Newsletter September 2010
AGM October 16th 2010
The AGM, the Society’s biggest event of the year is just weeks away. This year is a very special event, as
we are marking the founding of the Society, 20 years ago. We hope as many of you as possible will
come to the event which is designed to offer an inviting mix of business and pleasure.
As part of the celebration, we will be making a small presentation to the founding members who will be
in attendance. A special 20th Anniversary edition of the Homeopathic Times will also be launched
immediately after the AGM.
Apart from the keynote address on Mental Wellness by, Dr. Will Monteiro, the homeopathic exhibition
and the formal business session, the day has been set up to give everyone as much time as possible to
mingle with old friends and new. Exhibitors on the day will include stands for homeopathic
supplies/remedies, books, computer software packages, and at the Society stand you can purchase a
variety of the Society’s leaflets.
Schedule for the Day
9.00 am
Meet and Greet Reception (tea/coffee will be served)
10.00 am
Opening address by Chairman
10.15 am
Will Monteiro (Part 1)
11.20 am
Short Break (tea/coffee and sandwiches)
11.40 am
Will Monteiro (Part 2)
1.00 pm
Lunch Break
3.00 pm
AGM
4.30 pm
Presentation to Founding Members
5.00pm
Launch of the special 20th Anniversary Edition of the Homeopathic Times
&
Closing reception (Wine and food will be served)
Location of the Morrison Hotel
For more detailed directions, go to http://www.morrisonhotel.ie/location
Please note, entrance to this event is not through the main hotel door, but through double wooden
doors to the left of the hotel, on Upper Ormond Quay.
ISH Workshops 2010-2011
A lot of work has gone into the new CPD Workshop Schedule for the coming year which you should have
now received. There is something of interest for everyone and we look forward to seeing you there.
It is hoped to finish off the year with an uplifting seminar in May, so keep an eye on the website for
more details on this when it becomes available.
Media
The Irish Times published an article on Tuesday September 9th by Paul O’Donoghue, founding member
of the Irish Skeptics Society entitled “Why is “Witchcraft being sponsored by health insurance?” in which
he attacked Homeopathy, along with other CAM therapies. Sheelagh Behan, Spokesperson for the ISH
and a member of the media team, immediately responded to the Editor of the Irish Times which was
published in the paper on Saturday, September 18th. Margaret Shanley also wrote an excellent letter to
the Editor of the Irish Times but unfortunately this has not been published.
Another of our Media Team, Sue Prickett, spoke on East Coast Radio and Cork Radio regarding the
article and she was also on LMFM with Paul O’Donoghue, the author of the article.
Training
The first round of media training has been completed. This was a series of six two hour sessions
facilitated by Sue Nunn, Editor at KCLR in Carlow and presenter of the Sue Nunn Show.
There were 11 participants in total and six have now been selected by Sue Nunn to go forward for
further training. Well done to everyone who participated in this training and showed an interest in this
important aspect of Society work.
Membership Fees due
Membership fees are due on the 1st October 2010 and invoices are due out this week. Since last year,
different payment methods for membership subscriptions are now available – please contact Dianne in
the office for more information.
Advertising on the ISH Website
Due to the heavy load of queries relating to advertising on the ISH website, we wish to clarify that it is
the policy of the Irish Society of Homeopathy to only carry advertisements or publicity for Homeopathic
news, topics and events on our website at www.irishhomeopathy.ie. Some members have been
contacting us to post news and e-mail-shots on non-Homeopathic events, which we have declined to
carry.
Homeopathic workshops/seminars can be advertised on our website. The charge for this is €75 for
members or €100 for non members. This fee also includes an email shot to all members with e-mail.
Practice Matters
Have you checked the message on your work phone recently? Is your phone set up to take messages?
Please take time this month to check what your patients hear when they call you and need to leave a
message. The Office occasionally get calls from the public informing us that they can’t leave a message
on their homeopath’s phone as the messaging service hasn’t been set up!
Health Shows
The Society participated in two health shows recently: the Health and Harmony Show at the 10th Annual
Festival of World Cultures which was held in July in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin; and the Rude Health
Show at the RDS in September. Declan Hammond gave a talk on homeopathy at the Health and
Harmony show on behalf of the Society. Thanks to all members who volunteered to staff the stands at
the shows, they were kept busy with questions and discussions from the public. Overall the stands were
a great success and help us educate the public about homeopathy.
At the Rude Health Show, a free raffle was held which the public could enter on answering some
questions about homeopathy. Nelsons kindly donated the prize of a First Aid Kit and a book on
Homeopathy. The raffle/survey was a huge success, drawing many people to the stand and 425 surveys
were completed over the two day event.
The results of the survey are as follows:
23% of people, answered YES to all questions, so they had heard of, know and have gone to a
homeopath and know what can be treated
22% of people, answered YES to the first 3 questions, heard, know and have gone to a homeopath but
mixed knowledge of what can be treated
13% heard about it, know what it is it but didn’t go and have mixed knowledge of what can be treated
12% answered YES to all questions, but have not visited a Homeopath – a most interesting group!
9% heard of it, know what it is, didn’t ever visit a Homeopath and have a mixed knowledge of what it
can treat
7% heard of Homeopathy, don’t know what it is, what it can treat and haven’t visited a Homeopath
5% heard of it, but don’t know what it is, didn’t visit a Homeopath and have a mixed knowledge of what
it can treat
4% answered NO to all questions
2% heard of it, don’t know what it is but have gone to a homeopath and have mixed knowledge of what
it can treat
3% returned an empty sheet
ISH leaflets were distributed to the public and enquiries requesting contact details of homeopaths came
from members of the public from all over the country. Cards were given out on the day with our
website information on how to ‘Find a Homeopath’ in your area.
Good News
Complementary and alternative therapies are being used by almost three in every ten people in this
country according to a new study in the Irish Medical Journal.
Ref: http://irishhealing.ie/healing/2010/08/irish-patients-seek-alternatives/
Obituary
David Warkentin
David Warkentin, creator of MacRep (Kent Homeopathic Associates), passed away on September 9th.
He visited Ireland many times, the first being in 1998 for the Irish Conference and was last here in
November 2009 for the Jan Scholten seminar. Homeopaths across the globe credit David with enabling
them to advance their study of homeopathy and case-taking and case-analysis because of his programs.
As the press release from Kent Homeopathic Associates notes, “He was like a gentle giant whose sweet
smile and wonderful nature illuminated like a great beacon to so many who had the blessing to have
known and loved him.”
VAT on Homeopathic Consultations
As previously advised, homeopaths who are VAT registered or who earn over €37.5k per annum are
obliged to charge VAT (13.5%) on homeopathic consultations. If your income exceeds €37.5k per
annum, you must register for VAT and apply the charge to all homeopathic consultations. We would
advise you to contact your financial adviser/accountant for further advice until we get a response back
from the Revenue Commissioners regarding this matter.
Hoax Document
A member has informed us of a document that has been doing the rounds for the past 2 years entitled
“Study by John Hopkins on Cancer – Breaking News”. It is several pages long and details diet,
chemotherapy and radiotherapy etc. and gives the impression that cancer can be cured by diet alone.
This is a hoax document and did not come from the John Hopkins School in America. If you look at
snopes.com which details hoaxes, it is detailed there and John Hopkins School has denied it wrote it.
Study groups
Once again we’d like to remind members that homeopathy can be a lonely profession, especially where
members live in remote areas of Ireland. Please use the ‘Find a Homeopath’ section of the website to
find homeopaths in your area to establish a formal or informal study group.
If you already have a group, let us know for the next Newsletter and we can inform the membership
directly – don’t forget to provide contact details.
Interesting Reading
Paracetamol in early infancy: the risk of childhood allergy and asthma
Research paper on “whether paracetamol exposure in pregnancy and until 6 months of age was
associated with allergic disease in school children”. This research was carried out by doctors in Oslo,
Norway. The full paper will be shortly available to read in the Members Area of our website.
The Committee
September 2010