As University Hospital Limerick (UHL) achieves a new record-breaking 130 patients on trolleys, a nursing union has claimed the provision of safe and timely care is “impossible”. INMO Assistant Director for Industrial Relations for the Midwest, Mary Fogarty said the latest record, which was reached on Monday, comes as no surprise to her members who have been working in overcrowded and understaffed wards with no reprieve for years on end. “The fact that there are more patients on trolleys across the hospital itself than in the emergency department itself is making the provision of safe and timely care impossible. Patient flow out of the emergency department is proving difficult because of the sheer volume of trolleys across the hospital. “Our members are burnt out and demoralised as a direct result of their working conditions. It is impossible for them to provide safe care in a working environment that is persistently dangerous. “INMO members in the hospital met last week to …

The number of Health Care Support Assistants (HCSA) employed in North Tipperary was more than six times higher than Clare in 2021, new figures have revealed. Councillor Cillian Murphy (FF) asked at a recent HSE West Forum meeting for a list of all the types of home care supports provided by the HSE, and the numbers of staff for each type that are directly employed by the HSE in Clare, Galway, Limerick and Tipperary for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023. The HSE confirmed there were just 28 HCSA’s employed in Clare in 2021 compared to 176 in North Tipperary and 218 in Limerick. This improved in 2022 when the number of HCSA’s in Clare jumped to 75, the number in North Tipperary stayed the same at 176 and the numbers in Limerick fell slightly to 215. All areas in the Mid-West benefited from an increase in HCSA’s in 2023 – Clare went up to 86, North Tipperary jumped to …

Small childcare providers are operating at a loss and are worse off under the new Government scheme, Deputy Violet Anne-Wynne (Ind) has warned. Sinn Féin Deputy Kathleen Funchion tabled a motion in the Dáil recently calling on the Government to cut childcare fees for families by two thirds from 2022 levels, to make them affordable for parents by further increasing public investment; and allocate additional funding to provide fair pay for professionals working in the childcare sector. Deputy Wynne welcomed a statement from Minister for Children, Roderick O’Gorman (GP) that more work needs to be done to improve childcare services, which she said couldn’t be overstated. Stating the investment in childcare is coming from a very low base, the Independent Deputy stressed the reform required is far bigger than last year’s expenditure. “Inflation has increased exponentially in the three-year period from May 2020 to May 2023 while the core funding has risen only by 6% in that period,” she said. …

Uisce Éireann is still unable to give a projected timeframe for when boil notices affecting the public water supply in Killaloe and O’Brien’s Bridge will be lifted. Frustration is growing in O’Brien’s Bridge where a boil notice was announced on August 25 and in Killaloe where it was applied on September 17. Local residents are still being advised to boil before preparing food, baby formula, drinking water or brushing their teeth. “We would like to assure customers supplied by the Killaloe Public Water Supply that we are working to lift the notice as quickly as possible,” said Darragh Conneely, Uisce Éireann’s Drinking Water Assets lead for Clare. “We are upgrading our chlorine systems and alarms at the water treatment plant. This will provide the plant with greater robustness and safeguard supply. We are also carrying water sample analysis in the network. “We appreciate the impact this is having on the community and we thank them for their patience as we …

AN Ardnacrusha speech and language therapist, who was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD at the age of 25, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of a former Leaving Certificate classmate at the Miss Ireland final next month. Miss Clare, Céira Moroney (27) is looking forward to participating in various Miss Ireland events over the coming weeks before the final in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Dublin on November 4. They include a sports day, an online makeup challenge, a modeling round, and head-to-head public speaking. Reigning Miss Ireland Doctor Ivanna McMahon, from Barefield who is Dyslexic, is an ambassador for Dyslexic Ireland, worked in the GP Scheme at Tralee General Hospital throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, before she was crowned the 75th Miss Ireland at a ceremony in Castlebar last year. Dr Ivanna entered the competition as Miss Munster 2022 but left with the Miss Ireland title. Interestingly, Céira Moroney was a Leaving Certificate classmate of Ms McMahon at Limerick Tutorial …

THREE Clare cancer patients who were recently included in a Clare Champion photograph with statements made about the Clare 250 Cancer Centre have received an anonymous letter containing a prayer card. All the letters were addressed with the person’s name care of the Clare 250 Cancer Care Centre, Ballygriffey, Ruan, Ennis, County Clare. There was nothing included in the letters that would suggest the sender is connected with the Clare 250 Cancer Care Centre. They included a card with the following prayer “Oh Holy Spirit, please help and guide me, say this prayer three times plus per day”. Lorraine White, Ruan, who is a breast cancer survivor, expressed her surprise with receiving this letter and wondered why the sender hadn’t provided their own name and address. She believes it is linked to comments she has made about the provision of services at the centre. Tara Madigan, who is a breast cancer patient, described the letter as “disappointing”. “I could do …

Substantial damage has been caused to a well known popular pub in Killaloe following the outbreak of a fire on Monday afternoon.   There are no reports of anyone who is missing or major injuries following the blaze in Walsh’s Bar, which is located just a stone’s throw from St Flannan’s Catholic Church at Main Street, Killaloe, Members of the Clare Fire and Rescue Service are still on the scene of the fire with units from Killaloe and Scariff who are being assisted by the gardaí and the National Ambulance Service. An aerial piece of equipment has been obtained from Nenagh Fire Station to facilitate access to the roof of the building. The Main Street in Killaloe has been closed off to vehicular traffic while emergency services continue to remain at the scene. It is understood the alarm was raised at about 12.50pm. While it has not been definitely determined the exact cause of the fire, one theory that will …

The allocation of garda resources to a West Clare tourism hotspot during the August Bank Holiday weekend has been queried following claims of serious criminal damage and anti-social behaviour. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne (Ind) says she was informed by residents that there were only two gardaí on patrol in Kilkee that weekend and she didn’t get any reports that additional members were drafted in to assist those on duty who did their best to address issues in difficult circumstances. Highlighting this issue at a recent Joint Policing Committee meeting, Deputy Wynne said it is well known that this is a problematic weekend and recalled that two years ago a garda sergeant was assaulted, and his arm broken, when there were up to 17 members on duty at the time. Two years on from this serious incident, she said it seemed lessons have not be learned as the location of garda resources wasn’t prioritised. In view of the huge influx of people …