Five West Cork garda stations are to be fitted with defibrillators as part of a new pilot project.

Former Tyrone star Conor Gormley has called on all sports clubs to ensure defibrillators are installed at grounds after his father’s life was saved during a match at the weekend.

Plans to install a network of public defibrillators across Cork City are being reviewed after the city’s first 24/7 life-saving device was vandalised twice in the space of a few hours.

More than 900 defibrillators in Ireland may not work properly in a life-saving operation because recommended safety and maintenance updates have not been undertaken.

Sports clubs have been urged to store automated external defibrillators (AEDs) with extreme care after the batteries in a diving club’s device went flat just days before a fatal diving accident.