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VOTING ON IRELAND’s outer islands took place today as the rest of the nation prepares to cast their ballots in the election tomorrow.
Largely uninhabited Gola island lies two kilometres off the north-west coast and is battered by the Atlantic.
Garda Tom McBride helped presiding officer Nancy Sharkey carry the ballot box from a boat, off the pier and into a waiting car.
Eddie Joe McGee, 65, was born, reared and went to school on Gola.
He lives in retirement a short distance from the whitewashed cottage which doubled as a General Election polling booth today.
Mr McGee said: “I would like to see them putting more money into small islands.
“A lot of tourism comes to the island all summer.
“We have summer camps here, we have students coming from all over the world to visit the island and it would be nice to have the infrastructure to suit them.
“Money seems to be hard to get from Europe or anywhere else and I would like to see it being used wisely rather than wasted on different projects.”
He left the island to go to technical college in 1966 or 1967, and spent much of his career working on houses.
He is a champion of one of Ireland’s most remote areas, which comes to life with tourists in the summer.
Mr McGee said: “There is a lot more work to be done, the roads are really in a bad state, there needs to be a lot of investment in the roads.”
Gola has been largely uninhabited since the 1960s.
Evidence of the island’s heritage remains in the form of the abandoned stone cottages of families who have long since moved to the mainland.
The polling station was high on a hill overlooking the coastline and battered by high winds.
Mt Errigal formed an imposing backdrop.
In the foreground, white-topped waves whipped by the strong winds lashed the beaches on this island of 30.
Charlie Sweeney travelled from the mainland to vote.
He is unemployed and said the new intake of public representatives face difficult problems.
“On the mainland things have gone downhill a lot,” he said.
“Where we are on the map it is very hard to say who could come in.
“Something has to happen, we have lost banks, post offices, cinemas, there is no nightclub for the young people – things are not great.”
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That’s a significant shortfall. I would imagine compensation and workload are barriers to recruitment. Good luck with that….
This could be a good time for a Fact Check…..
Is there a sign on window staff wanted apply within.
Are all of these vacancies at front line medical staff level or are they ALL vacancies – admin, cleaning, managerial etc.? It would be good to know the facts.
It might shock you to realise that without admin and support staff a hospital simply couldn’t operate. Who buys in supplies? Who delivers them to the wards and theatre? Who negotiates with suppliers for best price? Who runs the tenders for the big contracts to ensure top service and value for money? Your money, you the taxpayer. And that’s only one area of admin. Who pays the suppliers to ensure continuance of supply? We lowly admin people may not be treating patients but our contribution is vital to the smooth running of the hospital. It’ll also interest you to know that most hospitals have outside contractors for cleaning and so those staff wouldn’t be included in the numbers.
“Top service and value for money” ….are you having a laugh. The public service is hamstrung by the unions who do not allow any flexibility of work practices. Demarcation is the order of the day! And as for procurement, the public service procurement function is the absolute worst example of how to get value for the tax payer!
We are operating under EU procurement rules. So go and take it up with them. Or why don’t you come in and do a better job if we’re making such a hash of it. We have had to be very flexible in the last few years as nobody who left was replaced. So the work had to be absorbed by the remaining staff. But hey, don’t listen to someone who is actually working in the area, sit back at your keyboard and criticise a job you don’t do and are therefore clueless about. Better still, sack all the admin staff and give all their work to the frontline staff. And watch hospitals collapse under the strain. Idiot!
If you want to contact someone in the hospital who do you ring? Admin staff. If you want to know when a test is? Admin staff. Need to query something with a doctor/nurse? Admin staff. Need the hospital cleaned? Admin staff. Need the patients fed? Admin staff. Need patients transported around the hospital? Admin staff. I could go on.
I would say staff shortages will soon cost more than they save once the lawsuits for patients not receiving enough care start happening.
Living in Dublin is just too expensive. Until the housing emergency is solved this will only get worse.
And you can thank Kenny, Noonan and Burton for that. Great thinkers and forward planners!
I can imagine the adverts trying to woo nurses, doctors and physios home “come to Ireland, where you will be paid less, taxed more, be scapegoated by your manager, the hospital, the HSE and the government, where politicians will spin things to make the public think you are overpaid and underworked….”. I can imagine those living in Australia, Canada etc chomping at the bit to leave their well paid and respected jobs to come home.
” keep the recovery going” brings a whole new meaning to noonan’s comment. . .
Following an injury (dislocated shoulder) I ended up in the casualty department in Beaumont at 22:30. I got the best treatment. Everybody was so so nice and so efficient. No waiting.
For all my follow up appointments I ve been seen within 15mins of the given time. (Today I’ve been seen by the physio 5 minutes before the time.)
Well done to all the staff there. They deserve a medal!
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