Packed Belfast meeting greets Dr Derek Enlander and launches new
Northern Ireland Alliance
by Tony Britton on March 7, 2012
One of the largest meetings of people with M.E. and their carers seen
in the UK for many years gathered in Belfast last Thursday (March 1) =96
for a medical lecture by New York physician Dr Derek Enlander and to
launch the new ME Alliance Northern Ireland (MEANI).
The main conference room in the Lansdowne Hotel on the Antrim Road was
jam packed as about 400 people turned up from every corner of the
Province.
They listened intently as Dr Enlander, an Ulsterman born and bred,
talked about his clinical practice and research with ME/CFS patients
at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Among the crowd and an
honoured guest was Jim Wells, Democratic Unionist Assemblyman for
South Down and designate Health Minister for Northern Ireland.
The meeting was organised by Joan McParland, chairwoman of Newry and
Mourne ME/FMS Support Group, who said afterwards: =93I had 277 bookings
for places but on the night over 400 people turned up. Every seat in
the hotel was carried into the conference room and there were still
people standing at the back of the room.
=93The numbers were way above health and safety limits but thankfully
the hotel didn=92t turn anyone away!=94
Dr Enlander =96 who engaged with his audience in a Question and Answer
session chaired by Dr William Weir, an infectious diseases consultant
based in central London =96 travelled to Antrim the following day for an
M.E. workshop held by the Health and Social Care Board. This discussed
possible ways forward for the development of a comprehensive NHS
service for ME/CFS in Northern Ireland.
The Belfast meeting put the final seal on the formation of the ME
Alliance Northern Ireland, which is determined to push hard on the
agenda for better ME/CFS services throughout Northern Ireland. The
Alliance comprises representatives of support groups in Belfast, Newry
and Mourne, Mid-Ulster and South Down.
Among other speakers in Belfast were: the Health Minister designate;
Michael O=92Reilly, director of the Dublin-based Irish M.E. Trust; and
social policy researcher Dr Jay Wiggan from Queen=92s University,
Belfast.
MEANI inquiries to Mrs McParland at joanmcparland@live.co.uk
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