Archive for August, 2010

Escorts still for sale

Just over one year ago, this newspaper broke a story that a brothel was operating out of a house across the street from the Rowe Street Church in Wexford town.

Twelve months on and the website which we used to get in contact with the ‘escorts’ is still operating and on Thursday evening had ten women listed as escorts operating in County Wexford. Two of the women advertised their addresses as Gorey, one in New Ross and the rest were located in Wexford.

At the time of the exposé last year, there was outrage that a brothel could operate in such a central and obvious location in Wexford town. However once the furore died down, the website continued to advertise the ‘services’ of these women without any attempt being put in place to curtail the blatant advertisement of sex for money on the internet.

There is no need for a credit card or special password to get onto this site and once you click a button declaring you are over-18 and agree with the terms and conditions of the site, you are given contact numbers for hundred of women across the country.

The two women operating in Gorey advertised their time as being on sale for up to €120-an-hour and while a disclaimer said that anything which happened between the parties was a coincidence, it is clear for all to see that this site is providing names and contact numbers for prostitutes.

The question over whether prostitution is legal or not is not the issue. The issue I have is that a website which openly flaunts women for sale in every county of the country has not been shut down or even curtailed in its operation.

Gardaí are aware of the website yet seem to be powerless to do anything about it. The website is set up outside the country and therefore skirts our laws while raking in money from women, some of whom have turned to prostitution against their will.

The site is run by an Englishwoman who makes no apologises for her business stressing that she is doing nothing illegal. She charges each escort a fee for advertising their goods (for want of a better word) on her site and after that it is all up to the individual girl and her customer.

We are expected to believe that should sexual intercourse occur between the two this is just a coincidence and the customers are paying over €100 an hour for the woman’s company.

This is in spite of each woman having naked and semi-naked pictures of themselves on their profile page.

The website is nothing if not thorough and men (and possibly women) looking to spend some quality time with the women can read in-depth reviews of the girls from previous clients who leave little to the imagination when describing their time with the escorts.

The website is even so helpful as to offer a full reference page explaining all the terms used throughout the site, some of which even the most well-travelled of us would find impossible to explain.

Last year I made contact with a woman using her mobile phone number at the top of her profile page and within minutes I was at the door of the house in Wexford. It is that easy.

The women seem to travel in groups around the country setting up in privately rented houses for a week or two at a time before moving on to another area.

While all escorts on the site claim to be independent escorts, in the murky world of prostitution it is hard to tell who is controlling who and what pressure these women are under to continue in this oldest of professions.

2010
08/31
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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The Hunt for Murphy

Convcited rapist Larry Murphy

They seek him here. They seek him there. And for a brief 24hour period last weekend, the residents of north Wexford thought they saw him everywhere.

The whereabouts of Larry Murphy was the only topic of conversation anywhere in Gorey, Courtown, Castletown, Kilmuckridge and everywhere else in north Wexford last weekend. It was also one of the main topics of conversation in the ether of the internet with tweets and comments speculating that Murphy was living in this house or visiting this beach or drinking in this pub.

In reality Murphy was nowhere near north Wexford and was certainly not drinking in a pub in Courtown or driving a Fiesta around Gorey as had been claimed. The people who organised the protest outside a house in Riverchapel had taken these rumours and ran with them.

They used people’s (in particular women’s) natural fear to stoke the fire and generate what amounted to hysteria at one point in the small sea-side village of Courtown.

The reason they did it was out of fear and their desire to make sure the authorities (whoever they are) knew the people of Riverchapel and Courtown didn’t want Murphy in their midst.

The problem of course was that all this was done based on conjecture and rumour. Who knows who started the rumours on the internet – or why they did it?

Was it someone’s misjudged attempt at a joke which was picked up as gospel? Was it a malicious attempt to discredit the people living in the house in Riverchapel? We will probably never know.

The bigger issue emerging from this debacle is that the 60 to 70 people who gathered outside a house in Beachside on Friday morning felt they had no option but to take things into their own hands.

However misjudged the organisers were in their efforts, it still highlights a huge discrepancy in the justice system. While Minister Ahern has now said tagging of “ordinary criminals” will begin next month, it is a bit late for Murphy.

We seem to be too worried in this country about impinging on convicted criminals human rights while displaying a complete lack of regard for the safety and welfare of our law-abiding citizens.

Can you imagine how the young woman who was vicious and repeatedly raped by Murphy in February 2000 now feels? I can’t but I imagine she is not feeling too safe knowing her attacker is free.

I take into account that Murphy served every day of his sentence. It is not his fault that the Irish justice systems deems it an automatic right to give prisoners remission of 25percent of their sentence – even if they don’t engage in any counselling or treatment while inside.

I also realise that at the moment gardaí have Murphy under surveillance and know where he is at all times. That will not last however and eventually people will forget about Murphy and someone else will replace him as the focus of their hatred.

This is why I can understand where the people in north Wexford are coming from when 1,200 of them sign a petition calling for Murphy and his ilk not to be housed in the area.

While the protest outside the house in Beachside was not the right thing to do and caused widespread panic the reasons behind it where perfectly understandable.

People will never feel safe with criminals like Murphy being freed without supervision. The problem is there are hundreds of convicted rapists, paedophiles and murders living in Ireland at the moment without any way of knowing where they live or who they are.

The system needs to change and quickly before we see another situation like that in Courtown last weekend.

2010
08/27
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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Free Education?

The collection of Leaving Cert results by students at Gorey Community School this morning marks the end of up to a dozen years of education.

For some it will be a happy end to some of the best days of their lives, for others it will be a welcome end to a time in their lives they would rather forget. Either way it will be an end to 12 years of so-called free education.

However for those parents with children heading back to primary or secondary school in Gorey in a couple of weeks time, this part of the year represents one of the most financially stressful times of the year.

From uniforms to books, administration fees to the school bags the cost associated with the dreaded return to school are huge. It seems as if this time of the year has become another Christmas or Easter for retailers, with signs in all the big supermarkets highlighting their great Back to School value are prominent from early July.

Books for a secondary school student can cost up to €400 and it seems as if the publishers are dictating the timeline for changing books, bringing out revised editions every couple of years so people have to shell out again. The revised editions are essentially the same as the older ones but with pages changed and a couple of extra paragraphs here and there.

The issue of school uniforms is another issue which annoys parents as it seem that someone is making a fortune out of the branded jumpers and tracksuits children have to buy these days.

The problem with uniforms is that a generic grey or navy jumper in a supermarket can cost as little as €10 whereas parents have to shell out up to €40 and more for the same jumper with a school crest emblazoned on it.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that children of school-going age can be very cruel when it comes to trivial matters such as having the wrong type of jumper or school bag. Children will pick on the one kid who has the jumper which is slightly different from the one everyone else is wearing. Some children can deal with this, but the more self-conscious children will retreat further into themselves.

While it may seem trivial to grown-ups, these little things can mean a lot in the school environment when children will use anything they can to get an advantage and mock someone else.

While one of the purposes of school uniforms is to eliminate such discrimination as in principle everyone is wearing the same clothes, if those clothes are just too expensive, it will lead to differences in what students wear.

Parents of secondary school children will be shelling out up to €1,000 per pupil when everything is taken into account. Hardly the free-education the government is so proud of. Imagine if, like most families you have more than one child of school-going age and you quickly realise how September can become the most financially stressful time of the year. At least at Christmas it’s all about one day and its then over.

While September represents the pinnacle of money being spent, throughout the year there are additional costs such as school trips and exam papers which will add to the already large bill for your child’s education.

The solution is pretty simple it seems. School authorities should look at reducing the amount of book changes taking place for subjects, they should look at allowing generic school uniforms to be purchased, onto which school crests can be sewn and they should generally be more aware of the amount of money parent’s are spending on education.

However as the students collect their Leaving Cert results this morning, parents will  now be facing the possibility of their children heading to college – which, no matter what the government tell you, is certainly not free.

2010
08/18
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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Most vulnerable targeted

Cutting money and services from the most vulnerable in our society is anathema to most logical thinking people.

Why would you want to take away from those who already suffer the most in society? What good can come from taking away money for vital services provided to those with special needs and learning difficulties?

This is the situation facing St. Aidan’s Services means their hands are tied and no matter what they do, they will either lose money or have to cut services. The indication from the HSE is that they will cut the group’s budget again in 2011. If they follow the trend of the previous two years and increase the cut in the service’s budget, St. Aidan’s could be facing a shortfall of over €300,000.

The problem is St. Aidan’s have already cut everything they can. They have moved suppliers on numerous occasions to find the cheapest deals. They have made savings everywhere they can so as not to cut services.

The whole staff bore the brunt of the 5.75percent decrease in their budget last year taking a pay cut in line with all HSE staff – though they were not obliged to do so.

The staff has even given up one of their overnight rooms so that a service user would have a bedroom.

The dedication and sacrifice made by the staff of St. Aidan’s is something which cannot be quantified and if you spoke to the families of any of the service users they would speak of their gratitude and respect for what St. Aidan’s offers to those that use its services.

Despite all this the HSE have indicated further cuts are coming down the line. But with things already cut to the bone to facilitate the budget cuts of recent years, the management of St. Aidan’s is facing the reality of cutting some of the services they provide.

However it’s not that simple. The HSE pay St. Aidan’s based on the services they provide therefore if they are forced to cut some of the services they offer, the HSE will further cut their funding.

It is a vicious circle and the management in St. Aidan’s are at a loss as to where to go from here.

Among the most vital services offered by St. Aidan’s is training which includes computer skills, personal development, career planning and job seeking skills yet these courses could very well be in jeopardy.

The group are set to move to a fantastic new facility in Gorey Business Park yet there are some worries they will not be able to make the move if further funding cuts are made.

The upshot of all these funding cuts could result in services being cut. These services will however have to be provided in some way by the HSE and will cost a hell of a lot more money for them to operate than it does for St. Aidan’s to provide.

The HSE seem to be looking at the short term rather than seeing the bigger picture. Supporting the amazing work being done by St. Aidan’s now will surely save them a lot of time, effort and money in the long-term.

While the HSE continues to cut the money for services in St. Aidan’s the people of Gorey continue to bolster its finances through continuous fundraising in the area. Without this money the buses would stop running and the effects of the wholly unfair HSE cuts would be a lot more severe.

We all know that money is not readily available at the moment but such penny pinching seems to be striking at the most vulnerable in society and could leave the users and their families with nowhere to turn in the very near future.

2010
08/11
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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Festival hits all the right notes

The past weekend has shown what can be done to give a town a major boost in tough economic times through the hard work and dedication of the people involved.

Congratulations and thanks should go to the organising committee of the Gorey Market House Craft and Design Festival which took place over the weekend. With touristy numbers dwindling and people unsure about spending their hard-earned cash, the four-day festival brought locals as well as visitors out in their droves and gave the businesses of Gorey a boost when they needed it most.

It is this type of can-do attitude that we need more of in Ireland if we are to make it through the current recession. The festival not only gave businesses a boost, it gave the whole town a lift as people took advantage of the free street entertainment to come out and enjoy themselves fully.

From Thursday evening in the new Civic Square on the Avenue, it was clear to see that a lot of work and commitment had gone into the planning of the festival. The committee, which was comprised of town councillors, council officials and interested local people had decided to base the festival on the theme of craft and design in a hope to establish Gorey as a centre for these disciplines in the coming year.

Karen Hennessey from the Craft Council of Ireland spoke at the launch of the festival last Thursday and spoke of her admiration for what the committee was trying to do. She added that if the Craft Council could replicate this model all over the country they would have achieved something major.

While the craft and design element of the festival is going to be key to its future development, it was clear to see over the weekend that the live music on the Main Street on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings was what really got people interested.

The fact that the majority of the acts performing were local acts added hugely to the sense of inclusion and togetherness that marked this year’s festival.

The musicians and singers on the stage seemed to be enjoying the weekend as much as those listening and their willingness to give something back to Gorey will no doubt be rewarded with an increase in their fan base.

The amount of work which went on behind the scenes to get the festival organised is never fully seen, but what is remarkable is that all the work was done by people who want the best for Gorey and are willing to go that extra mile to make sure it happens.

Ireland is now overflowing with festivals. There seems to be a festival celebrating everything from potatoes to Marys and ships to Roses.

Marking yourself out as different and unique is tough but Gorey seems to be on the way to doing that. The craft and design trail as well as the Showcase Exhibition formed a central part of this year’s festival and no doubt as word spreads among the craft and design community, the festival will draw even more people in the coming years.

This is all dependant on the continuing work of the dedicated committee and I have a feeling they will not be resting on their laurels and following a well-deserved rest will once again be planning how they can improve a festival which has given Gorey a huge boost when it needed it most.

2010
08/11
CATEGORY
The Gorey Details
Wexford
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