Irish Examiner view: Making progress to end a lonely journey

It is estimated that some 12m babies have been born as a result of assisted reproductive technologies. File picture: Courtneyk/iStock

It’s just over a year since Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced that there would be public funding for assisted human reproduction (AHR) treatment in Ireland.

This was a great leap forward given that the technique was pioneered successfully by Nobel Prize-winning physiologist Robert Edwards and co-workers Patrick Steptoe and Jean Purdy 48 years ago in Oldham, England.

Their breakthrough led to the birth of Louise Brown on July 25, 1978, who became known as the world’s first “test tube baby” although the conception actually took place in a Petri dish. Since then, it is estimated that some 12m babies have been born as a result of assisted reproductive technologies.

While this constitutes one of the most remarkable advances in medical science it has often gone under the radar in the Republic. But that is now changing as an increasing number of couples are sharing their experiences to support and encourage others who are eligible.

Siobháin O’Reilly, 29, who runs the TikTok page “Seedofhope” has documented her infertility journey after trying for a baby for nearly four years. She became pregnant four times, and miscarried on each occasion before applying for public treatment. Her next appointment will be later this month.

This next stage could cost in the region of €4,500 but this will be funded by the taxpayer. In return, Siobháin wants people to learn from her challenges.

Another TikTok exponent, Rachel Kent, describes how she went through several rounds of IVF treatment while learning that she had stage 4 endometriosis, ovarian cysts, low egg counts, and empty follicle syndrome. In addition to State funding, she and her husband spent around €12,000 on private treatments.

Then, just as they were due to commence a third series with a Spanish clinic, Rachel discovered she was pregnant naturally. While there is great encouragement to be gleaned from the programme, not everyone is content with the details of its current application. There is no funding for same-sex couples.

While the scheme is to be reviewed after its first year of operation it seems questionable that a nation which has recognised same sex marriages should discriminate against couples in other ways. But what is certainly true is that what was once considered a lonely journey can now be openly shared. And that is a good definition of progress.

Ticket prices all part of the masterplan 

Well, hello surge pricing. Are you not entertained?

While it is not the first time that music fans have been on the receiving end of the “dynamic” algorithm which dramatically jacks up ticket costs when certain levels of demand are reached — thank you Bruce Springsteen, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, and Coldplay — the hubbub around the Oasis experience indicates that patience is wearing increasingly thin.

When you add the frustrations of attempting to find accommodation and a manifestly flaky ticketing system which can manage ramped-up prices, but not a wholly predictable rush of customers, one might wonder whether the scramble for these over-hyped events is worth the candle.

By conservative estimates, some 500,000 people took their places in the digital queues on Saturday for the Oasis concerts in Croke Park 12 months from now. There had been a three-hour pre-sale opportunity on Friday before the virtual doors were opened for the general public. Inexplicably, Irish tickets became available one hour before 1.5m went up for grabs for British venues.

Fans found that the starting price tickets of €86.50 (plus booking fees) had, in the magic realism which constitutes the high-end music business, disappeared. Instead, they were offered “demand” standing tickets at €415.60 each.

To the hard-nosed, this is a simple example of the immutable laws of supply and demand. The 160,000 tickets available were being pursued by four times that number of punters. There was even a queue to join the queue.

While there are, apparently, no shortage of people willing to pay top dollar even in these allegedly straitened times, what is far less easy to forgive is channelling all enquiries through a system which cannot cope.

What is surprising, and potentially depressing, is that patrons place such a low value on their personal time that they are willing to sit for hours at a keyboard, and perhaps pay double for the privilege at the end.

Kingspan awaits verdict

This Wednesday will mark the publication of the final report into the 2017 Grenfell tower block tragedy which claimed the lives of 72 people and which caused reputational damage to the successful Irish construction giant Kingspan.

While Kingspan emphasises that its K15 insulation was used inappropriately at Grenfell without its knowledge and that it did not cause or add to the devastating spread of the fire, the company has suffered a torrid seven years at the bar of public opinion.

The aggressive views of members of the then UK management were referenced in evidence and the company’s actions described in unflattering terms in the text of verbatim plays staged and broadcast in Britain.

Certainly, investors and customers have stayed loyal and the Cavan-based group delivered a record trading profit of €877m last year. Its executives will be hoping that the conclusions from retired judge Martin Moore-Bick will acknowledge the tangential role that Kingspan had in the disaster and allow the company to move forward.

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