Four hospitalised after fire at restaurant in Co Wicklow
The incident occurred this afternoon at Benny's Chinese Restaurant on Castle Street in Bray.
In a statement, Wicklow County Council said four people were injured in the fire and have been taken to hospital, adding that the area has been sealed off until it is safe.
Gardaí are currently assisting emergency services at the scene, describing it as an "ongoing incident".
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The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Dr Zoe shares the red-flag warning signs your headache is serious – and needs medical attention
WITH the holidays upon us, it can be a challenging time for parents to juggle the stresses of work and childcare while trying to keep the family active and healthy. Physical activity is essential for children, not just for their health but for their development, happiness and self-esteem. Advertisement 4 Sun columnist Dr Zoe answers your health concerns Credit: Olivia West Recent data shows that 53 per cent of It's called 'Activate' and it is a fun, accessible new animated series, backed by the Government, to help address childhood inactivity. Each five-minute episode offers bursts of energy, fun and movement that can be enjoyed at home or on the go. Advertisement READ MORE FROM DR ZOE View it free on YouTube Kids. One of the best ways to inspire children to be active, now and in the future, is to be active yourself. We are children's most important role models. Here is a selection of what readers have asked this week . . . Advertisement Most read in Health Exclusive Mum dies after going to A&E with a 'sudden headache' IS HEAD PAIN CANCER? Q: I HAVE been getting severe headaches for a few months now. My doctor prescribed codeine, but even that does not help. If l press the back of my neck and my temples, it alleviates the pain for a while. Please can you advise me what to do as l am very worried? Advertisement A: Tension headaches, the most common Applying pressure to these areas can sometimes help and the best painkillers for Activities to help you relax, such as exercise, yoga and massage, can be beneficial. Stress, dehydration, lack of sleep, poor posture and eye strain can cause tension headaches, too. Advertisement Another possible cause that can be alleviated with pressure is cervicogenic headaches, which originate from issues in the cervical spine (neck), such as arthritis or muscle tension. Pain starts in the neck and spreads to the head, often worsening with certain neck movements. It could be that you are performing 'acupressure' while pressing your neck and temples. Acupressure works by applying pressure to specific points on the body, to relieve pain, muscle tension and promote wellbeing. Advertisement It's a manual therapy technique rooted in Chinese medicine, similar to acupuncture but without needles. So even if the pain in your head isn't directly linked to these sites, pressing can help, as you have found. In people over the age of 50 who develop severe headaches, pain or tenderness at the temples, sometimes with scalp tenderness or jaw pain when chewing, we must rule out an inflammatory condition called temporal arteritis, which can lead to vision loss or stroke if untreated. Another red flag is Advertisement Other symptoms that cause concern include headaches accompanied by fever, stiff neck or confusion (suggesting meningitis); headaches with neurological symptoms like vision changes or weakness; headaches after head trauma; and headaches that progressively worsen or don't respond to treatment. Sick of feeling always off balance Q: ABOUT two years ago I suffered a bout of blurred vision and sickness. I was diagnosed with 4 Dr Zoe helps a reader who has vestibular neuritis Credit: Getty Advertisement I've been told I would have this for life. Is there any way I could be cured of this and be able to walk without fear of falling over? It is ruining my life. A: I'm sorry to hear how much this diagnosis has impacted your quality of life. Advertisement Long-term dizziness and instability from vestibular neuritis can be deeply distressing but it's important to know there are still options that may help you regain stability – many people see significant improvement even if the condition is described as 'incurable'. Vestibular neuritis means inflammation of the vestibular nerve. This is the nerve that takes messages from the balance organ within the inner ear to the brain. It's most commonly caused by a viral infection of the nerve. Advertisement It tends to cause sudden and severe dizziness, nausea and issues with balance for a week or two. In most cases, things resolve fully after two to three months, but in a small number of cases, such as yours, symptoms persist. There's currently no way to reverse permanent nerve damage in the vestibular system. However, it's not inevitable for symptoms to persist for life. Many people achieve substantial recovery of their balance and reduction of dizziness through specialised therapies even years after their initial illness. Advertisement You could ask to be referred for vestibular rehabilitation therapy. This treatment uses physical and occupational therapy techniques to treat vertigo and balance disorders, designed to help your brain 'recalibrate' to the changed signals from your balance system. Chronic dizziness can also take a toll on your mental health, so seeking talking therapy might also help your recovery. TIP OF THE WEEK WHEN lifting something, particularly if it is big, heavy or from floor level, always remember the mantra: 'Legs, not back'. Bend your knees and keep your back straight while you use your leg muscles to raise the weight. This may help to prevent back injury. WEEKEND WARRIOR WIN 4 Exercising only at the weekend can be enough to slash your risk of dying young Credit: Getty Advertisement EXERCISING only at the weekend can be enough to slash your risk of dying young, a study found. Researchers at Harvard University, USA, said 'weekend warriors' with diabetes get as much benefit as people who work out every day. Cramming physical activity into Saturday and Sunday is common as many of us struggle to make time in our daily lives. It might seem like less exercise but a study showed the heart benefits can be just as great. Advertisement Data from 52,000 Americans with diabetes showed that weekend warriors had a 21 per cent lower risk of dying young compared to those who didn't exercise. Their risk of dying from heart disease was 33 per cent lower, study authors wrote in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The key was simply to hit the NHS target of at least two and a half hours of moderate activity over the two days. Commenting on the study, Professor Ronald Sigal of the University of Calgary, said: 'Regular physical activity is recommended for most people with or without diabetes. Advertisement 'On the whole, these findings are encouraging. 'They provide evidence that protective effects of physical activity against cardiovascular and overall mortality could be achieved through one or two weekly physical activity sessions.' Sport England figures show adults trying to get fit is on the rise, with 30million people – 64 per cent of adults – hitting the NHS exercise target last year. CALL TO HAVE HPV JAB HUNDREDS of thousands of young adults will be contacted by the NHS in an HPV vaccine catch-up campaign. Advertisement The jab is given at schools and is targeting the elimination of cervical cancer in the UK in the next 15 years. More than 418,000 people have left school unvaccinated in the past three years and many more people under the age of 26 are unprotected. NHS England is contacting young adults who have not had the vaccine to prevent infection with the sexually transmitted HPV virus. Many strains are harmless but a few cause cervical cancer, and cancers of the mouth, throat, penis, vagina and anus. Advertisement The NHS wants to use the one-dose vaccine to wipe out cervical cancer in England by 2040. Dr Amanda Doyle at NHS England said: 'This vaccine is hugely important but it isn't just for girls and women. "It's also vital for boys and men to get vaccinated to protect themselves against cancers of the mouth, throat or genitals, while preventing spreading the HPV infection to partners. 'Encouraging progress has been made but we know there is much more to do.' Advertisement Public health minister Ashley Dalton added: 'If you missed your vaccination at school, it's not too late to get vaccinated. 'Don't hesitate to make an appointment with your GP – one jab could save your life.' Eligible patients should get a letter, email, text or NHS app notification. Patients can call their GP practice if they think they need any vaccinations. Advertisement Q: I AM a pensioner and I need an RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] vaccine. I have had this illness twice, last time I lost 2st. I have begged my doctor for the jab but they say I can't have it because they have a limit on the people they can give it to – and at 83 years old, I am outside their limit. 4 Dr Zoe helps a reader who needs the RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] vaccine Credit: Getty Advertisement I was born with cysts on my lungs, I have COPD, asthma, bronchiectasis and am having tests for a lump on my lung. I asked the lung specialist for help but my GP still refuses. A : Thank you for writing in and I hear your frustrations. Unfortunately, I cannot give you the news that you want to hear but I can at least explain why your GP is not allowed to give you the RSV vaccine. Advertisement In September 2024, the NHS introduced an RSV vaccine programme, which is currently only offered to people aged 75 to 79 (or for those who turned 80 after September 1, 2024, who are eligible until August 31, 2025). So you are not eligible to receive the RSV vaccine on the NHS and it is not down to your GP's choice or discretion, unfortunately. Your NHS respiratory doctor cannot override this either, as the age-based rules do not currently allow for clinical discretion or prioritisation based on chronic illness alone. Advertisement The decision to limit the programme to those under 80 comes from clinical trial evidence and national guidelines, as studies did not provide enough data on vaccine effectiveness and safety in the 80+ age group. The eligibility criteria may change in the future, depending on new evidence or updates to UK vaccination policy. If you still wish to be vaccinated, it may be possible to access the vaccine privately. Or, you can discuss other RSV preventive measures with your GP. Advertisement I'm sorry it's not the answer you wanted, but hopefully understanding that it is out of your GP's hands will alleviate some of your frustration, and help you to maintain a good, trusted, doctor-patient relationship. Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
Irish Times
16-07-2025
- Irish Times
Ireland's ‘unhealthiest region': Limerick and the midwest suffering extreme health inequality
A child is woken up in the middle of the night by gardaí raiding their house. The child's parents are on the wrong side of the law, battling with addiction, poverty and unemployment. The child goes to school the next morning, exhausted, anxious and stressed. As a result, they're unable to focus on their education, affecting their learning, life path and – most surprisingly – their health. This, according to Dr Anne Dee, consultant in public health medicine, is a situation children in some areas of the midwest region – Limerick , Clare and north Tipperary – experience due to levels of extreme deprivation. But these adverse childhood experiences, she says, are more than just about poverty or crime. Such incidents, she says, are a significant determinant for the health of the people in the area. READ MORE 'Internationally, we know well that people who live in areas of deprivation or who are unemployed, or who have poor levels of education, or poor housing, that they have poorer health,' Dr Dee says. 'People who live with disadvantage are more likely to have chronic disease, which is heart attack, asthma, diabetes, respiratory disease.' According to the 2022 Census, the population in the midwest is more deprived than the national benchmark. We have double standards around what is acceptable and what is not, who we need to consider and who we need to dismiss — Dr Anne Dee In 2022, the most recent year for which figures are available, 24 per cent of the population in Limerick were considered disadvantaged, very disadvantaged or extremely disadvantaged; 21 per cent in Clare; and 23 per cent in north Tipperary. 'Children are more prone to having adverse childhood events if they're living in poverty. If their father or their parents are unemployed. If their communities are unsafe. If we can start changing that, we can create communities and environments that are much more healthy.' In light of this, Dr Dee, the recently-appointed president of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), is leading a new project in the midwest that seeks to examine the social determinants of poor health and reduce them. Under the project, which is sponsored by the newly-elected mayor of Limerick John Moran, and Sandra Broderick, regional executive officer in the HSE, the 'big players' in education, employment, the probation service, Tusla, the HSE and other organisations will come together to try to improve the health of the region. 'Data from Scotland would show that about 30 per cent of children who have more than four adverse childhood experiences will go on to potentially succeed in life. Seventy per cent of them will not. They'll either end up dead, incarcerated, addicted or with chronic mental illness,' Dr Dee says. 'It's about looking at our population of children and saying, how can we change the trajectory of their life in terms of outcomes? There are really excellent healthcare initiatives but they're not across the whole population. We need to make sure that where the need is greater, there is extra available.' The midwest consultant analysed a random sample of emergency department attendances at hospital in Limerick, and coded them by deprivation. 'We were able to show if you lived in extreme deprivation or severe deprivation, you were around 2.5 times more likely to use the emergency department than if you lived in an area of affluence,' she says. 'They were also more likely to be hospitalised and more likely to wait to be seen than people from other areas of deprivation.' These people are 'not spurious' users of the health system, she says, adding that often wait until they're at crisis point before seeking help. There is a lack of trust among many of these vulnerable groups, and the project aims to mend that, she adds. Part of the problem, she says, is the prevalence of a culture of blame. 'Instead of judging them for their behaviour or telling them they need to stop smoking, stop drinking, stop eating rashers, we need to start supporting these communities to be able to function much better,' she says. The unemployment rate in Ireland is 4 per cent, according to the CSO, but in parts of Limerick city it's up about 70 per cent. 'It's not just that people are lazy. It a very, very complex mix of poor educational attainment, intergenerational problems like addiction, no history of employment in living memory, a fear of authority or mistrust,' she says. But how has this situation occurred? Dr Dee says Limerick in the 1800s and 1900s had 'a lot of poverty'. 'I just feel, and I think quite a number of people would agree with me on this, that it hasn't always been the priority when it comes to government funding,' she says. Adding to this, future planning in health and other sectors such as housing is often based on population, Dr Dee says, though she admits work is ongoing in this area. She believes, instead, health planning must be based on need. 'They [policymakers] haven't traditionally taken a lot of heed of the deprivation level within that population. So everybody gets the same. So you'll hear some areas consistently crying out, saying 'we haven't enough' and that's because their need is greater,' she says. There are specific cohorts of people who are particularly deprived, she says, including those with disabilities, or members of the Roma or Travelling communities. The Census 2022 estimated the White Irish Traveller population as 0.6 per cent of the total population in Ireland. In the midwest, this is 0.9 per cent, and in the west Limerick community health network, the proportion is four times the national average. The life expectancy of members of the Travelling community is 10 to 15 years less than those in the settled population. Having worked in a leprosy hospital in Nepal 30 years ago, Dr Dee sees parallels in terms of the stigma directed towards Travellers and those with infectious diseases, and the impact that has on these people in relation to interacting with various systems in society. 'If you suffer from leprosy in most communities where people get leprosy, you will be stigmatised for having leprosy. And we look at that in the West and we say 'oh, that's really bad that people would be stigmatised for just having a bacterial infection',' she says. 'But at the same time, with the same breath, we talk about Travellers in a way that is very stigmatising. We have double standards around what is acceptable and what is not, who we need to consider and who we need to dismiss.' Though her pilot project is focused on the midwest due to its deprivation profile, Dr Dee believes healthcare should be provided in this way across the country – particularly in light of the spiralling homeless crisis . The most recent figures from the Department of Housing, from May, showed there were a record 15,580 homeless people, of which 4,775 are children. Dr Dee says the country has yet to see the true health crisis that will arise from this. 'The life expectancy of somebody living in homelessness is around 40. That would be street homeless; I don't think we've measured the kind of new homelessness,' she says. 'I can assure you all of these children growing up in homelessness are gathering up such enormous levels of adverse childhood experiences. The effects of poverty on children are long-term. The effect of adverse childhood events on children are long-term. The effects of both are additive.' Are we not setting these children, and other vulnerable groups, up for failure? 'We absolutely are. Absolutely. It really, really behoves us to do some serious prevention in the area of social determinants of health.'
RTÉ News
15-07-2025
- RTÉ News
Four hospitalised after fire at restaurant in Co Wicklow
Four people have been hospitalised following a fire at a Chinese restaurant in Co Wicklow. The incident occurred this afternoon at Benny's Chinese Restaurant on Castle Street in Bray. In a statement, Wicklow County Council said four people were injured in the fire and have been taken to hospital, adding that the area has been sealed off until it is safe. Gardaí are currently assisting emergency services at the scene, describing it as an "ongoing incident".
