Latest news with #Clare-based
Irish Daily Mirror
17-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Practice must pay €10k to patient removed from medical card list after complaint
A Clare-based medical practice has been ordered to pay compensation of €10,000 to a former patient after it removed her from its medical card list after she had lodged a complaint against the clinic with the Workplace Relations Commission. The WRC ruled that the Saffron & Blue Medical Clinic in Clarecastle, Co Clare had breached the Equal Status Act by victimising the patient, Sarah Mangan. The clinic denied it had engaged in victimisation of Ms Mangan when it sent her a letter on February 13, 2023 in which it stated that her needs would be better served by another GP given the breakdown of trust in the doctor/patient relationship. Ms Mangan, who had been a patient of the practice for over 30 years, submitted a complaint against the practice to the WRC in December 2022. However, the WRC also made a separate ruling that the medical practice had not discriminated against her on grounds of disability over her complaints that she had been refused medical services over her inability to wear a face mask due to various medical conditions. Ms Mangan claimed the medical centre failed to provide her with reasonable accommodation considering her disabilities and also that she was harassed on several occasions because she could not wear a face mask due to suffering from anxiety, asthma, dermographism (a skin condition) and autism. The Saffron & Blue Medical Clinic disputed all the complaints and denied that it had discriminated against the patient. It also claimed she had not provided any credible evidence to support her claims that various medical conditions prevented her from wearing a mask and it did not accept she had a valid diagnosis of autism. A solicitor for the clinic had sought at the outset of a three-day hearing before the WRC to have her complaints dismissed on the grounds that they were frivolous and vexatious. Ms Mangan gave evidence of various incidents when she attended the clinic for medical appointments without wearing a face mask. She claimed she was refused permission to wait in an internal waiting area and had to wait in her car, while on other occasions she claimed she was harassed by one of the GPs and a nurse for not wearing a mask. The Workplace Relations Commission and Labour Court offices in Dublin (Image: Philip Fitzpatrick/Collins) She told the WRC that the clinic's practice on mask wearing was not consistent as there were other times when she was seen by a GP when she was not wearing a mask. After being removed from the clinic's medical card panel, Ms Mangan said she was refused as a patient by five other GP practices on the basis they were not accepting medical card holders. She was subsequently assigned a new doctor under the HSE Change of Doctor procedure for medical card holders. Asked about the impact of being removed as a patient, Ms Mangan replied: "It is awful. I don't trust doctors anymore." The clinic's director, Dr Colum Gavin and two other doctors, Marie Quigney and Maeve Cahill, told the WRC hearing that they did not accept that the patient's various health conditions prevented her from wearing a mask. WRC adjudication officer, Moya de Paor, ruled that Ms Mangan had not been refused medical services within the terms of the legislation and did not suffer any discriminatory treatment over the failure to provide reasonable accommodation. However, Ms de Paor said the timeline of events supported the patient's claim that the clinic reacted to her complaint to the WRC by deciding to remove her from its medical card panel. She noted Dr Gavin had claimed that Ms Mangan had been removed from its medical card list because she had lost trust in the practice and not because she had issued legal proceedings against them. However, Ms de Paor remarked: "I do not accept his evidence as convincing or credible." She said there was a direct link between the complaint to the WRC and the decision to remove her as a patient from its medical card panel. Ms de Paor said she appreciated that the doctor/patient relationship was "fraught" during the Covid-19 pandemic and that some of the clinic's staff found it challenging. Nevertheless, she did not consider the manner in which the medical team approached the issue was reasonable as Ms Mangan was given no notification or warning about her removal and was not advised that she remained a patient of the practice until assigned another GP. In setting compensation, Ms de Paor said the breach was at "the more serious end of the scale" given Ms Mangan was a patient of the practice for over 30 years with a complex medical history. She said Ms Mangan was also in a more vulnerable position with less freedom to choose a GP as a medical card holder. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Irish Independent
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Four Letters of Love review: Irish actors who are unable to do Irish accents is becoming a worrying trend
We're in the Dublin of the early 1970s, where a job in the civil service is a thing to be clutched tightly. But a shaft of sunlight falling on his desk has led to William having a major epiphany – he's going to pack up a few things and move to the west coast to be an itinerant landscape artist. It's the kind of madly romantic gesture towards a meaningful existence that colours this long-mooted adaptation of Niall Williams's bestselling 1997 debut novel. The laws of poetry, love and art are nourishment enough for heart and soul and institutions such as Church and State only put a downer on things. Who could argue. The decision leaves Nicholas and Bette in the lurch and fending for themselves while their breadwinner goes off on his elaborate flight of fancy. Across the water from where William eventually sets up his easel, an island glistens off the western seaboard. It is home to the Gore household comprised of cultured, bohemian parents Margaret and Muiris (Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne), their breezy and beautiful daughter Isabel (Ann Skelly) and son Sean (Dónal Finn). The Gore household is picture-perfect, you might say, an image of Irishness in tune with dancing, red-haired cailíní, quaintly cluttered kitchen dressers, and wee drams to wet the throat beside an evening fire. The Hibernian paradise undergoes a crack, however, when Sean is in an accident just as Isabel is readying herself to leave for convent school. She tears herself away nonetheless, only to fall foul of the nuns and run away with a roguish cad (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Isabel and Nicholas; Nicholas and Isabel. One is embarking on an adventure into early adulthood, romance and self-discovery, the other still reeling from the fallout to his family life by his father's sudden wilful abandonment. Their situations couldn't be less alike and yet they are, we're assured, bound together. Director Polly Steele's take on the novel – adapted for the screen by the Clare-based author himself – presents the two strands as being on a parallel journey towards a head-spinning (and predictably gooey) inevitability. Their pre-destination is signposted with the subtlety of a billboard until Nicholas embarks west in search of William and catches a glimpse of Isabel on the local bus and the direction of his young life suddenly shifts. The lush prophesying sweep of the narrative, the coincidences and serendipities and fateful mishaps, will be too sickly sweet for viewers of a cynical bent. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Add to this the way it tiptoes along the fringes of 'stage Irish', flirting with a version of pre-1990s Ireland (pretty, cute, benign and sweetly befuddled), and Four Letters of Love's setting is almost outlandish when watched from seats on this island. And that might just be the whole idea. Right around the moment that you scratch your head at the shaky tenor of Brosnan's brogue (Irish actors who are unable to do Irish accents is becoming a worrying trend), a suspicion strikes you. Much like its source novel, Steele's film might also speak to a pre-destination: that of a love affair with cinemagoers beyond these shores. Sweeter than The Banshees of Inisherin, more fanciful than Brooklyn, this is about as unashamedly sentimental and syrupy as it gets, and those in search of a gentle, easy-on-the-eyes swoon will forgive the odd accent wobble, the patches of abrupt editing, or the clumsy dialogue replacement splices. Cinematographer Damien Elliottt and production designer John Leslie get that fantasy-realist netherworld just right. Cast members do what they must – Brosnan gives enigmatic scans of the wind-swept horizon; Byrne hunches over love poems and grunts good-naturedly at the youthful carry-on. Regardless of what region this film is experienced in, the star of the show is Bonham Carter, whose brilliant quips stop the whole thing from disappearing up its own Blarney. For an outing that applies such a honeyed filter to the Irish condition, it is her character's cranky benevolence and perfectly timed eye-rolls that might just be the most authentic national traits on show here.
Irish Independent
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Meet the Clare-based photographer whose image was selected for the poster of the latest David Attenborough documentary
A favourite of many documentary enthusiasts, David Attenborough has recently released a new collaboration with National Geographic, titled Ocean. The film's cover image shows a female humpback whale and her calf sharing a playful moment – an image that was shot by Clare-based photographer, George Karbus. George Karbus is an award-winning photographer based on the Clare coast. Originally from the Czech Republic, George began his love affair with photography soon after his arrival in Ireland – but his road to the camera was not as easy as you may think.
Irish Independent
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Meet the Clare-based photographer whose image was selected for the poster of latest David Attenborough documentary
A favourite of many documentary enthusiasts, David Attenborough has recently released a new collaboration with National Geographic, titled Ocean. The film's cover image shows a female humpback whale and her calf sharing a playful moment – an image that was shot by Clare-based photographer, George Karbus.
RTÉ News
04-07-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
More people presenting with hay fever due to high pollen levels
A Clare-based GP has said "there's been a big change" in people attending the medical practice for hay fever. Her remarks come after the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reported that pollen levels were so extreme in parts of Europe during Spring, that even people not known to suffer allergies felt the effects of hay fever. Dr Yvonne Williams said patients, who have never had hay fever before, are attending the practice, saying "the normal medicines, the antihistamines, they get over the counter just aren't working for them this year". Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, she added that others are wondering "why their head cold hasn't gotten better" or why it is "going on much longer than a cold and wondering what's wrong with them, they've never had hay fever before". She said those affected by allergies can try avoidance measures such as washing pollen from hair at night and keeping doors and windows closed. She said hay fever sufferers can also try "simple things" like placing Vaseline around the nose or wearing wrap around sunglasses to keep pollen out the eyes. Medicines are also available, Dr Williams said, including antihistamines, eye drops and nose sprays. But she warned some antihistamines can "make people sleepy and you have to be careful if you're driving with those". "Your pharmacy will be a great point of contact and then your GP, if you can't control it with over-the-counter medication because it can affect your sleep, it can make you tired - that has implications," she said. "For the asthmatics, that drip of hay fever and the constant sniffle - can trigger off quite bad flares of asthma and really make your asthma go out of control," she added. Scientists say that climate change is altering the production and distribution of pollen and spores, as more and more people have reported developing allergy symptoms. As winter frost thaws earlier and spring weather gets warmer, plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season and misery for allergy sufferers. Around a quarter of adults in Europe suffer from airborne allergies, including severe asthma, while the proportion among children is 30 to 40%. That figure is expected to rise to half of Europeans by 2050, according to the World Health Organization. Assistant Professor at Dublin City University in the School of Chemical Sciences said "basically anyone" can have the symptoms of hay fever. "If the pollen levels get high enough, people who never have suffer from them will actually start exhibiting symptoms," Dr David O'Connor said. Dr O'Connor said pollen season starts in January and runs until September, but he said "we've noticed in our work, it's like getting longer - the start date has been pushed into December and the end date is actually heading towards October". "Also, we see increasing concentrations of the pollen as well and actually the amount of allergen in the pollen is also increasing," he added. Speaking on the same programme, he noted a pollen forecast is available for people to access on the Met Éireann website, allowing people to take mitigating measures ahead of high pollen levels. "Just kind of like your weather forecast, if you know it's gonna be raining tomorrow, you might bring a coat or an umbrella with you, if you know it's gonna be a high pollen concentration day tomorrow, you can take your antihistamine and wear your mask," he said. Dr O'Connor warned hay fever can be dangerous for those with asthma, explaining for such individuals "if they breathe in high concentrations of pollen it can actually give them an asthma attack. "That's where it goes from a well-being problem to actually a life or death problem," he added.
