News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

It said St Edna’s, St Brigid’s and St Marie Goretti’s wards should have been refurbished by May this year and should be closed next spring.

The 95-bed hospital was non-compliant in three of the 30 areas under which it was examined by the commission.

The building itself came in for most criticism.

St Edna’s ward, opened in 1847, was “unsuitable as accommodation for residents”, the report found.

“The bedrooms were cell-like and stuffy. The toilets were in very poor state with open drains and the floor was stained and marked. The shower was in poor condition,” it said.
(Source: Westmeath Independent)

Wexford

The High Court has frozen the assets of and suspended a solicitor whom it is alleged has €900,000 missing from his firm’s client accounts.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton made various orders against solicitor Declan J McEvoy after being informed the Law Society’s Fitness to Practise Committee had formed the view the solicitor had acted dishonestly.



The Law Society sought freezing orders against Mr McEvoy after its investigating accountants discovered a deficit of €900,000 in the client accounts of the two firms of which he is principal -William Early Solicitors Haymarket, Carlow and JM McEvoy & Co,  the Avenue, Gorey, Co Wexford.



The judge granted orders suspending Mr McEvoy from practising as a solicitor. He further ordered Mr McEvoy not to dispose of any assets in his possession and that no bank should make a payment out of any account in his or his firm’s name.



Solicitor Kevin O’Doherty, for Mr McEvoy, a solicitor for almost 20 years, said his client was not opposing the proceedings.
(Source: The Irish Times)

Wicklow

Historic Glenart Castle came under serious threat of fire in recent days when a blaze, believed to have been started maliciously engulfed nearby ditches and trees.

The fire started in a field adjacent to Glenart Estate last Sunday evening when bales were set on fire which quickly spread to surrounding trees.

Two units of Arklow Fire Brigade spend two hours getting the inferno under control.

' It must have been malicious. It spread quickly and wasn't too far from Glenart Castle. Thankfully nobody was hurt,' a Fire Brigade spokesperson explained.

Just over 24 hours later officers were at full capacity again when they were called to a suspicious fire which broke out at Arklow Rock last Monday night.

The blaze was inaccessible, however due to dangerous conditions so officers and Gardaí were forced to watch it burn out of the course of a couple of hours ensuring that there was no threat to nearby property.
(Source: The Wicklow People)

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