The Gorey Guardian Wednesday, June 18, 1997

Gorey family inundated by messages of support from all over Ireland.

Family adamant Odhran is been coerced by Church of Scientology.

Aidan Harney, Gorey.

ODHRAN FORTUNE'S sudden disapperance from Ireland and his disconnection of virtually all family ties is not a unique case, the Fortune family from Main Street, Gorey, have discovered in the past week. Throughout the weeks since Odhran Fortune's departure from Courtown Harbour, the Fortune family have been inundated with good wishes and pledges of support in their battle to "expose" the Church of Scientology. And according to Diarmuid Fortune, families from throughout Ireland have made contact to let the Fortune's know they are not alone in their fight to regain a lost child.

In Co. Wexford alone, four families believe that their sons or daughters have become snared by the Church which the Irish goverment is been called upon to launch an urgent investigation into. Already, as a result of a sustained drive by the Fortune family, an estimated 20,000 signatures have been collected calling for a goverment led probe into the actions and methods employed by the Church of Scientology in Ireland. Speaking on Monday night, Diarmuid fortune told "The Guardian" that, despite interviews given by Odhran on national and local radio, his family still believes 100% that he was "snatched" from Courtown Harbour on the night of June 1 last.

As a result of contact with ex-members of the cult, Diarmuid says, the family have established that Odhran is mosst likely been held at a secret location in Britain where he is been coerced in signing false statements and is being coached, via an ear-piece, when conducting interviews on radio. The radio interviews Odhran has given in the past week create a picture which is far from the truth, according to Diarmuid. Time after time, Odhran has asserted that he now wishes to reconcile with his family if they will accept his affiliations to the Scientology cult. However, Diamuid reveals that Odhran has only made contact with his parents once, by telephone, since his dramatic vanishing from the Ounavarra Hotel in Courtown.

Diarmuid belives that Scientology spin-doctors are manipulating the media, by using Odhran as a puppet, to create the illusion that so-called de-programmers are responsible for the family breach. Coupled with court injunctions, Diarmuid reckons the cult is going all out to silence the family who have been consistently outspoken since Odhran's departure.

"The family will never be intimidated by the Church of Scientology", he commented. "The people , realatives and friends and anyone who knew him (Odhran) won't be intimidated by them. So basically they've got a serious problem on their hands until Odhran is released and sent back. It's as simple as that". The trouble is, the Fortune family are convinced that Odhran is in "a mind-set" and is now being used as "a pawn" by the cult to hit out at councellors (labelled "de-programmers"), and other have assisted the family and spoken out against Scientology and it's harmful effects.

In short, Diarmuid says his family have been harrassed and intimidated by the Church since Odhran's failure to depart from Ireland last January. Phone-calls throughout the night has resulted in the phones having to be disconnected. False allegations to local Gardai that Odhran has been kidnapped resulted in several visits to the family home by Gardai, concedes Diarmuid. He insists Odhran was never detained and never forced to undergo "deprogramming", other than voluntary counselling which consisting of only calm talking.

Odhran was watched and snatched. This, Diarmuid says, he can prove. He explaines Odhran's departure without physical force by saying that during his brother's time in the cult he was often "audited" - a process not unlike a Roman Catholic confession. However Odhran's deepest and most inner secrets were transcribed by cult members and put into what is known as "a P.C. file" states Diarmuid.

This he believes ,was then used to bribe Odhran to return to the cult or else details of his "confessions" would be leaked to the family. Odhran has forked out £40,000 to the cult since becoming involved with it, diarmuid estimates. At Christmas alone he spent £1,500 on books, He says. As a member of the Church's "Sea Organisation" and a staff member Odhran was also allowed credit for various Church courses he took part in. The Fortunes believe that Odhran hasbeen told by the cult that he owes them approximately £15,000 on his "free loader bill".

Now, as a result of sustained media attention and an internet site which has been established, the story of the struggle to bring Odhran Fortune home has made news around the world. "The amount of other families, just in Ireland. who have come out of the woodwork is amazing," according to Diarmuid. "People whose children have gone and disconnected themselves. Families are terrified of this so-called Church" .

Via the internet, an international rally has now been planned for june 28 outside Scientology bases around the world.

Although the Fortune family have ben told by their legel advisors to cease all protests themselves, they are heartened by "the phenomenal response."

Diarmuid concludes with a message for Odhran. "I just want to let Odhran know, whatever he says or whatever he signs, we know it's not him. We all want him to come back. the doors are always open. He should never ever feel ashamed of what they've made him do."

He also emphasises the Fortune Family's thanks to the people of Gorey and Co. Wexford for their support.

To the church of scientology, whose methods and techniques the family are against, not their beliefs, Diarmuid stresses : "The family and friends will not be intimidated and will never stop. They [the church] are not going to put this story, like the other ones, to bed. It doesn't matter what they do"

Something good or sinister ?

TRYING TO understand the Church of Scientology is akin to trying to find your way through a maze of mirrors. Depending on which way you turn and who you speak to, the ground shifts Like something out of the X-Files, the Church of Scientology can seem deep, dark and deadly but , according to the Church's press officer, Graeme Wilson, the bad publicity is all a plot to undertmine the church.

John Atak, a client of Scientology from 1974 to 1983, is the author of "A Piece of Blue Sky", a 400-page book on Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, the creator of Dianetics and Scientology. Atak writes that the free personality test, which is used to recruit most followers from the street, is designed to ensure that very few people have an acceptable personality profile. Scientology sales staff are drilled in hard-selling techniques to focus a person's attention on a supposedly distressing area of their life. "Scientology can handle that", they are then told , according to Atak.

Essentially hypnosis is used to indoctrinate people into the cult, he writes. New recruits then undergo a "Purification Rundown" which consists of taking extremely high doses of vitamins, combined with running and sauna treatment for five hours each day. "Security checking ", says Atak, is used to interrogate new recruits on their moral transgressions. Using the E-meter (a lie detector), a record of all "sins" is built up - a highly effective means of silencing dissidents, he writes.

Scientologists then pay to complete OT levels, elaborate drills which promise dramatic results. Anyone critising Hubbard or Scientology is labeled as a "Suppressive Person" or "SP". Potential trouble sources in the cult can be shunned, deprived of sleep and food, according to Atak. Full recovery from Scientology can average 12.5 years, he estimates.

Graeme Wilson, Church press officer, says there is nothing to fear from the Church which offers "spiritual counselling ". The Saint Hill H.Q. in the U.K. is open to tourists every day, he adds, and Scientologists are very inter-active people. Monies raised are purely used for charitable and religious purposes and the Church is humanitarian-based he stresses.

Odhran Fortune is free to do what he chooses, adds Wilson. Odhran's ultimate goal is to restore his relationship with his family once the de-programmers are out of the picture, he says. The church has no shortage of food and does not go in for lengthy periods of fasting, adds Wilson. When asked about Odhran's weight in December last. Odhran did undergo a "Purification Rundown" some years ago,he confirms, but that was to rid his system of alcohol and cannabis he had been using.

The billion year contract Odhran signed when he joined "The Sea Organisation" is symbolic, similar to a monastic dedication, according to Wilson who says The Fortune should "listen to reason, not Bigots".

You can email us at free_odhran@hotmail.com