Your Afternoon Headlines ‐ 02/12/2014
Good afternoon. Here are the headlines past midday.
1. Ambulance Inquiry
A new report has revealed that the ability of ambulances to respond to 999 calls is at a ’critical’ level due to hold ups at hospital emergency department.
The investigation, which was carried out by the Health Information and Quality Authority, shows that some ambulances are being held outside hospitals for a number of hours at a time, preventing them from reaching seriously ill patients.
The figures revealed that the target response times for ambulances to reach the scene of a critically ill person are not met 15 per cent of the time. Overcrowding in emergency departments has been has been determined as one of the reasons for the delays.
Writer ‐ Lisa O’Donnell
2. Housing the Homeless
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin is to make a diocesan property in Dublin available for use as emergency homeless accommodation.
Dr Martin made this statement after earlier saying there is a divide in Dublin between those celebrating increased spending over Christmas and those becoming homeless. He went to say that with appropriate support, the property in the north inner city should accommodate 30-40 people in time for Christmas.
Environment Minister Alan Kelly announced he will hold an emergency forum on Thursday on the homeless problem in the capital.
Writer ‐ Kevin Kelly
3. Injuries Award
A 17 year old girl who impaled her right leg on metal railings at a Gaelic Football match has received €30,000 in damages at the Circuit Civil Court.
Aoife Dillion was at a game in St Monica’s GAA Club in Raheny in February 2013 when the incident occured. She had gone to retrieve a ball kicked off the pitch when she tripped over disused railings and fell heavily on them.
Aoife’s mother, Anne Dillion, sued Dublin City Council, owner of the pitch, who made the settlement.
Writer ‐ Kevin Kelly
4. Carrauntoohil Cross Vandal Video
A video of the cross on Carrauntoohil being cut down was sent to The Journal.ie
The video shows the five metre monument being cut down using an angle grinder. The video also came with a number of anti‐Catholic sentiments, indicating that the cross was cut down as part of a protest.
The video has been passed to detectives in Killorglin as part of their investigation. The cross has since been re‐erected despite protests from atheist groups saying it did not represent the whole community.
Writer ‐ Leandro Pondoc
5. Islamic State
The son and wife of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al‐Baghdadi has been detained in Lebanon by the military.
Military intelligence detained the pair at the town of Arsal near the Syrian border over 10 days ago. It is not known how many wives and children the ISIS leader has as the group encourages its members to wed up to four.
The arrest was said to be carried out in tandem with multiple foreign intelligences. The arrest had been kept secret whilst security arrangements for the two were made.
Writer ‐ Leandro Pondoc
