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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- General
- RTÉ News
Wreckage of Irish trawler sunk during WWII found off coast of Donegal
One of the first Irish vessels to have been sunk during WWII has been located off the coast of Co Donegal. The trawler, named the Leukos, was sunk by a German U-boat on 9 March 1940, killing all 11 of the young fishermen on board. The discovery of the wreckage was made by diver and submariner, John Kearney, who said they came across the wreckage "by pure chance" while searching for a different vessel. Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, he said that up until last week no one had seen the Leukos in 85 years and it was "incredible to come across it". Several of the fishermen who died were teenagers and Mr Kearney is hoping to make contact with any surviving relatives. "A lot of these young sailors came from Ringsend in Dublin. The oldest was only 28. We would love to reach out to any family members," he said, adding that they have "lots of footage" and images of the Leukos that they would like to share. "They were children but they were brave. They went out in those conditions and it wasn't easy back then to be on a fishing boat." It's not known for certain why the trawler was attacked. Mr Kearney said it would have had an Irish flag on display, indicating it was from a neutral country. He said a number of UK vessels in the area at the time managed to get away. He said anyone who suspects they might be a relative of one of the fishermen can contact the Inishowen Maritime Museum in Greencastle, Co Donegal or the National Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire in Dublin.
RTÉ News
7 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Two new members appointed to CHI board after resignations
Two new board members have been appointed to the Children's Health Ireland (CHI) board. It follows the resignations of four members in the past week. Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has appointed Dr Yvonne Traynor and Dr Anne Carrigy. Dr Traynor has been a member of the Health Service Executive (HSE) board since June 2019. She was vice president of Regulatory & Scientific Affairs with the Kerry Group. Dr Carrigy has been a member of the HSE board since March 2021. She is a nurse and joined the HSE as Director of the Serious Incident Management Team and later became National Lead, Acute Hospital Services HSE. Minister Carroll MacNeill said the appointments would strengthen governance and oversight at CHI. It comes as Ms Carroll MacNeill announced the resignation of three CHI board members on Tuesday, while another member resigned last week. Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she had made it clear that she had "strong questions about the governance of CHI and its direction towards the future". "We've had three resignations from the board. These would be individuals who have worked on the board, worked in [a] volunteer capacity on the board since 2018," she added. The three members are Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus and Catherine Guy. Mary Cryan also resigned last week. Ms Carroll MacNeill said she had not asked the members to resign, as she does not have the authority to. "I have a different relationship with the CHI board in statute than any other minister really has with most other boards. It is an unusual structure, and I don't have the authority to ask people to step down in the way that you normally might expect," she said. "I want to thank those people for the service that they have given to the public because we recognise that these are voluntary positions, and we are asking people to step out of their other lives to perform a public service in this measure," she added. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it is "absolutely critical" that there is fundamental reform at the CHI, to ensure there is a multi-disciplinary approach across all areas of medicine which it is responsible for. Speaking in the Dáil, the Taoiseach said there will be an external and independent clinical audit to give assurances to both family and patients. He said there had to be "accountability", given that recent revelations were "deeply deeply worrying".
The Journal
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Journal
Three members of Children's Health Ireland board resign after review into hip surgeries
MINISTER FOR HEALTH Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said that three members of the Children's Health Ireland (CHI) board have resigned from their positions following the release of an independent review into children's hip surgeries at three CHI hospitals. The review found that at the Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital and the Temple Street hospital in the majority of cases reviewed, the criteria for performing surgery to treat hip dysplasia on children was not met. Speaking on RTÉ's News at One programme this afternoon, Carroll MacNeill said that 'functional governance' is needed in CHI ahead of the opening of the Children's Hospital, and that she had raised 'strong questions about the governance of CHI and its direction towards the future'. The CHI board, which had ten members, is now down to seven. The independent review published last Friday established that in Temple Street, roughly 40% of the surgeries the audit reviewed were indicated to have met the criteria; in Cappagh, 21% were indicated, and in Crumlin, virtually all surgeries fell under the criteria. Following its findings, the CEO of CHI Lucy Nugent apologised to 'impacted families' who were not offered a 'consistent and excellent standard of care'. She said that CHI is currently standardising care across all of its sites and that CHI will 'act swiftly' and in an 'open and transparent' manner to 'answer outstanding questions raised by this audit'. Advertisement The Sunday Times also reported last week on unpublished findings that a consultant breached HSE guidelines by referring patients he was seeing in his public practice to weekend clinics that he was operating separately. The consultant was paid €35,800 via the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which aims to cut waiting times by paying private practices to treat patients on public waiting lists. However, a 2021 inquiry found the patients selected had not waited longest, and so did not qualify for the consultant's appointments. HSE chief Bernard Gloster said he was 'shocked' by the report and 'even more shocked because nobody has told me about it'. Speaking on the radio today, the Health Minister said that the report is very serious, and that she received it yesterday at 3.30pm. Carroll MacNeill said that she is working out the 'legal parameters around publishing the report', adding that she does feel it is important that it is published. She said it raises important issues about the way the scheduling of operations is handled in CHI. She said it also details 'toxic behaviours' at CHI Crumlin. She said there are also serious questions about the actions of the NTPF. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
26-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Castlebar residents 'very angry' over dereliction in town
Castlebar residents are 'very angry' over a number of prominent buildings lying derelict it the town centre, including Mayo's most historic building - where the Land League was founded in 1879. Twenty-six properties were listed on Castlebar's derelict sites register last year, while Co Mayo had more than 250 derelict sites in total. "We've got four prime properties just off the main street in Castlebar," Independent Councillor Harry Barrett said, referring to a row of derelict properties on Ellison Street. "You can see the grills hanging off the roof to stop the slates coming down. These properties should have been developed ten years ago." The Ellison Street properties have been taken over by Mayo County Council, but due to design issues a recent application to turn them into social housing units was not supported by the Department of Housing. "We needed the money for this years ago," Cllr Barrett said. He added that construction on the new units was due to begin last November. Instead, he lamented, the vacant buildings remain an eyesore in the centre of Castlebar. "People in the town are very angry about it, councillors are getting multiple calls about it," Cllr Barret said. "We need to push on. It's not acceptable." A spokesperson for Mayo County Council told RTÉ's News at One that it is seeking a new planning permission for 13 social housing units at the Ellison Streets sites. Another prominent derelict building is the former Imperial Hotel on the mall - the central green space in Castlebar town. Michael Davitt founded the Land League there nearly 150 years ago, making it one of Mayo's most historic buildings. "We've been covering the story of the Imperial for over 15 years now," said Tom Kelly, editor of the Connaught Telegraph. The former hotel was purchased by the council in 2011, but has since fallen into dereliction. Plans by property developers to turn it into a hotel again have fallen through. "It's very annoying for people who have pride in Castlebar," Mr Kelly said. "The Imperial Hotel has become a monument to the failure to address the dereliction problem here," he added. Mayo County Council said it planned to revert to an earlier proposal to turn the building into a local innovation hub. The housing crisis is hitting Castlebar from all angles. The Castlebar municipal district said 437 housing units were needed to accommodate those currently on the housing list. Mayo County Council said that as of last week there were 49 families from the Castlebar area living in emergency accommodation. Many of these are understood to be in a homeless hub in Charlestown. Castlebar has now met the criteria to be declared a rent pressure zone by Minister for Housing James Browne. This comes as rents in the Mayo town have increased by double digits. "Castlebar is a good town with good jobs," auctioneer Marian Moran said. However, the lack of supply is pushing rents up by 20% a year. "A two-bedroom apartment will command €1,500 a month. One-bedroom will get €1,300-1,400 if it's good, and if it's town centre." On the building side, Ms Moran said: "We don't see that many new houses coming on stream. Even the price of the second-hand houses have gone up dramatically." She added that the cost of building materials and lack of funding were preventing all but a few builders from operating. Cllr Barrett called for greater autonomy for local councils and municipal districts in tackling dereliction. "We need emergency powers with dereliction in this county. There are people holding onto buildings in this county for 20 or 30 years and nothing is being said to them. "If I'm telling people they have to go to homeless shelters in Charlestown, something has to be done with dereliction," he said.
RTÉ News
21-05-2025
- Climate
- RTÉ News
No decision made on new hosepipe bans
Uisce Éireann has said no decision has been made on the possibility of introducing new hosepipe bans in counties affected by water supply pressures. Over 20 supplies across the country are officially in drought status due to the recent spell of warm and dry weather. The utility said 14 counties are impacted, primarily in the midlands and the northwest of the country. The head of water operations at Uisce Éireann said there have been some interventions in affected areas, including the tankering of water to treated water storage reservoirs and nighttime restrictions. Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Margaret Attridge said it was "a very, very dry winter" and some ground water fed lakes are at "historically low levels". However, she said no decision has been made on introducing new restrictions such as a hose pipe ban or other water conservation measures in areas not already subject to such orders. She said Uisce Éireann is "continuing to monitor all our schemes, but it's very much going to be whether dependent". Ms Attridge said putting in place water conservation orders is "not something that we do lightly". A water conservation order, commonly referred to as a hosepipe ban, prohibits the use of garden hosepipes and other non-essential uses of water by domestic users and commercial premises for non-commercial activities, for example, watering gardens attached to a business premises. Uisce Éireann has said using a hosepipe for one hour is the equivalent of the daily water usage of an average family. In the areas deemed vulnerable, Ms Attridge said people are being asked to "conserve water and do what they can to protect supplies".
