Scientologists brand reporter Aideen Sheehanan emotional wreck - Yet a
pyschologist insists she is well-adjusted.

The Evening Herald
12.6.1997

by Merese Mc Donagh

Cult's damaging personality test.

Families divided by a "religion".

Tony Phelan doesn't know his nieces and nephews. He has seen his 81-year-old
father twice since February 1995. That is when Tony and his family had a
confrontaion on the Late Late Show about the church of Scientology. Tony is
37 years old and one would imagine should be entitled to join any religion
he likes. But like the Fortune family from Gorey, Co. Wexford, the Phelan
family believe their brother has been brainwashed by what they consider to
be "a destructive cult". As Joe and Ann Fortune stood outside the
Scientologists Irish headquaters in Dublin holding placards which read:
"Free Our Son" Tony Phelan's brother-in-law recounted how he hadwithdrawn
from his family.

CUT TIES

"Its been nine years but we still hope he will come back," said Denis
Robinson. "Its okay to day he's an adult and can do what he likes, but his
personality changed". A computer engineer from Clonmel, Tony got involved
with the church shortly after his mother died. He was made redundant around
the same time and his family believe this made him susceptible. "It started
off with the personality tests and then he got a book on dianetics", recalls
Denis. Gradually he cut his ties with the family. Denis joined the Fortunes
and around 20 relatives and friends from Gorey who came to protest in Dublin
after a bizarre chain of events in London involving High Court injunctions,
meetings in toilets and car chases through London.

SECURITY

The Fortunes had trvelled to Scientology's British headquaters to meet
Odhran their six foot something son who they say shrank to seven stone when
he came home at Christmas. They were confronted by stringent security and,
according to Odhran's brother Diarmuid, spent two and a half hours driving
in circles around London. Eventually the trail led to the High Court where
Damian Fortune met his brother in a toilet. His parents saw for 10 minutes
on a corridor. Odhran was distraught when he met his parents and told them:
"Call off the media - if you don't I will disconnect".

The Scientologists have applied for a High Court injunction preventing the
family from coming within 200 metres of their headquaters. "We are
highlighting this so that the Irish public know we have lost our son," said
the Fortunes. His father, who has a furniture shop in Gorey and his mother a
hairdressers, say they are heartbroken but will not give up. "We love him
and we will always be there for him" Denis Robinson said families cannot
give up. "We have to care. Think what happened in Waco and Canada. People
can die in the extreme cases so you cannot afford not to care.." "They are
after your mind and your money. Once they get your mind they get your
wallet."

SCIENTOLOGY has come under the spotlight as the Fortune family claim it has
brainwashed their 24-year-old son Odhran.

And they've warned other young people could be vunerable to the mind control
they say is the Scientologist's method of inducing and holding onto new
members. The first for many is the free personality test which anyone who
frequents O' Connell Street and Abbey Street will probably have been
offered.

We decided to take them up on it - but also took a recognised psychological
profile to see how the two compared. The results of my Scientology test were
far from pretty - in fact according to them I'm a wreck. If I wasn't
depressed going in for the test, I sure as hell was coming out of it. If its
possible to fail a personality test, I did. On a graph plotting my
character, the ratings constantly plummeted into the nether regions of
"unacceptable characteristics". In six out of 10 key areas my character
requires "urgent action" to correct these flaws, the scientologists told me.
Not only am I unstable, depressed and nervous, I'm also irresponsible,
critical and withdrawn.

I have a few good points mind you - well one actually, I'm quite active. I'm
also moderately appreciative of others, fairly uninhibited and sure of
myself - but nothing to get excited about. Unfortunately, unlike many people
who avail of the Scientology tests I had the back-up of a professional
second opinion. Chartered psychologist Pat Short of ETC Consult, which
specailises in personality profiles for career guidance, said the pass-fail
type presentation of the Scientology test results were enough to set off
niggling doubts even in a confident and well-adjusted person. "No
psycologist would tell someone their personality was 'unacceptable' in so
many ways. It's not just unhelpful, it could be extremely damaging to
someone who was already vulnerable," he said. "You can imagine an
18-year-old in the throes of adolescence being told things like that - their
self-esteem would be shattered.