Elaine Cullinan, Co-ordinator, North Tipperary Sports Partnership stated:

“This event is open to all runners, walkers and joggers. We really want to encourage as many women as possible to come out and have fun on the day. You can download training programmes for walking and running the event from the website. All participants will be chip timed so the elite runners will get an accurate time and the event is AAI measured and certified. Come out and support this first mini marathon for Tipperary”

Valerie Connolly, Co-ordinator, South Tipperary Sports Partnership stated:

“I am delighted to be part of this new women in sport initiative in Tipperary as it is a great opportunity for women of all ages to get active and take part in the first women’s mini marathon to be held in the County. All finishers will receive a race medallion and goody bag. There will also be spot prizes on the day. The event also provides a great opportunity for participants to raise funds for their own local charities.”

All registration can be done online (www.tippminimarathon.ie) and closing date for entries is the 10th September, 2010.

Note: For further information regarding this event please contact :
Elaine/Sharon at North Tipperary Sports Partnership, Tel: 067-43604. www.ntsp.ie .
Valerie/Eddie at South Tipperary Sports Partnership, Tel: 062-64737. www.stsp.ie

Alone and sitting in the corner of the warm bar, gave me the perfect opportunity to eavesdrop and study life around me without distraction.

A group of, what appeared to be, office girls were discussing new dresses acquired for a forthcoming twenty first birthday party. An elderly couple were silently munching salads, briefly exchanging whispered sentences, between mouthfuls of potato salad and coleslaw. A sad looking elderly gentleman, in a well worn dark top coat and matching wellingtons, cap on knee and holding a stick in one hand, a pint in the other, was staring blankly towards the ground.  A black and white sheep dog, obviously the mans property, was lying obediently under his masters chair with eyes closed, awaiting his next command.

Suddenly the quiet calm was broken by the inward rush of five gentlemen, ages somewhere between twenty five and thirty five. One could not but smile at their get-up. Wearing garb, which I can only describe as some sort of ladies skimpy gym wear, it soon became apparent they were celebrating a well planned stag party and had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol, prior to entering this establishment.

Having listened to their good humored, yet loud loutish banter for some twenty minutes, and the wasted efforts attempted by the unfortunate lone barman to control their volume voices, my thoughts strayed to the present situation of two Tipperary barmen and the problems they find themselves facing later this year.

These hotel bar staff recently appeared in the Circuit Court in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, charged with the manslaughter of an English guest, following a night’s socialising at the hotel, their place of work.  We are given to understand that the guest, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, tragically choked to death on his own vomit, as a result of acute alcohol intoxication. The bar manager and his colleague were later charged with an unlawful killing, following a lengthy investigation into his tragic death by police.

This case will be the first in Ireland involving so-called “liquor liability” and is being closely watched by the Licensing Trade and Union representatives of over 2,000 bar staff across the whole of the twenty six counties.  Concerns about the possible future implications of this case and its outcome are certain to provoke much public debate regarding the responsibilities of bar staff, bar managers and the owners of licensed premises, when dealing with their day to day clientele.

In this age we live in, too many young people are arriving at their local pub, already under the influence of drink or indeed drugs and this makes the job and responsibility of owners and bar staff, particularly difficult.

While my thoughts and sympathies lie with the family and friends of all those involved in this tragedy, I believe now is the time to put in place stricter policies and safer procedures to further educate and safe guard both party’s in situations like this one.

While I am not aware of the full facts in this case, I believe that consumers must also be responsible in such situations, and these responsibilities should not be just pushed onto someone else, in the ordinary performance of their daily work.

During the debate, Deputy Coonan strongly urged the Minister for Social Protection to outline his Department’s response to the National Coalminers Group’s ongoing campaign.

Deputy Coonan stated he was pleased with the outcome, saying Minister Eamon O’Cuiv will undertake an investigation in his department to see that many of the miners’ health problems such as tinnitus and asthma and other respiratory ailments will be addressed under the Occupational Injuries Benefit Scheme (OIBS).

Minister O’Cúiv said he will work with the miners to reduce the hardship they are suffering. Currently the OIBS is too restrictive a scheme for the miners;  it does not address their needs because the list of prescribed illnesses is too tight. For example, pneumoconiosis is acceptable but COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – tinnitus and asthma are not.
Deputy Coonan pointed out that these are the main conditions suffered by the miners and the scheme needs to change. “The Minister seemed to accept that that scheme wasn’t sufficient to meet needs of miners and their health problems acquired from working in the mines. This is more than any of the Ministers’ predecessors has done to date. I hope this isn’t just an initial reaction that fades away, as has been the case in the past. The Minister has indicated that he will discuss the issue in-depth with his officials in the Department of Social Protection. I am cautiously optimistic that the miners may at last get some compensation,” concluded Deputy Coonan.

Deputy Coonan stated:

“During a presentation made by the National Coalminers Group at a recent meeting of a joint committee, another serious issue emerged and that is the high variance of diagnosis between the experts.  A case study undertaken under Professor Fitzgerald at St. Vincent’s Hospital diagnosed a person with disabilities of 80% whereas the Department of Social Protection’s doctors or experts decided it was only 20%.  In today’s money, that means a €750 per month loss to the miners. Under the Mines and Quarries Act 1965, the Minister had a duty of care to the people who work in quarries and mines to provide adequate ventilation and to protect them from overexposure to dust. That duty of care was not exercised.  In fact, ‘cowboys’ were allowed to operate the mines without due respect to the health and safety or general well-being of the miners.  The consequences have been dire.  The mortality rate of miners is much higher than that of the ordinary individual; they are dying at an alarming rate, with 50 deaths in the past two years.”

Deputy Coonan concluded by saying that a most reasonable solution would be a lump sum award to miners and widows of former miners. This would be an acknowledgement of an expression of regret which is owed to these people.

Food allergen alerts will be issued by the FSAI upon receipt of information that a food product poses a risk to certain consumers’ health, due to missing or incorrect allergen labelling.

Food allergen alerts will also be issued to enforcement officers and food businesses. This service has been available since January 26th 2010.

Professor Alan Reilly, Chief Executive, FSAI, stated:

“The ultimate objective of this new notification system is to prevent people who have an established food allergy from purchasing or consuming a food product which may be detrimental to their health. We are also calling on all food manufacturers and processors to regularly review the composition of their final product and ensure that the presence of an allergen is clearly visible on the food label.”

By law, the food manufacturer must also clearly indicate on the label, the name of the ingredient from which the allergen originates.

Fine Gael’s Deputy Noel Coonan has again expressed deep concern that the Hospital is becoming a shadow of its former self as it is continuously stripped of services that are traditional to any hospital.

Nenagh Hospital

The Fine Gael TD was reacting to a HSE announcement that the Intensive Care Unit in Nenagh Hospital will close in 2010 and other acute medical services will be transferred to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.

“Nenagh General Hospital has already lost too many vital services and now it’s losing its Intensive Care Unit along with other acute medical services. Transferring the A and E department from Nenagh to Limerick was heralded as a genius idea but we recently saw nurses at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick go on strike because of overcrowding at the facility. This was partly due to the closure of the A and E in Nenagh and subsequent overflow of patients coming from North Tipperary to Limerick.

It’s clear that the hospital at Dooradoyle is struggling and the HSE is putting a further burden on the facility by transferring more services from both Nenagh and Ennis hospitals. If this is the concerned reaction of front line staff who are worried for patient safety, I want to know what plans HSE management have to deal with the overcrowding issue?

Nenagh Hospital is not a hospital in the traditional meaning of the word. Minister Harney is no longer even a member of a political party yet she controls the HSE which is one of the most important bodies in the country. This time last year, the hospital had in excess of 100 beds but today there are only 52 inpatient beds available.”

Deputy Coonan previously asked when the new surgical theatres promised for Nenagh Hospital will materialise, as promised in the Mid-West reconfiguration programme.

“It’s important that there is no delay in providing the theatre facilities because they are essential to the continued survival of Nenagh Hospital,” concluded Deputy Coonan.

Recent alarming statistics released show that the number of people waiting more than six months for a test to detect if they have bowel cancer has risen and the number of patients in the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick has more than tripled, from 23 to 72, since September last.