Merck Sharp and Dohme and farmer case

jenny smith

What ever became of the farmer who sued Merck Sharp and Dohme in the 1980's? I was reading about it and he would be almost 70 now. Did they sort out the pollution, do people still farm in that area?

Does Mr Hanrahan still live there?.

NOTE: I have no contact with Mr H or MSD, I am just curious

tippspur

Most of the farmers in the area work in MSD these days,keeps them quiet;)

fepper

he was at kerry coop agm in tralee in june, must be a shareholder and was constantly interrupting proceedings with court papers etc. seems to be a eccentric type of character who maybe thinks big business trying to do him out ,delighted he won his case against merck and dept of ag but looks like he has paid a big price for it mentally,poor man

notharrypotter

From Irish Times in 2010.

TippFM row with Vet.

jenny smith

tippspur wrote: »

Most of the farmers in the area work in MSD these days

Really is that true? Are they not farming anymore?

jenny smith

notharrypotter wrote: »

From Irish Times in 2010.

TippFM row with Vet.

Thanks saw those. Is he still living there and are there any problems now?

jenny smith

fepper wrote: »

he was at kerry coop agm in tralee in june, must be a shareholder and was constantly interrupting proceedings with court papers etc. seems to be a eccentric type of character who maybe thinks big business trying to do him out ,delighted he won his case against merck and dept of ag but looks like he has paid a big price for it mentally,poor man

about what?

fepper

jenny smith wrote: »

about what?

Something to do with milk supplied or leased to coop,maybe never got paid?? but he was locked out for most of it,he did come in again at the end with the same grievance but meeting breaking up at that stage

tippspur

jenny smith wrote: »

Really is that true? Are they not farming anymore?

Doing both of course.

tipptom

notharrypotter wrote: »

From Irish Times in 2010.

TippFM row with Vet.

Wow,that was one mammoth case that he pursued and stuck with it.


No doubt the big multi national tried to break him by drawing out the case for years and there are not many people who could afford to go to appeal.


The fees must have been astronomical or did he have NFNF?

Ponster

jenny smith wrote: »

Thanks saw those. Is he still living there and are there any problems now?

My folks live about 2 miles up the road from John. I believe that he's still there but it's old news now. Not sure if it's talked about much. Christy Moore has a song about him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMZt9JFawW8

julyjane

He was on Winning Streak about a year or 2 ago

jenny smith

Ponster wrote: »

My folks live about 2 miles up the road from John. I believe that he's still there but it's old news now. Not sure if it's talked about much. Christy Moore has a song about him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMZt9JFawW8

Christy is great for making money writing songs out of others misfortunes

davidk1394

tippspur wrote: »

Most of the farmers in the area work in MSD these days,keeps them quiet;)

What do you mean by that brash statement ?? If your not from around there how do you know. Unless your one of the f#ckers who zooms up and down the by road to MSD
Mr Hanrahan is still alive and going and is still causing trouble for other neighbours in the area that's all I will say

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

What do you mean by that brash statement ?? If your not from around there how do you know. Unless your one of the f#ckers who zooms up and down the by road to MSD
Mr Hanrahan is still alive and going and is still causing trouble for other neighbours in the area that's all I will say

what do you think was he right re Merck?

davidk1394

jenny smith wrote: »

what do you think was he right re Merck?

It was before my time but I'm in the locality and my parents were young at the time. There was a lot of health problems with both people and animals. A lot of people were sick and there's a high cancer rate in the area now. He was right to take the case as there was a acid taste in the air every morning due Merc taking short cuts to bring their incinerators to the correct temperature. He would have got all of the neighbours support only for they knew the kind of person he is.
He was the only person able for the like of those companies. But he should have left at that instead of carrying on the way he is

tippspur

davidk1394 wrote: »

What do you mean by that brash statement ?? If your not from around there how do you know. Unless your one of the f#ckers who zooms up and down the by road to MSD
Mr Hanrahan is still alive and going and is still causing trouble for other neighbours in the area that's all I will say

Nothing brash in what I said just the truth,and yes I do live near the place and I know most people who work there because I worked in there for a number of years myself,you said in your next post that you were to young at the time so it's fair to say you don't know what you're talking about.

elperello

If anyone wants to follow up on this I recommend Jerry O'Callaghans book.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2433103.The_Red_Book

davidk1394

While I was not around then it doesn't mean I am talking horse shít. My father got purpura in 1984 and my mother had a miss carriage that same year. A number of people around the are fell ill during those years and the cancer rates are much higher in this area compared to other areas. You are right about your statement though. A lot of people in this area were employed in MSD and were payed good money so they were less inclined to say anything, also a lot of these people had young families at the time when very few people had money. Now it doesn't matter if you lived in the plant you still couldn't get a job. John Hanrahan was right with what he did back then.

However since then he has built up a reputation for himself unfortunately. Now you may think my opinion is biased but if your more than willing to visit some other people in the locality you will quickly find out

cml387

davidk1394 wrote: »

A number of people around the are fell ill during those years and the cancer rates are much higher in this area compared to other areas.

Do you any evidence for this statement?

fepper

cml387 wrote: »

Do you any evidence for this statement?

Do you expect the poster to get a medical report for you for evidence,can you not take his word for it,

davidk1394

cml387 wrote: »

Do you any evidence for this statement?

I have no statistical evidence to show it only the amount of people who have died of cancer in the area and the amount of people who have survived it. MSD are well behaved now but it was Mr Hanrahan who got them to change their ways

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

I have no statistical evidence to show it only the amount of people who have died of cancer in the area and the amount of people who have survived it. MSD are well behaved now but it was Mr Hanrahan who got them to change their ways

What sort of numbers died and survived it? Would it be above the average?

davidk1394

jenny smith wrote: »

What sort of numbers died and survived it? Would it be above the average?

I know 4 people who had it 3 died and 1 survived. That's only people who I know/knew well. All within a mile and between 50 and 60.

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

I know 4 people who had it 3 died and 1 survived. That's only people who I know/knew well. All within a mile and between 50 and 60.

Is that unusual for an area like that? I don't know but people die of it all the time

davidk1394

jenny smith wrote: »

Is that unusual for an area like that? I don't know but people die of it all the time

I haven't a clue to be honest. It was a tough time back then. Going by first hand information from people in the area

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

I haven't a clue to be honest. It was a tough time back then. Going by first hand information from people in the area

So you don't have any evidence for highlighted part of your statement

A number of people around the are fell ill during those years and the cancer rates are much higher in this area compared to other areas.

To back up such a statement you would need to be contacting the health services/ or whatever body keeps such stats and finding out if the rates in the area are much higher. Going by first hand information from people in the area is not evidence in the medical sense

davidk1394

jenny smith wrote: »

So you don't have any evidence for highlighted part of your statement

To back up such a statement you would need to be contacting the health services/ or whatever body keeps such stats and finding out if the rates in the area are much higher. Going by first hand information from people in the area is not evidence in the medical sense

I thought this was a general forum not a tribunal. What happened then doesn't really bother me. If your doing a project on it well you'd have to go to the HSE in clonmel or Waterford to get statistical evidence

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

I thought this was a general forum not a tribunal. What happened then doesn't really bother me. If your doing a project on it well you'd have to go to the HSE in clonmel or Waterford to get statistical evidence

I am not doing a project on it. I did not even know it, you brought it up.But if you say the rate is higher than in other places it is a serious charge and misleading even on a general forum when you have no evidence. i am only interested in JH and Merck. i do not have any agenda either way re Merck and JH just curious how he is now. I do not know him or anyone in Merck except what was published.

davidk1394

It looks like your right and i was wrong. Sorry about that.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1225701-cancer-map.html

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

It looks like your right and i was wrong. Sorry about that.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1225701-cancer-map.html

no prob:)

davidk1394

jenny smith wrote: »

no prob:)

Does anyone else have any input about this thread ?

dieselbug

Well if it was proven that a couple of hundred cattle died due to emissions then it stands to reason that the same emissions can't have done any person living in the vicinity any good.

There was also the Schering Plough attempt to build a chemical plant at Kilaloan,
Now that caused some deep local devisions at the time.

davidk1394

dieselbug wrote: »

Well if it was proven that a couple of hundred cattle died due to emissions then it stands to reason that the same emissions can't have done any person living in the vicinity any good.

There was also the Schering Plough attempt to build a chemical plant at Kilaloan,
Now that caused some deep local devisions at the time.

What happened with those lads ?

dieselbug

davidk1394 wrote: »

What happened with those lads ?

I sent you a PM

jenny smith

davidk1394 wrote: »

What happened with those lads ?

http://politico.ie/archive/fear-suir-valley

"It was to be another chemical plant on the Clonmel side of Merck. "We had the experience of Merck (which was being built during this period) and we saw Merck was good and we thought Schering Plough would be another Merck", says Edwin Fitzgerald of the ITGWU. At first there were two hundred objectors to Schering Plough: bit by bit the number dwindled to eight.
One of the eight had his cows maliciously poisoned, others had their cows let out on the road. One found broken glass on his driveway, another's house was threatened by a mob. There was garda protection for some of them. Their children were threatened"

I heard from someone who lived near Kilaloan that one had a dead animal left at his door but don't know if it is true

ernielove

He died last year unfortunately. There was a lot of fight in the man as he pursued many cases against state bodies and otherwise in the following years. I do wonder if that became 'all consuming' in the end.