A benefit concert, in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society, gives band members a chance to show their support to family members
THERE’S NOTHING remotely rock’n’roll about dementia, yet on November 3rd, three of Northern Ireland’s biggest bands will take to the stage of the Ulster Hall in Belfast to raise money, break down prejudices and show that they care about people who are affected by this debilitating condition.
The benefit concert, in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society, is to feature Neil Hannon (aka the Divine Comedy), Ash, and the Undertones, each playing one of their classic albums in full. Two of the bands have been touched by the disease: Tim Wheeler of Ash lost his father in January last year, and Neil Hannon’s father, the Rt Rev Brian Hannon, former Bishop of Clogher, is a sufferer too.
The Divine Comedy, featuring Neil Hannon and a string quartet, will play the 1994 album, Promenade. "The idea for the gig came from Tim," says Hannon, who now lives in Dublin. "I'd been talking with him about it during his father's illness, and then after that initial contact, his dad died.
“But Tim still wanted to do the gig, and then over the summer everything fell into place very quickly. We found there was an evening free in the Ulster Hall, Tim phoned up the Undertones, and then two weeks later we were doing the press launch.”
A sense of helplessness is common in families who have a loved one with dementia, and Hannon says that, for him, the concert is a way for him to show his support for his father and other sufferers.
“There is an element of guilt in doing this gig; because I’m incredibly busy, I’m not very good at just being there. But this is something I can do.”
Brian Hannon, who’s 75, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago, and chose to speak out about his condition. As Neil says, he wanted “to help demystify and de-stigmatise it a little”.
It was only by chance that the illness was picked up early, due to a throwaway remark his father made as he left the doctor’s surgery after a check-up.
“I didn’t know I had a problem at all,” Brian Hannon told a Belfast newspaper not long after his diagnosis. “I was expecting a quick and happy chat until on the way out of the room I joked, ‘There is only one problem – I can’t remember anybody’s name’. That was all I needed to say because within 24 hours he had me with a geriatric specialist and was able to show me exactly where I had the problem in the little memory section of my brain.”
At first, Brian Hannon took the news badly, and retreated into a depressive state; he couldn’t even bring himself to mention the word Alzheimer’s. But after absorbing the diagnosis for some months, he made the decision to be upfront about it.
“I decided at an early stage, I suppose partly because I was a bishop for 25 years, to go out and tell people,” he said. “I made sure I said to every person I met and knew that I had Alzheimer’s. At first they gasped slightly, but they began to get used to it.”
Brian Hannon’s early diagnosis and the drug treatment he received has helped him to retain a good quality of life. Speaking from his home in Co Fermanagh, he says, “I take one tablet of Aricept every night. I have done so for the last four years, and I’m living a perfectly normal life.”
Neil says that “I find my dad as entertaining now as ever, just in a much more random sort of way. I’ve always found Dad good company, and that’s still true. It takes a little longer to get through a topic. Without being patronising, you just have to be patient.”
Neil says his father has been rigorous in retraining his mind. “He was always a great list-maker and that still helps him – as long as he doesn’t lose his list. And recently he bought himself a tractor, a vintage Massey Ferguson, very cute, and he’s been enjoying driving that.”
Brian Hannon tells me that concentrating completely on one thing at a time is an important coping strategy. He also finds doing puzzles beneficial. "A few years ago, a very good friend of mine put me on to The TimesCodeword Puzzle. I do it every day and and now I've done over 1,270 of them. It makes a huge difference. Sometimes, I come up with words my wife has never even heard of."
His other interests include Grand Prix racing, a passion since his teenage years – “it helps you keep in touch with the world at large” – and playing the piano, a 19th-century grand which belonged to his grandmother, and which will eventually be passed on to Neil.
Neil’s description of his parents’ life in rural Fermanagh – the house with fields all around, the horses, the dogs – sounds quite idyllic. But there’s no getting away from the challenges of the illness, especially for those closest to the sufferer. “It’s hardest for my mum, she has to keep him on the straight and narrow,” says Neil. “Sometimes she finds it difficult, she’s the one who has to think of all the practicalities. For instance, Dad passed his extra driving test but Mum has to tell him where to go, and Dad doesn’t like that!”
Has his father’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s changed Neil’s own perceptions of ageing? Neil laughs: “Oh, I always wanted to get old, I was never one of those ‘hope I die before I get old’ types. I wanted to wear horrible tweed hats and get away with it. But it’s not really our generation that needs to worry about dementia. Researchers are homing in now on what can be done, and that’s why it’s important to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.”
Brian Hannon says it’s vital for society to be more open about Alzheimer’s, “treating it as a normal thing that an awful lot of people have”, and his son agrees. “There is still a bit of a taboo about it,” says Neil. “I think people are embarrassed. It’s hard for sufferers to say there’s something wrong with their brains. We need to get rid of that stigma: it’s just a disease. It can be embarrassing for other people too, if someone can’t form sentences or get to the end of their thought. We need to be more patient and forgiving. Above all, we need to be giving support. People shouldn’t be written off – having Alzheimer’s isn’t the end of everything.”
