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Breaking a long distance car journey recently, I called in to one of my favourite licenced hostelries. I was in search of a mug of coffee and a packet of cigarettes. Coffee and tea served in so called ‘Super Stores’ and ‘Self Service Petrol Stations’, in those waxed paper cups, are rather like the slop served on Irish train journeys, so I have learned to avoid both with equal enthusiasm.
 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.
Continue reading Responsibility Of Bar Staff Difficult In Our Modern Society
Speaking in the Dáil last Wednesday night, North Tipperary Deputy Noel Coonan helped push a step further, the National Coalminers Group’s plight for redress. Many former miners suffer from various health problems acquired during coal-mining activity and the Fine Gael TD stated that the Minister for Social Protection has provided a “glimmer of hope” at last to those affected.
 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.
Continue reading Glimmer of Hope For Former Tipperary Miners
 Matthew Elderfield Financial regulator Matthew Elderfield warned last week that more crippling mortgage rate rises are in the pipe line for the hard-pressed mortgage holder.
The financial regulator told an Oireachtas committee recently that higher mortgage rates were an “unfortunate but inevitable consequence” of the current banking crisis and a survey by the Irish Mortgage Corporation found that nearly one half of homeowners fear they will struggle to pay their mortgage this year, if rates rise as expected.
Meanwhile Green party Minister John Gormley warns that plans for household water charges, considered a basic human right, will be brought before Government within the coming weeks. He said however that an immediate levy would not be imposed for possibly two years,(After the next General Election) but refused to state how much the public would be forced to pay, in this new exciting tax to be levied. Approximately 1.1 million homes will need to have “Water Meters” installed from next year with Mr Gormley insisting that Water is a precious resource and these charges would be politically unpopular, but necessary.
Meanwhile Public Patients are being restricted to purchasing only four Viagra or Cialis type tablets per month by the HSE. Each prescription costs the tax payer in or around €25, not including the dispensing fee charged by chemists. Costings just released through the HSE, show that spending on erectile dysfunction drugs topped over €1 million through the medical card system and increased by 6% for the first time in 2008, in the area from Donegal to Limerick only. Now Green Party politicians, are calling on the HSE to reduce the monthly allowance on this drug to public patients, in a bid to control costs.
For God’s sake, is there nothing left for the working man anymore, I think it time to emigrate.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) have announced that it is now providing a new free email and SMS text service which will directly inform food allergy sufferers of the presence of allergens in inappropriately labelled foods. Anyone with an interest in this area can now subscribe to this email service here (Click on the Food Allergen Alerts Box before submitting.) to receive these alerts via the FSAI’s website.
 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.
The HSE chief for acute hospitals in the mid-west has confirmed that they plan to go ahead with plans to close the facilities at both Nenagh and Ennis General Hospitals.
John Hennessy also confirmed that certain acute medicine services will also be transferred from Nenagh and Ennis to the mid western regional hospital in Limerick.
He denied however that this was a further downgrading of services at Nenagh and Ennis.
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.
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