Nicky's Rag Tales

I know only a little about Music Therapy but it’s enough to know how powerful it can be and how it is being used in all sorts of areas. Children and young adults with Learning disability , those of all ages with stress related and other serious illness. In fact the applications where it is being used are very broad. Adults and children with brain injury and stroke. Those undergoing cancer treatments, the list goes on. We all know instinctively that Music has the power to heal and in many countries of the world the Music Therapist works alongside all the other major clinical therapists.

We are lucky in Ireland to have a brilliant Masters programme in the University of Limerick which runs a two year Masters programme to a highly selected group of applicants. Many of them leave Ireland to work abroad as the HSE does not yet fully recognise the discipline (mainly I suspect because they don’t want to have to pay them) The good news though is that there is a wonderful group of Music Therapists working as Music Therapy Ireland in Limerick, Cork, Galway and now Dublin. They are running clinics and providing a first class service. The latest clinic has just opened in Rathgar in Dublin today. For all enquiries go to the Music Therapy Ireland website.

I took the morning off to pay a visit to the National rehabilitation Hospital in Dunlaoire Co Dublin. A large ugly building where all brain injured children from around Ireland go for intensive rehabilitation following brain injury, stroke and serious brain illness. I know this hospital really well since it’s where my daughter spent eight months following a serious car accident in which my mother was killed. I am now involved in the funding of a Music Therapy service which is up and running but which is not funded by the hospital and depends on the generosity of the wider community to keep it going. The team of professionals are nothing short of wonderful and it does my soul good to help them in any way I can. Last year I trekked through Brazil and raised a significant sum of money. Since I’m a five star hotel sort of woman that was certainly a challenge! Following my meeting I headed back to the world of Fashion and got stuck right back into work. Taking orders, sorting problems, making appointments for the forthcoming season.

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