AT a time when efforts are being made to overhaul Ireland’s creaking health service, it is outrageous but perhaps not surprising that a number of consultants and hospitals are obstructing the treatment of patients under the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

DESPITE the fact that rape and violence against women are on the increase in Ireland, three of the country’s four sexual assault treatment units are in danger of closing due to lack of Government funding.

IT is a cause of very serious concern that Ireland has the second highest rate of fire-related deaths out of 19 countries in the developed world, according to the World Fire Statistics Office.

ANY move to improve the detection of sex offenders is to be welcomed, such as the new agreement, which is due to be signed between this country and Britain.

Yesterday, former Taoiseach Charles Haughey departed the political stage, ushered to eternal rest by the panoply of the State funeral he was accorded, but the spirit of the man he was will linger indefinitely.

MANY people will remember a time when there was little more than a murder a year in this state, and that would then be the subject of sensational publicity extending over months, and in some cases years.

DURING an address yesterday to the annual meeting of Age Action Ireland Brendan Drumm, chief executive of the Health Services Executive (HSE), announced plans to appoint 30 elder abuse officers to tackle the abuse of elderly people.

THE course is finally set for Ireland’s economic and social progress to continue apace, following the success of long running and difficult negotiations in finally hammering out a new national partnership agreement.

IT will take more than a new hospital to resolve the difficulties facing the health service in the north-east region. Yet, the proposed 700-bed facility announced yesterday is a significant step in the right direction.

THE controversy over Ireland’s alleged collusion in the unacceptable US practice of airlifting suspects for interrogation and torture took an extraordinary twist yesterday when it emerged that a convicted US marine, shackled and in military custody, was transferred through Shannon Airport last Sunday with the knowledge of the Irish Government.