
Three board members of Children's Health Ireland resign
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill confirmed the resignations during an interview on RTÉ Radio.
Advertisement
It comes after several controversies involving CHI, including a report published on Friday that found many children underwent 'unnecessary' hip surgeries in two Dublin hospitals.
The clinical audit of dysplasia of the hips surgeries in children found that a lower threshold for operations was used at CHI Temple Street hospital and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOHC) than the threshold used at CHI Crumlin.
The review discovered that in the period 2021 to 2023 almost 80 per cent of children operated on at the NOHC, and 60 per cent of those at Temple Street, did not meet the threshold for surgery.
The 2,259 children who underwent hip surgeries in the three hospitals (NOHC, CHI Temple Street and CHI Crumlin) from as far back as 2010 will now be subject to clinical reviews.
Advertisement
Opposition TDs have called for a public inquiry and for CHI to be fully subsumed into the HSE.
The CHI hospital group is a distinct entity from the HSE, although it is funded by the HSE and accountable to it.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the hip dysplasia issue was a 'horrendous scandal' and there was a 'very fundamental problem of governance' in CHI.
'I think CHI is not fit for purpose as currently set up. I think that's kind of part of what a public inquiry needs to look at, but it needs to be quick.'
Advertisement
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
UK Government urged to reconsider decision to cut cash for peace fund
The UK Government has been urged to reconsider its decision to cut its backing for a significant Irish peace fund. The Government confirmed it had decided not to continue with the £1 million contribution to the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) in 2024-25, citing a 'very challenging fiscal position'. The IFI was originally set up by the UK and Irish governments as an independent international organisation in 1986. It delivers a range of peace and reconciliation initiatives across Northern Ireland and Irish border counties, including supporting communities to work towards removal of the remaining peace walls. Sinn Fein North Belfast MP John Finucane said he is concerned about the move, and said he will raise it directly with Secretary of State Hilary Benn. 'It is extremely concerning that the British Government is to cut funding for IFI,' he said. 'IFI was established to promote peace, reconciliation and a better future for all communities across Ireland. 'Peace is hard-won and hard-fought. It can never be taken for granted, and crucial funds like this must continue to be supported. 'The British Government should be increasing funding in light of the withdrawal of US support, not imposing further hardship. 'I will be writing to British Secretary of State Hilary Benn, calling for his Government to reverse this decision and ensure IFI can continue its vital grassroots-led programmes.' Responding, a UK Government spokesperson said: 'This Government inherited a very challenging fiscal position, and needed to take difficult but necessary decisions to place the public finances on a sustainable footing. 'As a result, the Government has decided not to continue with the £1 million contribution to the International Fund for Ireland in 2024-25. 'The Government remains supportive of the IFI's aims of promoting peace and reconciliation.'


Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
White House warns Starmer: Stop threatening US tech companies' free speech
The White House has warned Sir Keir Starmer to stop threatening American tech companies amid mounting backlash over Britain's online safety law. Members of Donald Trump's administration are monitoring the Online Safety Act with 'great interest and concern' after key allies said it was censoring free speech and imposing unfair burdens on US businesses. The law, which regulates online speech, allows the British government to levy massive fines on companies like Apple, Truth Social, and X if it finds that rules on hate speech have been broken. Those in the president's inner circle see the potential penalties as an unwarranted foreign intervention into American free speech. 'President Trump has made it clear that free speech is one of our most cherished freedoms as Americans,' a senior US State Department official told The Telegraph. 'Accordingly, we have taken decisive action against foreign actors who have engaged in extraterritorial censorship affecting our companies and fellow citizens. 'We will continue to monitor developments in the UK with great interest and concern.' Since the law came into effect last week, Ofcom, the UK's online regulator, has written to several American firms ordering them to conform to the act, in letters seen by The Telegraph. It has sparked outrage from US lawmakers and legal experts, who say the overreach is a threat by the UK to silence American companies and citizens. Congressman Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary GOP committee, said the law was an attack on American companies. 'Ask Apple and they would view it as a $500 million attack,' he told The Telegraph. 'There's general concern... and then there's concern on how this impacts American citizens, American companies and infringes on our First Amendment. 'As long as foreign legislators, judges, and regulators continue their attempts to silence US citizens, we will not stop fighting back.' Mr Jordan also raised concerns over the bill's overreach with Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, on Wednesday. Under the law, social media giants face fines of up to £18m ($24m), or 10 per cent of their annual revenue, if they fail to remove content deemed harmful from their platforms. While the measures are designed to protect young people from dangerous content, critics argue that it pressures platforms into censoring users by removing their content if it is disliked by others, even though it is perfectly legal. Social media apps such as X, Reddit and TikTok have been forced to introduce age verification checks since the bill came into effect last week. The warning to Sir Keir is the latest sign of Donald Trump's willingness to intervene in domestic British affairs amid a growing transatlantic rift over the protection of freedom of speech. During his meeting with the Prime Minister in Scotland, Mr Trump warned Sir Keir not to censor his social-media platform, Truth Social. 'Well, I don't think he's going to censor my site, because I say only good things,' Mr Trump said. In May, The Telegraph revealed that the president sent US officials to meet British pro-life activists over censorship concerns. The diplomats from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour (BDHL) travelled to London in March in an effort to 'affirm the importance of freedom of expression in the UK and across Europe'. Led by Samuel Samson, a senior adviser in the state department, they met with officials from the Foreign Office and challenged Ofcom over the Online Safety Act. Since then, the Trump administration has also raised questions about the conviction and sentencing of several high profile cases like that of Lucy Connolly. Connolly, a former childminder and the wife of a Conservative councillor, is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence over a social media post published in the wake of the killings of three girls in Southport. After rumours spread online online that the killer was an illegal migrant, Connolly called for 'deportation now' and added: 'Set fire to all the... [asylum] hotels... for all I care'. Three Court of Appeal judges rejected the 42-year-old's case application last week, meaning she will not be released before August. And no case has raised concerns in Washington more than the prosecution of Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner. The 64-year-old was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,026 ($26,624) in costs for breaching a buffer zone while praying outside an abortion clinic. At the time, the case threatened to jeopardise Sir Keir's trade deal with the United States. In a highly unusual intervention, the State Department's BDHL posted a statement on X saying: 'We are monitoring [Ms Tossici-Bolt's] case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.' Ms Tossici-Bolt, who could have been handed a prison sentence, thanked the Trump administration for its intervention. Those closest to the president have long raised concerns about the erosion of free speech in Britain. In a speech at the Munich security conference in February, JD Vance, the US vice-president, cited British pro-life campaigner Adam Smith-Connor, who too was convicted for breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic. 'Free speech in Britain and across Europe [is] in retreat,' Mr Vance said. Before his spectacular fallout with the president, Elon Musk was understood to be pushing Mr Trump to raise curbs on social media regulation in trade talks with the UK. Mr Musk, who has described himself as a free speech absolutist, said Britain's online safety laws amount to 'suppression of the people'. Several American businesses are now poised to bring a federal lawsuit against Ofcom. Preston Byrne, managing partner of Byrne & Storm, PC who is representing some of the US sites, said no foreign power should be allowed to 'cross our waterline'. 'I am instructed by multiple American websites to bring a federal lawsuit against Ofcom,' he said. 'No matter who is the target, the US free speech bar will not allow any American to be censored by a foreign government. No foreign power will be allowed to cross our waterline with unconstitutional and illegal orders.'


Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Adidas may hike prices, warns of US consumer hit from tariffs
LONDON, July 30(Reuters) - Sportswear brand Adidas ( opens new tab warned on Wednesday that it may have to hike prices in the United States, after reporting U.S. tariffs would add around 200 million euros ($231 million) to costs in the second half. Shares in Adidas dropped 11% in their worst day since U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled higher tariffs in April, bringing the stock's losses since the start of this year to 26%. Adidas said uncertainty over trade was holding it back from increasing its annual guidance, and it had not yet decided on possible U.S. price increases to mitigate the impact. On a call with analysts, CEO Bjorn Gulden emphasised that the final tariff levels were still not known, but said he was concerned about the knock-on impact of higher prices on U.S. consumer demand. "What I'm mostly worried about, to be honest, is not only the cost but it's what is going to be the consumer reaction in the market with all these price increases that I think will come not only in our sector, but in general in the U.S.," said Gulden. "Should we get mega inflation in the U.S., things will happen on the demand side, then of course volumes will go down." Adidas will review its pricing and decide which products it could hike prices on in the U.S. once tariffs are finalised, Gulden said, declining to say how much prices might increase. "We will try to keep the prices on known models (stable) as long as we can, and then do new pricing on product that hasn't existed before," he said. Adidas sales increased 2.2% in euro terms to 5.95 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in the second quarter, lower than analysts' average estimate of 6.2 billion euros, according to data compiled by LSEG. The shortfall will likely fuel concerns that, after a run of very strong sales growth fuelled by its trendy three-striped multicoloured Samba and Gazelle shoes, Adidas is losing momentum. "For investors to view this as a temporary setback, the company will need to deliver a reassuring message regarding the outlook for H2 and the early 2026 order book," UBS analyst Robert Krankowski said in a note to clients. The U.S. earlier this month announced a 20% levy on many Vietnamese exports and a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia - Adidas' two biggest sourcing countries which produce 30% and 23% respectively of Adidas products sold in the U.S. Footwear imports into the U.S. already faced tariffs before Trump, and the new duties mean tariffs on footwear from Vietnam have gone up to 46%, from 26%, and from Indonesia to 43% from 24%, Gulden said. Like many other sportswear companies, including Puma , Adidas has been frontloading product shipments into the U.S. ahead of tariffs, driving its inventories up 16% to 5.26 billion euros at the end of June. Despite the impact of tariffs, Gulden said the U.S., which accounts for around a fifth of Adidas sales, is still a key market. "We want to grow and we are also willing to over-invest in the U.S. to double the business," he said on the call. Higher tariffs already had a "double-digit" million euro impact on Adidas' second quarter, and a weaker dollar and weaker Chinese yuan took 300 million euros off quarterly sales. Quarterly operating profit, however, reached 546 million euros, ahead of analysts' expectations for 520 million. Adidas said "lifestyle" revenues - from sneakers and casual clothing - grew 13%, helped by cow print, leopard print and metallic versions of its SL72 and Samba sneakers. A merchandise collaboration with rock group Oasis for its reunion tour has also boosted sales, Gulden said. ($1 = 0.8651 euros)