AN EXPERIMENT IN JAMES STREET : THE DEATH OF NIALL RUSH.......From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1984.
By Derek Dunne.
The Institute of Clinical Pharmachology in Dublin is one of the top three centres of its kind in the world : it exists as a profit-making limited liability company and carries out 'Phase One' clinical drug trials for dozens of foreign pharmaceutical companies. 'Phase One' trials are those which are being conducted for the very first time on humans, having previously been tried only on animals.
Millions of people may be treated on the basis of results from clinical trials. 'Phase One' (or 'Phase I') involves giving the drug to healthy volunteers , 'Phase One One A' (or 'Phase II A') involves giving the drug to patients in a limited way , 'Phase One One B' (or 'Phase II B') seeks to define the dose level and 'Phase One One One' (or 'Phase III') testing is full preregistration studies. With the exception of 'Phase One (I)' testing , all the others are carried-out in ordinary hospitals , and all the teaching hospitals in Dublin carry-out such tests , whilst between 20 and 25 hospitals in the State carry-out such tests for drug companies.
Between 400 and 1,400 people may take part in all the various trials before the drug may be marketed in this State but, in order to market a drug, it must come under the scrutiny of the 'National Drugs Advisory Board'(sic). However , even if a drug is refused for marketing , it may still be prescribed by a doctor and given to a patient. Many different types of drugs have been tested in the Institute including anti-cancer drugs , anti-coagulants (to prevent blood clots) , hormones , cardiac drugs , analgesics (painkillers) , antibiotics , anti-depressants , diuretics (to alleviate fluid retention) and most other blood pressure drugs.......
(MORE LATER).
THE PETER BERRY PAPERS....... The Top Secret Memoirs of Ireland's Most Powerful Civil Servant : Dirty Tricks, Election '69/ Spying on a Unionist Politician/ Keeping the (State) Taoiseach informed/ The Garda Fallon Murder/ Advice to Jack Lynch- 'Fire the pair of them...'/ Vivion De Valera's advice to O'Malley/ Rumours of a Coup D'Etat/ The Internment Plot, November 1970/ Secret Meeting with William Craig.From 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1980.
The Berry Papers show that there was a remarkable unwillingness within the (State) Department of Finance to investigate the possibility that funds from the 'Grant-in-Aid' for the 'Relief of Distress in Northern Ireland' (sic) might have been used for the purchase of guns , they reveal an extraordinary meeting of (State) cabinet ministers on Sunday July 8th 1970 , called in response to rumours of a possible coup d'etat , and they document the background to the internment threat of December 1970 in response to information that Saor Éire might be about to kidnap one of a number of senior officials , including Peter Berry himself.
Berry and all the security chief's were opposed to the immediate introduction of internment but both Jack Lynch and Desmond O'Malley, the then (State) Minister for Justice, were keen to push ahead with its introduction. Mr Berry believed that the imminence of a by-election in Donegal was persuasive in the minds of Lynch and O'Malley as there was a significant Protestant vote in the constituency which was concerned about 'law and order'.
Peter Berry was born in Killarney , County Kerry , on June 7 , 1909 : his family later moved to Charleville , Cork, where he was brought up. He joined the (State) civil service aged 17 and became Secretaty of the Department in 1960. In the late 1920's and early 1930's , he was well known as a champion handball player. 'Magill' magazine asked him to explain his job to us.......
(MORE LATER).
'BEST BUSINESS PERSON OF THE MONTH' IS REALLY A "HARDLINE MILITANT RADICAL" !In an article entitled 'Peter Will Be Missed' , published on Saturday January 9th last (page 25) in the 'Oirish' edition of the British 'Daily Mail' anti-Republican and anti-trade union chip-wrap of a 'newspaper' , right-wing columnist Richard Waghorne wrote -
"THE announcement of the retirement of Peter McLoone (more here) ,leading trade union negotiator, is bad news for the Government. Though fairly truculent in his own right, he was regarded as that mildly tautologic creation, a moderate union boss. He was seen within trade union circles as a restraining influence on Siptu boss and militant radical Jack O'Connor. We can expect the unions to finish up with an even more hardline position, now that one more obstacle to Mr O'Connor getting his way is about to quit the scene."
Now, perhaps, you understand why it has taken us so long to write this piece - we've been laughing too hard at it since Richie 'Wag-The-Finger' wrote it in January last ! To describe Jack O'Connor as a "....(hardline) militant radical...." is absolutely ludicrous and bears no resemblance to the actual reality of the situation. Mr O'Connor is just another time-server and seat-warmer at the top of an institution which has it within its power to at least try to effect a political and economic change which would not only serve the interests of its membership but would encourage other trade union leaders to themselves make a stand against the corrupt administration and their colleagues in the millionaire property market and banks - instead , people like that are content to let rip a verbal fart every now and again , whilst counting down the days to their retirement and an even cushier number on the Board of FÁS or some other useless over-paid doss-house of an institution.
Mr O'Connor's true value to the political 'establishment' in this poxy State was more recently properly evaluated here, with that 'Bible of the Elite' bestowing on him its gratitude for helping to remove what remains of his members backbones.
Well done , Jack , you "militant radical" you......
Thanks!
Sharon.
