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BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (60s) dies in Cork house fire
A man in his 60s has died in a house fire at the Ardcullen estate in Hollyhill on the northside of Cork city. The alarm was raised at 12.45am on Monday, with units of Cork Fire Brigade from both Anglesea Street and Ballyvolane fire stations attending the scene. Advertisement Upon their arrival at the estate, members of the fire brigade were informed by neighbours that a man was still inside the property. They located the man inside the house. Attempts were made to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman in her sixties was treated by paramedics before being transferred by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH) with non-life-threatening injuries. She had managed to get out of the house and was assisted by neighbours before the arrival of the emergency services. A post-mortem examination will be carried out on the deceased man at CUH. The coroner has been notified, and an inquest will be held in due course. The scene was sealed off to facilitate a full technical examination of the two-storey terraced property. Efforts will be made to determine the cause of the blaze. Initial indications are that the fire was accidental.
Irish Independent
02-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Mother of Cork man swept away in river – ‘It was like a circus, watching my baby son drown'
Luke Hyde drowned earlier this week after getting into difficulty while swimming in the River Lee, and Gardaí and Cork Fire Brigade have criticised those who videoed and live-streamed the incident, but neglected to throw a life-buoy into the river, potentially saving Luke's life. "I don't think I can get through this,' said Luke's mother Elizabeth, who called into the Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's RedFM to express her disgust at the passers-by who decided to film the incident, 'this is my second son in five years, and both of them who lived with me. "The first boy died suddenly, in his sleep, it was something to do with his heart. "Luke, my baby, he was my baby son. I was disgusted when I heard you talking this morning about those people down there. It was like a circus, watching my son drown, instead of trying to help him. "I don't know do these people know the heartache and the suffering that me and his family are going through today, and I don't even know if I can come through this. "What have people in this world come to? Morons, I don't think there's even a word to describe them.' "It will never leave me, and the clips I saw on the news...I don't know how I'll ever, ever forget it. I never will, it will live with me for evermore. "Whether those people know it or not, I would like to let them know, that I'm his mother, I'm 76 years old, he's my baby son, he's 34-years-old. I haven't slept since Wednesday, I couldn't go to bed last night and my whole body is trembling.' Yesterday, Second Fire Officer with Cork City Fire Brigade said the public's reaction to the incident was the worst he'd seen in 44 years on the job, and pleaded with the public not to share videos of the incident, which took place in the middle of the city on the hottest day of the year thus far. "Even if he brought a t-shirt or a pair of shoes he'd report it to me,' Elizabeth Hyde told the Neil Prendeville show. 'He was the most placid, beautiful young fella that God ever put on this earth. ADVERTISEMENT "He had a little problem with alcohol, he had fought hard to do his best with that. He was after starting a job last week in Tesco's, the Express store on the Douglas Road. He said to me 'Mam, I'll sort my life out now, I'm getting my life back together...I'm going to make it.' Pensioner Elizabeth explained how she had first heard the news of her son's passing, from her house on Shandon Street. "I was watching the television, and the next thing I heard the helicopter. I knew when a helicopter's going up and down the river they're looking for someone. I said to myself 'God help us, whoever they're looking for I hope they find the person'. "Little did I know that it was my son they were looking for. "I rang his phone, and he'd usually pick up his phone. I was wondering where he was but I thought he was at work, I didn't realise he had the day off. "I rang again and a strange voice came on. They said 'who's this?', I said 'who are you? I'm looking for Luke', they said 'what's your name?' I said 'Elizabeth Hyde, I'm Luke's mam', and then he told me he was a Guard. It was a guard answering his phone, that was it. "I ran out onto the street with no shoes and no apron and no coat. I ran down to that river but it was too late, they were putting him into the ambulance. And when I saw the crowds I just knew what was going on. 'I only got as far as where they sit down by the Quay Wall and I was stopped by my son who said 'Mam, you don't want to see him at all', but I told him 'I need to see him, I need to see my son' Elizabeth said in an emotional phone call to the show. "I don't know what his last thoughts were when he was drowning. I was thinking did he call me? "Did he call my name?'
Irish Examiner
02-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Recording your own lack of action
A person drowned in Cork's River Lee on Wednesday evening. A life came to an end suddenly, with all that fact entails. We like to boast in Ireland that our traditions around death — attending funerals, the very notion of a wake, the month's mind — set us apart; that they show the deep respect we have for those who have left us and the support we offer those left behind. Those traditions were not seen on the banks of the River Lee last Wednesday. Some of those present filmed the man drowning in the river rather than going to his aid. The press of spectators trying to see what was happening eventually meant the gardaí had to establish a cordon to hold people back. Cork Fire Brigade second officer Victor Shine, speaking with the perspective of over four decades of distinguished service, told the Irish Examiner: 'People today tend to video rather than render aid, but this was another level. 'I would have expected to see lifebuoys in the water and there are some in the area, but I didn't see any in the water, and I'm not sure if anyone attempted to throw a lifebuoy. 'I would appeal to people not to share these clips and to consider the impact it might have on the man's family or friends if they saw it.' Mr Shine's calm assertion that people will film or record rather than offering help is a devastating indictment of our society, all the more piercing because of the note of acceptance. This is who we are now; this is what we do. Futile though it may be to say so, those who filmed this incident — and those who share those video clips — should hang their heads in mortification at their lack of empathy for another human being. It is shameful that people would whip out their cameras rather than make the most basic attempt at helping someone clearly in difficulty in the water. A life ended on Wednesday night. No one should be proud of themselves for filming that. Opportunistic US nears deal We appear to have the semblance of a deal in the Ukraine-Russia war, but what kind of deal exactly? Yesterday, news broke that the US and Ukraine have come up with an arrangement wherein the US will share future revenues from Ukraine's mineral reserves under a deal creating a joint investment fund between the countries. The immediate reaction is that this may be a useful vehicle for the two countries in the medium term, perhaps, but what impact will it have on the war which grinds on and on in Ukraine? As ever with the Trump administration, the details are slow in emerging, but it was significant that well-placed sources were swift to emphasise that guarantees of future US security assistance were not part of the deal. The same sources stated that such guarantees had been ruled out early on in the negotiations. Can this deal be positive for Ukraine, then? At the most basic level, it shows that the country can work with US president Donald Trump to reach formal agreements, and it may yet prove a canny move to give the US a financial interest in a peaceful and prosperous Ukraine. That may be significant when and if Russia comes to the negotiating table. The other way to look at this deal is as an opportunistic move by the US. A vulnerable nation which has been attacked by an aggressor must now share revenues from its natural resources with a vastly more powerful nation — and all for a form of support which looks less than wholehearted. It would be disingenuous to think there no quid pro quos in geopolitics. There is an interpretation of this deal which experienced diplomats would immediately recognise: The US has by far the strongest hand in this relationship and would be remiss if it did not extract the maximum advantage. This deal still looks like one country taking advantage of another country, one struggling to fend off an unprovoked invasion by a totalitarian regime. Building success Like many traditional media, filmmaking is undergoing something of a crisis at present. The cinema industry's challenges are many and varied: The rise of streaming services, increased costs, the technological challenges posed by AI, and more besides. As a result, when a movie becomes a breakout hit, there is keen interest within the industry in establishing the reasons for its success. This year the breakout movie appears to be A Minecraft Movie. As of last week, it had broken the $500m (€443m) box office barrier globally, with ticket sales of $291.3m in the US and $273.3m internationally. The reason for its success is obvious: It's based on the hugely popular video game Minecraft, which has sold hundreds of millions of copies. The film, therefore, comes with a ready-made audience, many of them children. In cinemas, these viewers' delight in moments such as the delivery of the line 'chicken jockey' during the movie has led to uproar, if throwing popcorn at the screen truly qualifies as uproar. Cineastes may despair at the success of A Minecraft Movie, but its stellar performance at the box office is also being seen as good news for cinema as a whole, evidence that the public has rediscovered its love of the movies. Or perhaps, much more specifically, its love of movies with chicken jockeys. Read More Irish Examiner view: Blackout should remind us to prepare
