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 Yesterday it was the closure of St Patrick’s College, Thurles, today according to the Health Service Executive (HSE), emergency treatments for patients at Nenagh General Hospital, Co Tipperary, will cease later this month.
Patients will now have to travel to the emergency department of the Mid-West Regional Hospital in Limerick to be assessed and treated. Any coronary related referrals from Doctors will now be directed to Limerick, thus cancelling all Coronary Care promised through Nenagh, despite €4 million having been secured for the hospital during the term of the last Fianna Fáil led Government. Limerick Regional is one of the hospitals with a severe budget overrun of around €10m and will have to close beds in the coming months to save money.
Emergency 999 calls from Tipperary will go direct to Limerick.
With effect from September 17th, a local injuries unit will only operate in Nenagh from 8.00am to 8.00pm. This will deal with adults and children over the age of five years, treating cases such as wounds, broken bones & other soft tissue injuries.
Nenagh has already lost its 24-hour emergency department since April of 2009, when it was downgraded to the status of a 12-hour local emergency centre.
Add these two recently announced issues to the closure of the Garda Training College in Templemore, failure to restore beds in Thurles Hospital of the Assumption, and an ugly picture quickly emerges of the sheer neglect of North Tipperary by our three TD’s, namely Lowry, (See Here ) Coonan, (See Here ) & Kelly, two of which, if we are to believe recent press reports, do not work full-time anymore in Dail Eireann.
Staff, Doctors, Patient Groups and Public Representatives are being briefed on the development so expect the “gombeen,” political press releases from our political representatives again tomorrow.
An example of “gombeen,” political press releases appeared this morning regarding St Patricks College.
Alan Kelly: “They (St Patrick’s College) and Alan Kelly are collectively working to see if St Patrick’s can come under the remit of the Limerick Centre for Teacher Training.” Readers Note: Starting from September 2011, teaching degree programmes at St. Patrick’s College have been accredited by the University of Limerick, and graduates from this year onwards are being awarded degrees from same University. Students attending St Patricks from Tipperary, many have had their education grants cut by €2,000, because they travel from home each day to the college.
Noel Coonan: “Has contacted Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister of State Ciaran Cannon on this issue.” You old name dropper you. Wonder did you Phone, Email, or Fax. Two things are obvious, (A) You was not made aware of the closure prior to Minister Ruairí Quinn’s announcement & (B) You were not talking to him at a coffee break on any recent Friday.
Enda Kenny: May 25th 2012, “The prospectus for Thurles should be as fine as anywhere else and I will take Deputy Coonan up on his offer to come back to Thurles with positive news for the town.” Thurles waits patiently Taoiseach, even a bit of Mayo National Lottery Funding would assist. It would appear “the silly season,” is just beginning.
Michael Lowry: No one tells Lowry anything in the Dáil either “Deputy Michael Lowry has welcomed the announcement that a planned €200 million investment will be made to LIT Limerick and Tipperary campuses over the coming number of years as part of LIT’s Campus Masterplan 2030”. He made this statement public today, Thursday 6th Sept 2012, with no mention of the proposed closure of St Patrick’s College.
Do we have any communication between TDs whatsoever, in our lower house of the Oireachtas. It would appear that Matthew 6: Verse 3, “Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth,” takes on a whole new meaning for our North Tipperary elected representatives.
Please comment hereunder and express your feelings before North Tipperary is laid totally waste.
 Picture shows L-R: Isabelle Benwell, Karen Willoughby, Munch the Cow, Sarah Webb & Jessica Benwell The Reading Association of Ireland (RAI), Irish children’s author, Sarah Webb, and children’s yogurt brand, Munch Bunch, teamed up today, to promote the importance of storytelling and shared reading, to mark the launch of Munch Bunch’s 2012 Story Writing competition, Munch Time.
Created to highlight the importance of story-telling between parent and child, and the vital role it plays in bonding and supporting a child’s holistic development, the Munch Time story writing competition is calling for budding children’s authors to get writing!
Now its second year, Munch Time is looking for aspiring writers, who are able to capture the imagination of young children, to submit original children’s stories that are between 600-800 words, and begin with the opening line: “Once upon a Munch Time, there was a cow called Munch…”
Topical Research From The Reading Association Of Ireland
The impact that stories and texts, presented in print-based or e-book format, can have on the parent/caregiver and child reading experience, was among a number of topics addressed in a review of research, conducted this month, by Dr. Gerry Shiel of “Reading Association of Ireland.”
Dr. Shiel explains: “Research on young children’s emerging literacy skills has long highlighted the important role that parents and caregivers can play in supporting the development of early reading and writing skills. In a recent publication on oral language development, Ireland’s National Council for Curriculum and Assessment highlighted the importance of not only reading to young children, but also discussing what has been read with them.
“With reading now available through a variety of devices, including e-readers and computer tablets, this research investigates how various mediums impact on a child’s literacy and language development.”
Continue reading Munch Time Story Writing Competition Launched
 Thurles Town Councillor Gerard Fogarty has congratulated all Leaving Certificate students on their results last week and all those who have received CAO offers so far and called on them to apply for the Student Grant.
In a statement to Thurles.Info this morning, Cllr. Fogarty stated : “The deadline for applications for the Student Maintenance Grant is the 31st of August. I would encourage all students to use the eligibility reckoner on www.studentfinance.ie and fill out the Student Maintenance Grant form online if you might be eligible. If you are not eligible for the maintenance grant in part or whole, you may be entitled to access the Student Assistance Fund.
With the Government considering a major change in student grant policy, students face uncertainty over grants ahead of college. It is hugely unfair that a large number of leaving certificate students and their families continue to face vast uncertainty over changes to third level grants only a few days before they are expected to make a decision on college offers. Students from farming and self-employed families will be expected to make a decision on whether to accept a college place despite not knowing if they will qualify for grants for the duration of their time in college due to the continuing uncertainty over Minister Quinn’s planned changes to the third level grants system particularly regarding assets.
Minister Quinn’s agenda in this regard was made quite clear again this week when figures were released by the HEA showing that 40% of farmers and close to 50% of self employed people secured a college grant for their children. However, what is not mentioned in these figures is that the average farm income continues to be €24,000.
Minister Quinn’s plan, to include capital assets in means testing for grants is wrong. The true test of whether someone is eligible for a grant has to be their income not their assets. Students can’t be expected to make a decision on a college offer when they have no idea if they will qualify for a grant and be able to afford to complete their third level qualification.
Minister Quinn has already put postgraduate education out of reach of thousands of people, latter who don’t have the financial means to pay for it. Unfortunately, we now face a situation where a large number of young people will also be denied access to undergraduate education. With students accepting offers this week, Minister Quinn needs to immediately make clear what his intentions are in regard to third level grants. At an absolute minimum, the Minister needs to give an assurance in the next few days to this year’s leaving cert students, now awaiting CAO offers, that they will not be facing into a situation whereby they could lose a grant, which is essential to maintaining them in education after just one year at third level.
I have always maintained that the Government must make its budgetary strategy clear for the next 3-5 years, to provide certainty to the economy. If the Government intends to reintroduce third level tuition fees, restrict the grant scheme or increase the student contribution, then they must make their position clear allowing families to budget ahead, if a student is to embark on a 3/4 year course.
I welcome the recent changes to the administration of the student grant system, which now sees applications and payments processed centrally by Student Universal Support Ireland which I hope will ensure the speedy processing of applications and payments. At the start of every college year students face a tough few weeks to pay for their first rent, materials and books.” Councillor Fogarty stated.
 An interesting Business and IT Conference (BIT Conf) is beginning shortly on July 12th 2012, at the Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, & just maybe of interest to business owners and managers from Thurles, seeking information on how to integrate IT correctly, into the day-to-day running of their businesses.
Customers are attracted to online shopping and advertising, not only because of the high level of convenience, but also because of the broader selection & competitive pricing, which is so easily available presently, in the ease & privacy of consumers own private living rooms. It is worth noting that the most popular items attracting online customers over the past 3 months, benefiting businesses using proper advertising and marketing strategies are Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36%), Videos / DVDs / Games (24%), Books (41%), Airline Tickets (24%) and Electronic Equipment (23%).
The knowledge gleaned from this conference would allow you to create new advertising and marketing strategies, improve work flow and productivity, and build better channels of communication, through better contact with both client and customer.
The first of a series of these talks on “Social Media for Business” will focus on the use of social media and the beneficial uses it can have in growing your own business.
In the spotlight for the evening & lecturing at this conference will be Emma D’Arcy (PhD in Marketing, and a PhD student in Marketing & Social Media.) and Aoife Rigney, (Bachelor of Business (Honours) in Information Systems at Cork Institute of Technology.)
Emma will be covering topics relating to Twitter and Linked-In.
Twitter: Introduction to Twitter – How to build up followers – Interacting on Twitter – Do’s and Don’ts – Etiquette – Tips & Hints on using Twitter.
Linked In: What is it? – Why it’s worth using in business – Creating a profile – Networking – Tips & Hints on using Linked In.
Aoife will cover topics related to Facebook and Google+.
Facebook: Is Facebook Right For My Business? – Build Your Page – Interacting on Facebook – Expanding Your Reach – Facebook Insights & Advertising – Hints, Tips and Guidelines.
Google+: Google+ What is it? – Why use Google+? – A Simple Guide to Your Google+ Profile – Google+ for Business – Hints, Tips and Guidelines for using Google +.
To Register for this free event please click HERE.
Note Your Diary
Date: 12th July 2012
Time: 7.00 – 9.30pm
Location: Abbey Court Hotel, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary
 Previously, eligible Tipperary students applied to their Local Authority or Vocational Education Committee (VEC) for Student Grants, involving some 66 authorities nationwide. Beginning this year, this will no longer be the case, saving our exchequer an estimated €5 million annually & reducing the number of staff involved in processing applications from 170 to 65.
A centralised ‘online system,’ dealing with students grants has now been introduced for those entering third-level education in the next academic year.
This new system will be known as Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) and will accept all new grant applications and make payments.
Under the SUSI system, students will apply online and once successful will receive monthly electronic transfers direct to their bank accounts.
Labour Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn is now urging students to apply early, regardless of whether they have decided on a college course or not.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) have welcomed the new system.
Students are advised to visit studentfinance.ie as soon as possible to check if they are eligible for a grant and apply immediately.
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