerational problems like addiction, no history of employment in living memory, a fear of authority or mistrust,' she says. But how has this situation occurred? Dr Dee says Limerick in the 1800s and 1900s had 'a lot of poverty'. 'I just feel, and I think quite a number of people would agree with me on this, that it hasn't always been the priority when it comes to government funding,' she says. Adding to this, future planning in health and other sectors such as housing is often based on population, Dr Dee says, though she admits work is ongoing in this area. She believes, instead, health planning must be based on need. 'They [policymakers] haven't traditionally taken a lot of heed of the deprivation level within that population. So everybody gets the same. So you'll hear some areas consistently crying out, saying 'we haven't enough' and that's because their need is greater,' she says. There are specific cohorts of people who are particularly deprived, she says, including those with disabilities, or members of the Roma or Travelling communities. The Census 2022 estimated the White Irish Traveller population as 0.6 per cent of the total population in Ireland. In the midwest, this is 0.9 per cent, and in the west Limerick community health network, the proportion is four times the national average. The life expectancy of members of the Travelling community is 10 to 15 years less than those in the settled population. Having worked in a leprosy hospital in Nepal 30 years ago, Dr Dee sees parallels in terms of the stigma directed towards Travellers and those with infectious diseases, and the impact that has on these people in relation to interacting with various systems in society. 'If you suffer from leprosy in most communities where people get leprosy, you will be stigmatised for having leprosy. And we look at that in the West and we say 'oh, that's really bad that people would be stigmatised for just having a bacterial infection',' she says. 'But at the same time, with the same breath, we talk about Travellers in a way that is very stigmatising. We have double standards around what is acceptable and what is not, who we need to consider and who we need to dismiss.' Though her pilot project is focused on the midwest due to its deprivation profile, Dr Dee believes healthcare should be provided in this way across the country – particularly in light of the spiralling homeless crisis . The most recent figures from the Department of Housing, from May, showed there were a record 15,580 homeless people, of which 4,775 are children. Dr Dee says the country has yet to see the true health crisis that will arise from this. 'The life expectancy of somebody living in homelessness is around 40. That would be street homeless; I don't think we've measured the kind of new homelessness,' she says. 'I can assure you all of these children growing up in homelessness are gathering up such enormous levels of adverse childhood experiences. The effects of poverty on children are long-term. The effect of adverse childhood events on children are long-term. The effects of both are additive.' Are we not setting these children, and other vulnerable groups, up for failure? 'We absolutely are. Absolutely. It really, really behoves us to do some serious prevention in the area of social determinants of health.'
Irish Independent
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Kerry schoolboys top their Kennedy Cup group with three wins from three games
Kerry started with a 2-0 win against North Tipperary, followed by a 3-0 victory over South Tipperary, and a 3-1 win against South Belfast to progress to the knock-out stage of the Kennedy Cup Kerry have won all three of their Group 2 games in the Kennedy Cup group stage to qualify for the knock-out phase of the Cup competition itself. Kerry followed up a 2-0 win over North Tipperary on Monday and a 3-0 win against South Tipperary on Tuesday morning with their third victory – a 3-1 win against South Belfast – Tuesday afternoon to top their group and keep their ambition alive of winning the national under-14 schoolboys soccer tournament outright.
Irish Independent
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Kerry face tough group 2 opposition in Kennedy Cup schoolboy soccer tournament
Now, a decade later, the newest iteration of the squad is ready to make their own history. Last year's group lifted silverware in the Shield final, and this year's group is aiming to continue that trend. The competition will kick-off on Monday, June 9, and only last week Kerry learned their opponents as preparations for this competition really started to heat up. Ranked as the 16th seed going into the competition, Kerry entered pot 2, and were drawn against Group 2, a four-team pool that includes South Belfast, Tipperary South and North Tipperary. Of those teams, South Belfast come in as the sixth overall seed in the competition, and had a testing group stage in their Inter League, with themselves, Dundalk and NERL all ending up on six points. Belfast did contest the Shield Final, winning that game 2-0. Tipperary South and North Tipperary are very well familiar with themselves, not just in terms of geography but also the pair were in the same group during their Inter League campaign. North Tipp topped that group with a perfect performance, while their counterparts had just one win, finishing third. When it came to the knock-out stages North Tipperary made it to the cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Kildare. There is plenty of quality in group 2 with the other three teams full of confidence after winning silverware in UL earlier in the year. Results in the group will determine what pathway Kerry will end up following. First in the group will play in the Cup, with the Bowl, Shield and Trophy for the sides who finish second to fourth. Kerry finished bottom of their group last year by a narrow margin. Like every year, this year's Kennedy Cup is hard to call. It is a tough group already for Kerry, but they will have confidence ahead of their opening kick-off. Across the other groups action does look fierce, with two of the eight groups containing just three teams. Nevertheless, the competition will be a chance for a new chapter to be written, another legacy for Kerry soccer, the newest group led by Danny Diggins, Ken Cronin and Aidan O'Sullivan, have a wealth of talent and will look to show that on the big stage. ADVERTISEMENT Kennedy Cup squad Ben O'Sullivan (goalkeeper), Daniel Diggins (vice-captain), Daniel O'Leary, Kian Cronin, Shea Horan (all St Brendan's Park) Gerry Moroney, Leni Rujevcan (goalkeeper), Max Moynihan (vice-captain), Marc Cremin, Patrick O'Connor (Killarney Athletic) Connie O'Connor (goalkeeper), Seán Kerins (Castleisland AFC) Cormac O'Sullivan, Noah Brosnan (K illarney Celtic) Finn O'Sullivan, Ruairi Condon (LB Rovers) Killian O'Sullivan (Ballyhar Dynamos) Rian Foley (Killorglin FC) Joe Joy (captain) Listowel Celtic Eddie Carmody (Tralee Dynamos) Kerry's Kennedy Cup fixtures Monday, June 9 Kerry v North Tipperary at 4pm Tuesday, June 10 Kerry v South Tipperary at 10am Kerry v South Belfast at 4pm
Irish Independent
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Kerry's Kennedy Cup captain Joe Joy confident the team can live with best of the rest
It's a huge honour for any player, and for Joy it is a proud moment as he steps into the shoes of those who have previously captained Kerry at this level. A proven goal scorer and a natural leader on the pitch, Joy's influence stretches beyond his finishing. He brings energy, voice, and determination to a group that has already enjoyed plenty of success this season. He was front and centre when Kerry lifted the U14 SFAI All-Ireland Trophy earlier this year, scoring goals and being named Man of the Match in the final. The excitement of representing Kerry in such a major competition isn't lost on Joy. From the moment the squad came together, he's been fully committed to the team and now, the focus shifts to the Kennedy Cup, and Joy is relishing the challenge ahead. 'It's great. The legacy of this will be great. And then being captain as well just tops it all off. It would be a great experience to hopefully go far in this as captain and leading on the team like we've done in other games hopefully.' 'I'm more than happy to be in this squad. Any fella would dream of it, whoever has been on the team before. It will be a great experience hopefully. Coming out with the top dogs, it would be great to give everyone a game,' he added. This year's tournament brings a slightly different set-up than last year, with Kerry placed in a four-team group alongside South Belfast, Tipperary South, and North Tipperary. They enter the competition as a second seed, having shown their quality in their Inter-League and national campaign. The draw brought some intrigue, but Joy - speaking before the draw was made - remained confident regardless of the group. 'We'll all be excited to see the draw. I can't see why you can't put any team on their behinds. We could run anyone to the ground once we just keep it up the whole game. 'And we've done this in previous games. Of course, we were unlucky in the first few inter-league games. We were missing players, key players. And it'd be great if we could give everyone a game, and see how we get on.' That belief is backed up by results. Kerry have already shown they can perform under pressure and win when it counts. The All-Ireland Trophy campaign saw them bounce back from a tough group stage to record big wins in the knock-out rounds, including a 3-0 victory in the final at the University of Limerick, the same venue that will host the Kennedy Cup. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Training has helped the team in the build-up, with the players themselves maintaining momentum through local competitions and friendlies. But he believes the group's connection off the pitch will be just as important as anything they do on it. 'Staying the nights there will be great, getting to know people better,' Joy said of the week-long tournament in UL. 'We'd be hoping to do well in it, and coming off the back of doing well in the final, it'd be great to that pressure from the start. And a few early goals in the games, I can't see why any team will keep up with us. 'Playing the games would be the main thing, and just getting to know everyone better before the season's out. We've been here a long time together. We train, and we've just bonded together as a team as well. So it'd be great if we could just bond the extra way and do very well again.' With leadership from the sideline and a talented squad on the pitch, Joy will look to inspire Kerry as they aim to write the next chapter in the county's Kennedy Cup history, and perhaps create more memories to match that unforgettable triumph in 2015.
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
From Tipp to Salford via Wall Street: How businessman Declan Kelly joined the dream team
Six years ago, before Declan Kelly went into business with Tom Brady and Serena Williams and Ronan O'Gara and David Beckham and Gary Neville, before his takeover of Salford City, and before his soaring business career was temporarily derailed by scandal, he was part of Tipperary's secret sauce. After the final whistle in the 2019 All-Ireland hurling final Kelly materialised on the touchline in Croke Park, sporting an access-all-areas pink wristband, and a versatile sports coat and chinos, apt for a cocktail evening in the Hamptons or midtown Manhattan. Sponsors are not usually part of the post-match, on-field hootenanny, although JP McManus is another recent exception. In this case, Kelly and the Tipp manager Liam Sheedy were childhood friends. Growing up in Portroe in North Tipperary, Sheedy and Kelly were part of a thriving Scór scene, the GAA's cultural championships. Portroe had a tribal following on the village hall circuit and Sheedy and Kelly were a pair of fiery set dancers. READ MORE At the time of the 2019 All-Ireland Kelly was chairman and chief executive of Teneo, a global consultancy and communications firm he had founded at the beginning of the decade. He would have had the wherewithal to sponsor Tipperary long before then, but the timing of his intervention didn't need to be decoded: Sheedy had returned for a second spell as Tipp manager and Kelly swept in as his wing man. Between the sponsorship deal and ancillary fundraising, it was estimated that anything up to €350,000 had been generated for the team during the season, and once the All-Ireland was won the harvest continued. On a parallel track, Kelly was an active supporter of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) from its inception and for many years played a pivotal role in their New York fundraising. Kelly's links to the GAA, though, are easily traced to his roots. How he came to build business connections with Brady, Williams, Beckham, Neville, O'Gara and others is a longer and more complex story. Teneo chief executive Declan Kelly at the homecoming for All-Ireland winners Tipperary at Semple Stadium in August 2019. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Until now, sport had not been his business, though he drifted in and out of that world. In his early life as a business reporter, Kelly moonlighted as a hurling columnist in the Cork Examiner, as it was called then. The column bristled with inflammatory opinions that, from time to time, landed the Examiner in bad odour with the Cork county board. One memorable column, calling for Canon Michael O'Brien to be removed as Cork hurling manager in the early 1990s, ran under the pithy headline Fire The Canon. In the offices of the county board no marks were awarded for cute wordplay. [ Serena Williams to be advised on business interests by Declan Kelly's Consello Group Opens in new window ] Kelly left journalism in the mid-1990s to make his fortune, and for the next 25 years, his success was extraordinary. He set up a public relations company with Jackie Gallagher, another former reporter, which they built up and sold for more than €8 million. He was later involved in a management buyout in which Kelly and his partners acquired the business for €40 million before later selling it on for about seven times that amount. By the early 2000s he was spending more and more time in New York and in 2007 he was introduced to Hillary Clinton at an event hosted by the journalist and publisher Niall O'Dowd. A year later, when she made her first run for the White House, Kelly was one of her most prolific fundraisers, generating up to $3 million for her campaign. It started a relationship with the Clintons that blossomed over the next three or four years. When Hillary Clinton was made secretary of state in the Barack Obama administration, she appointed Kelly as her economic envoy to Northern Ireland. Over time, though, tensions arose, and the relationship cooled. In March 2012 Bill Clinton resigned his seat on Teneo's advisory board. The company continued to grow, regardless. In June 2019, three months before Tipp won the All-Ireland with Teneo's name on their shirts, they sold a majority stake to a private equity group for more than $350 million, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, put the company's worth at about $725 million. Two years later, though, the sky fell in. In a report by the Financial Times Kelly was accused of 'inappropriate behaviour' while in a 'drunken' state at a charity event. After a few days of irresistible pressure, he resigned from Teneo. In a statement full of contrition Kelly acknowledged that he 'behaved inappropriately towards some men and women at the event,' and that he had apologised to those he had offended. The statement also said that Kelly 'was committed to sobriety' and was receiving treatment. Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs at Salford City's stadium in February 2021. Photograph:People wondered how Kelly could recover from such reputational damage. The people who knew him best didn't wonder so much. Within months he founded Consello, an advisory and investing platform and among his original partners were former executives of Uber and Qualcomm. Then, in April 2022, they were joined by Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. It was yet another demonstration of Kelly's extraordinary talent for networking and renewal. Over the last three years, Consello has acquired the services of blue-chip names from the wide world of sport: Williams, O'Gara, Neville, the two-time NBA winner Pau Gasol, the former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley. The relationship with Neville catalysed Kelly's latest project. At the beginning of the month Kelly, Neville and David Beckham took ownership of Salford City, the League Two side that was famously owned by Manchester United's Class of '92. Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Philip Neville owned 60 per cent of the club, but they have been bought out. Kelly is now co-chair of the club along with leading UK financier Lord Mervyn Davies. [ Irish businessman Declan Kelly teams up with Beckham and Neville to buy Salford City Football Club Opens in new window ] Another Wrexham? Since the Welsh club's Hollywood takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham have secured three successive promotions and have landed in the Championship with their gaze fixed on the Premier League. On their return to the EFL, in League Two, they generated astonishing revenues of nearly €32 million. With Kelly, Salford are about to launch their own moon shot. This is not 'a vanity project', he said. Whatever people thought about him, he has always meant business. The next chapter will be fascinating.
