News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

What's going on around Ireland

KILDARE

In future the H.S.E. will only deal with emergencies and children will have to travel to clinics in Naas, Newbridge, Kilcullen or Baltinglass to access such treatment.

The embargo on recruitment in the public service is being blamed for the closure of the Athy clinic, but that is no consolation to parents and children who are angry at the removal of this most critical service.

Regina Roche from Athy is the mother of a seven-year-old girl. She said that the closure of the dental clinic in Athy is another example of badly-needed services being lost. “Athy is the most southerly town in the county, and we have already had an announcement that Kavanagh’s bus service is to cut back its Athy services. We are being told that we have to go to other towns to access emergency care but not everyone has a car and this is a town where public transport is not consistent.”
[Source: Kildare Nationalist]

KILKENNY

Kilkenny team manager Brian Cody paid tribute to Kilkenny’s supporters at the historic homecoming in Nowlan Park.

Staged at the county grounds for the first time ever, the team manager said that despite being outnumbered in Croke Park, Kilkenny supporters roared on the crowd and were a fantastic lift to the team as the county claimed its 34th All-Ireland title.
[Source: Kilkenny People]

LAOIS

Cash-strapped Laois County Council will have to splash out on upgrading three critical road junctions, one of which is already at capacity, before two multi-million dollar Portlaoise school projects proceed to construction phase next year.

Fine Gael Deputy Charlie Flanagan told the Leinster Express he met with senior officials from the Department of Education & Skills (DoES) and they revealed that plans for the schools were “on target.”

And considering road upgrades were necessary to facilitate extra traffic to the Summerhill campus, he explained that Laois County Council “notwithstanding the current budgetary constraints they are operating in, will have to prioritise the upgrades.”
[Source: Leinster Express]

LEITRIM

E.U. Commissioner for Energy Gúnther Oettinger has informed Drumshanbo Senator Paschal Mooney that no decisions should be taken on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” for 10 years.

The commissioner’s opinion was in response to a serious of questions from Senator Mooney at a meeting of Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport Energy and Communications, which the commissioner attended during his visit to Ireland two weeks ago.

In a series of questions submitted by Senator Mooney about the E.U. Commissions Policy on fracking, Commissioner Gúnther Oettinger replied that he believed no decisions should be taken until the environmental impact of fracking was established, and that could take between five and 10 years. He further informed Senator Mooney that he was already in discussions with scientists and those with technical expertise and has opened a dialogue with the Polish Government where fracking has already commenced. The commissioner revealed that the extraction of shale gas could be chemical-free in a number of years, which is a major point of controversy, and he intended to visit the United States next spring to see at first-hand how shale gas is extracted.
[Source: Leitrim Observer]

LIMERICK

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