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MORE SERVICE DOWNGRADES at smaller regional hospitals may be on the way – but the measures have not yet been agreed by Government, according to Health Minister Dr James Reilly.
Minister Reilly told the Irish Medical News that plans to concentrate services at larger hospitals, which were set out last year, have not been signed off by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition. However, he added the measures are “being discussed at the moment”.
The proposals were made in last year’s Acute Medical Programme, which divides hospitals across the country into categories by size. Each category will have a number of services assigned to it, with the effect being that certain facilities are available in larger hospitals only.
Minister Reilly added that other changes to health services are “off the table” for the moment. “Some of them may come back on,” he said.
But other plans around reducing services in the smaller hospitals and reducing surgeries etc, that has not been agreed by me or signed off by me and won’t be until there’s been full and proper consultation with the staff and the clinical leads in this area to see what way we can get the best use out of our smaller county and regional hospitals.
The news comes amid further protests today over the closure of A&E facilities at Roscommon hospital, which has sparked anger among local residents.
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Shows he was completely misrepresented. If you listen to It he really does emphasis that he has no interest in kids sexually. It was a discussion about sexuality that got twisted to make him look like a he was in some way interested in sex with minors. It’s quite clear he isn’t. HLB did more damage to herself by realizing this than she did to Norris. It vindicates him I think.
I think his biggest problem was assuming Irish people are grown up enough to have an adult conversation on sexuality.
very questionable timing?,or me just being paranoid.?
If it was a priest you would all be up in arms ………..
Up in arms over what?…what do YOU think Norris said?
nice profiler michael..! I thought you would of taken the Norris one being a supporter in all… :P
Yep, nothing new. Norris still has questionable views on adults having sex with children. Good job this man will never be president. What sort of message would that send to the children of Ireland?
Grow up!!! Listen to the tapes properly. He denounces sex with children over and over again. Are u thick or something?
His views on incest are just as disturbing.
Gonged… How about, how much was juicy Lucy paid to hand over the interview to uncle Joe in clontarf?
Ask Mary Davis!!!!
Der is nothing new in the tape which was played 2day, Helen Lucy Burke done more damage to herself an as for Joe Duffy he will destroy himself. David Norris is not into kids what so ever an stated that today on air. But u no media it will misinterpret everything… Norris will be our next president!!! Norris no 1…
Indeed – the Herald gave the full front page to printing an article that suggested that Norris had claimed disability benefit from welfare, but only allotted a tiny box of text at the bottom of a page for a retraction. Of course, as far as I am aware we are still waiting for the Sun to print a retraction on it’s article falsely claiming that he had used his position as senator to seek an Irish passport for a former lover.
Graham Kavanagh, Ezra Nawi has confirmed (on Irish radio) that he was aware the boy was under the legal age of consent at the time (btw,I believe he was 15, not 16 as you assert). Senator Norris thought Nawi was unwise to plead guilty and offered to give evidence to the Israeli Court-see the famous letter-so all the talk about him simply writing a letter of clemency is understating his involvement.The Nawi case didn’t involve two young people dicing with the age of consent.It was a man in his forties conducting a physical relationship with a 15 year old boy. Maybe you’re OK with that. I find it reprehensible.As for the tape it seems to me that it vindicates the journalist. I never had much time for HLB but she has taken a courageous stand against one of the sacred cows of liberal Ireland ( of which she seems to be an enthusiastic supporter) and has been unfairly maligned by some for doing so. If anything, she seems to have understated certain of the comments of the Senator at the time. I find disturbing the remarks by him on the tape distinguishing between people “displaying the signs of sexual maturity” with those who are pre-pubescent and therefore lacking any physical signs of sexual maturity. Young people generally have physical signs of sexual maturity before they reach the legal age of consent.Physical maturity (partial or complete) does not equate with emotional maturity. It may be that the Senator meant to refer to people who are old enough to be both physically and emotionally mature but his use of words in the conversation does not, in my view make this clear.He does in fairness make absolutely clear his own complete lack of interest in younger people but seems to me to be ambivalent about what might be acceptable or tolerable in others. When you join the dots between the interview and the Nawi case I don’t believe what emerges is a suitable candidate for the Presidency.
Doesn’t see a lot wrong with the history teacher touching up the pupil.
Very questionable attitude towards sex with children, creepy.
off the wall Oil Foster
Exactly how does pointing out the vast difference in the severity of a teacher putting his hand in a boys pocket and the violent rape of a child indicate in any way support for either crime?
Yes, Yes Graham
The concentrated attention focused on Norris is disproportionate. It is entirely directed towards fault seeking. Other candidates have all had a taste of muck raking, but Higgins. In the absence of any known human fallibilities he increasingly appears more of a Papal than Presidential figure. If Norris walked across the surface of the Liffey, the media would attack him for shunning taxis.
Kelly, do you just read the sun or the star???
Why not do some educated research and then make a decision based on fact and fact only, don’t presume some over paid tabloid story writer because let’s be honest they are not journalists is correct and just follow the herd and make moo moo noises.
Yes, Norris’s true opinions were completely misrepresented, and I have a great deal of sympathy for him in that regard. The benefit scheme that he paid into in Trinity College, and legitimately availed of (as advised by TRINITY COLLEGE) was twisted by the media to make it appear that he was getting a cushy government benefit.
David Norris has been consistently slandered by the media, and by the spin doctors of other candidates. However his manner of HANDLING this slander is all wrong. Michael D. Higgins and to a lesser extent Seán Gallagher have been able to either avoid controversy, or shrug it off like water off a duck’s back.
David Norris would not make a good president, end of story. He’s not able to handle the media.
Michael D. Higgins has had exactly no scruitiny by the media. They might as well have anointed him for the job back in March. It’s really troubling the level of vitriol that certain elements of the media have levelled at a number of select candidates when stacked against the complete blindspot that they seem to have for certain other candidates.
Michael D ideological statements have not been interrogated – the reason being RTE want him
How the fuck can someone be unfit for work yet be a senator, then when he stands for president suddenly he’s no longer sick.
Don’t forget that taxpayers money paid for this insurance policy.
Oil, he wasn’t unfit for work as a Senator. He was unfit for work as a lecturer for a period of several months, after which time his position had been filled by a replacement. Also taxpayers money did not pay for his policy. It was an income protection scheme offered by a private insurance fund. Please stop trolling the journal.ie with such wild and libellous allegations. I think even the people who would argue against David Norris’ candidacy would argue that you are doing their arguments a disservice.
He’ll not be President.
Simple as..
Michael D or Sean Gallagher will be, Mcguinness will get a huge count too.
Have any of you pro Norris posters actually listened to the full interview?
If your son had his penis felt by a teacher and the principal or the gardai said ” ah sure it could have been worse” how would you react?
If the archbishop of Dublin said what Norris said how would you react?
Abuse is abuse, it is a crime that shouldn’t be scalable which is what Norris seems to be attempting to do.
As I have said before, how exactly does pointing out the difference in the severity of the crimes on the different ends of the spectrum in any way, shape or form indicate an acceptance of them?
The simple fact is that there is a difference between a dirty old man feeling up a child and a dirty old man feeling up a child, locking that child in his basement, and subjecting him/her to violent rape. If you fail to see that, then you’re far dumber than I gave you credit for.
It is a crime that shouldn’t be scalable?
That moronic. So someone who molests themselves in a childs presence gets the same sentence if he says feck it and rapes the child ‘fully’?
Can you spot the problem?
Anybody ever ask themselves why such an “intelligent & articulate ” person seems to be able to make himself misquoted and misunderstood so often. Is it a gift of stupidity or just plain hubris.
Living abroad, I really find it difficult to comprehend how such a bunch of turkeys ever got on the ballot because if the Press had being doing their job right then this should all have been out long before now. As a “neutral” I find it amazing that McGuinness is actually looking like the most competent choice because even though he might have a history …. he might be the man to help guide Ireland into a future that is based on reality and not some fantasy creature like a tiger.
Smaller words. He should have used smaller words.
people seem to be hearing what they want to hear from this tape
Yeah – it’s the magically christmas tape that keeps on giving.
Iv read the letters, listened to the tapes, watched the debates and done all that. I think he said it himself correctly when he stated that writing the letters didn show good judgement. But that’s all. Bad judgement. the insurance ‘scam’ debate is nonsense. He had private income protection and availed of it. I have it myself.
While nothing too bad is said in the tapes, his problem can be seen from the tapes. He’s a very intelligent man. And wants everyone to know it. When asked a direct question he waffles on bout semi related topics(as in the tape going on bout Greek times) and his meaning gets lost. Some of the debates he did the same. I find him hard to listen to.
I know this is wrong but can you imagine Michael D as our president standing beside world leaders? The state of him, he’s like the penguin from batman!
I think he looks more like Dustin’s uncle – all he needs is to swap the box for a trolley and he can be as successful as Dustin was at Eurovision.
If Ireland wants a turkey for president then Dustin is probably better qualified ;-)
Just for the record, being “gay” does not mean somebody is bad or good – they are actually human and come in all shapes and sizes and moralities on a sliding scale just like hetro’s and non-sexuals.
However Mr. Norris would seem to want to give the impression that being gay is something special ….. well I have it on good authority that it is not – as more gays come out of the closet it is apparent that NOT all gays have good taste and can dance.
Having a motor mouth that is not connected to a brain is not a good quality for a President, even for Ireland.
I suspect that Higgins is the “luvvie” of choice for the establishment and therefore been given a coating of teflon ( i.e. no digging ) by the establishment in an attempt to block MMcG, who obviously, is giving certain people nightmares.
the poster says it all about Mr. D
As terrible as it is to make statements about a candidates looks, I did see a picture of Jigsaw from the Saw movies with “Vote Michael D Higgins” under it doing the rounds on Facebook..
I’m ashamed to say, I really saw the resemblance..
That and Mr Magoo..
The concentration on Norris’s sexuality is because he is gay. Why hasn’t Mitchell been pinned on his attitude to homosexuality ? I do believe that Norris has done damage to his campaign but equally I believe that there is a cohort within the establishment that doesn’t want a gay president. At the end of the day there ate only two choices. Higgins or McGuinness. Hobsons choice.
The concentration is not on Norris’s sexuality. The concentration is on his views and more so on his judgement or lack of. He seems unable to answer a question without waffling on and on, in a manner a lot of people find arrogant and pompous. If Norris is not elected it will not be due to a homophobic minority in my opinion.
Rubbish. The only person who has constantly dragged his sexuality into the spotlight is David Norris.
Graham Kavanagh, stop lying. Norris received this payment for YEARS!
Also, the policy was paid for by trinity which receives funing from the taxpayer, is that difficult for you to understand?
Finally, for someone to take a disability payment while working as hard as norris does as a senator is immoral and WRONG!
If you want to criticise me fine, but get your factssdtraight first
I love how people speak of the new president bringing change…the presidential role is as redundant as the Seanad, abolish both, forget these cartoon characters and put the money into something more crucial – turn the aras into a much needed hospital
Good man Graham, if you dont like what you hear resort to bullying the poster.
My vote will go to McGuiness or Norris. I’m still undecided. I’m unsure about Norris because ( and I’ll be honest here ) enough shit has been thrown and some of it is sticking! Although that could be the reason why I will vote for him as well.
McGuiness. In my mind, his future was decided long ago, like so many people in Derry and the fact that he became an IRA volounteer was in some ways inevitable. His life became a battle to be Irish. Yes there were many atrocities on both sides ( I was personally affected by the Dublin bombings )but he realised the British couldn’t be defeated militarily just as the British realised they could not defeat the IRA. And so he became an advocate for peace.
The thing that’s making my decision difficult is that I’m finding it hard to visualise him being president and genuinely leaving his lifelong commitment to a United Ireland behind him. He would be president of the Republic and not the 32 counties!!
Paul, my personal connection with the Dublin bombings was that I had a lot of luck on my side – due to circumstances beyond my control I was able to take an earlier bus otherwise I would have shared the fate of the conductor ( R.I.P. ) and it kinda pissed me off ! Later in life I was able to ask certain people WTF ? happened and realized that it was not the IRA or PIRA because they were the losers in the affair but a Brit /related gig and to loosely quote an ex sas man – “we probably set off more bombs than they did because somebody on top wanted a free-fire policy implemented ” …. gives one cause to ponder ?.
Something not heard recently is the fact that the Irish Army was ready to invade the North and help to defend Derry should it be deemed morally necessary …… i.e. leaving fellow Irish Catholics to be slaughtered in a Warsaw ghetto scenario. They secret clue to Ireland’s problems is the amount of English newspapers and their tendency to treat Ireland as some western shire – it has been slowly shifting the Irish perception of events to a more Brit friendly version…..
The main question will be how long will England put up with the shite in N. I. as it no longer needs a training ground for blooding squaddies and with devolution of Scotland the big problem of 60-70 ies is gone.
One argument I heard was that if N.I. was dumped then the Welsh would probably go too ( goodbye) but that the Scots could go too and take the OIL REVENUES ? – so N.I. was a warning exercise for the Scots.
My message being – a jig-saw puzzle is not just made of 2 pieces, black or white, but many, many pieces each contributing to the overall image.
My opinion is that Norris wants to be President of Norisland and not Ireland and any criticism will be written off as “Gay – Bashing” .
@ Tony Newitt. ” They secret clue to Ireland’s problems is the amount of English newspapers and their tendency to treat Ireland as some western shire – it has been slowly shifting the Irish perception of events to a more Brit friendly version…..”
Excellent post especially the above.
I am interested in how you know this so definitely ? – Have “we” a crush on him or are “we” part of some elite group?.
I could not even be so sure about myself let alone anybody else.
Graham it is all in perception – not what the perp. perceives happened but what the victim perceives.
That is the baseline for anyone dealing with “Pedo-sexual ….. Pedophiles ….. Pedrasty….” they tend to see themselves as equals sexually with minors – which would seem to indicate a social deficiency in some area.
Der is not
The severity of sexual abuse is not judged on how you perceive the crime but on how the victim perceives the crime. Taking 2 extremes such as fondling and rape, kidnapping and torture does prove that those 2 crimes are incomparable, this doesn’t and should not take from the impact of any abuse on a person.
That’s what annoys me so much about David Norris. All sexual abuse must be condemned equally, no excuses, no pleas for compassion, never.
For the record, I am a David Norris admirer and was thrilled when he put himself forward for election.
Since then, he has been arrogant, evasive and totally lacking of real substance. That’s why I won’t be voting for him, had he admitted that he was wrong to write the letters (which are still not in the public domain), that he was wrong to give an interview when his tongue may have been loosened by alcohol, and that he was wrong to claim disability payment when he was earning great money compliments if the taxpayer, he would get my vote.
The fact that he continues to maintain that none of these items are of importance shows an arrogance and detachment from the real world that a president shouldn’t have.
Who gave me a thumbs down for my opinions on McGuiness and Norris?? Post a comment, and an opinion for that matter let’s debate our opinions. After all isn’t that why dictators like Gaddafi get dragged through streets, so democracy has it’s voice!!
have your say