Hi all,
I knew John well and miss his passion and commitment to highlighting the plight of people damaged by psychiatry and the system. He was a larger than life character, well known, and respected within the Irish mental health scene, loved and admired by many for his charismatic spirit, and disliked by some too because he never let an opportunity pass by to challenge psychiatric hegemony. He was a great warrior for the forgotten people in back wards. he was a warm loving, compassionate, big hearted man who never ducked the limelight.
He was very active on Irish media, and was strategic about contacting all the journalists he could to get his message out, as Fhiacra said frequently appearing on radio and tv and often calling phone-in radio about the 'normality of madness'. He spearheaded a campaign with Pat Bracken and others to try to get section 59 of our mental health act removed, which permits ECT on unwilling patients, merely on the psychiatrist obtaining a second opinion to support giving ECT. He was also involved with WNUSP in the negotiations on drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability but told me he lost patience with the tedious process Tina Minkowich was heading up and left the negotiations to others more able and patient, but went out into the corridors of the UN building to lobby all the ambassadors with voting rights on the treaty wording. His message was always simple, mad people were the only ones who can be taken in forcibly treated given ECT etc against their will on a doctors say so! This was/is an abuse of human right to self-determination and he would argue this point with everyone. He'd stop anyone he though looked important or officious on the corridors, ask them if they were an ambassador and begin to interact in his innimatable, charming fashion, which conveyed warmth and passion. There's no telling how many cruicial votes he influenced in this way because he was a convincing communicator, especially in one to one encounters.
There is so much else I could say about John, and about how brave he was about dying with motor neuron disease. He is always missed at any gathering of critical thinkers, as John could always be relied on to bring colour and drama into any room.
I suggest you could also look up MadPrideIrelands Facebook page to get a sense of the character he was. Many of his writings are on that site, including his last thoughts of about life, death and love for his family. David his son is also keeping that going. As someone said at Johns funeral. Some dads leave a farm, business or other going concern to a son, John left MadPride to his! David has taken up the challenge well.
Ni Beith do leitheadh Ann arais John! (there'll never be the likes of you again)
Liz
I wish to hell I'd known him!
Mike.
I knew John well and miss his passion and commitment to highlighting the plight of people damaged by psychiatry and the system. He was a larger than life character, well known, and respected within the Irish mental health scene, loved and admired by many for his charismatic spirit, and disliked by some too because he never let an opportunity pass by to challenge psychiatric hegemony. He was a great warrior for the forgotten people in back wards. he was a warm loving, compassionate, big hearted man who never ducked the limelight.
He was very active on Irish media, and was strategic about contacting all the journalists he could to get his message out, as Fhiacra said frequently appearing on radio and tv and often calling phone-in radio about the 'normality of madness'. He spearheaded a campaign with Pat Bracken and others to try to get section 59 of our mental health act removed, which permits ECT on unwilling patients, merely on the psychiatrist obtaining a second opinion to support giving ECT. He was also involved with WNUSP in the negotiations on drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability but told me he lost patience with the tedious process Tina Minkowich was heading up and left the negotiations to others more able and patient, but went out into the corridors of the UN building to lobby all the ambassadors with voting rights on the treaty wording. His message was always simple, mad people were the only ones who can be taken in forcibly treated given ECT etc against their will on a doctors say so! This was/is an abuse of human right to self-determination and he would argue this point with everyone. He'd stop anyone he though looked important or officious on the corridors, ask them if they were an ambassador and begin to interact in his innimatable, charming fashion, which conveyed warmth and passion. There's no telling how many cruicial votes he influenced in this way because he was a convincing communicator, especially in one to one encounters.
There is so much else I could say about John, and about how brave he was about dying with motor neuron disease. He is always missed at any gathering of critical thinkers, as John could always be relied on to bring colour and drama into any room.
I suggest you could also look up MadPrideIrelands Facebook page to get a sense of the character he was. Many of his writings are on that site, including his last thoughts of about life, death and love for his family. David his son is also keeping that going. As someone said at Johns funeral. Some dads leave a farm, business or other going concern to a son, John left MadPride to his! David has taken up the challenge well.
Ni Beith do leitheadh Ann arais John! (there'll never be the likes of you again)
Liz
I wish to hell I'd known him!
Mike.
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