THE HSE South has been refused planning permission to remove a large Christian statue from above the main entrance of the Killarney Community Hospital, which it took down and then replaced at ground level.

A TOWN has been gripped by a moving statue saga that has led to heated exchanges between politicians, clergy and hospital managers.

THE HSE has confirmed it is preparing an application to Killarney Town Council’s planning department for permission to retain a large statue of the Sacred Heart alongside Killarney Community Hospital.

A STATUE controversially relocated from a hospital rooftop in Killarney to a ground level location will become a target for vandals, town councillor Donal Grady has warned.

BISHOP Bill Murphy of Kerry yesterday entered the controversy arising from the removal of statues and other religious objects from two hospitals in Killarney, describing it as a retrograde step.

THE HSE was yesterday accused of acting “disgracefully” by removing statues and other Catholic religious objects from a hospital in Co Kerry.

Nurses at Killarney Community Hospital in Co Kerry are due to stage a one-hour work stoppage this afternoon.

I SUPPORT the staff of Killarney Community Hospital (KCH) in their fight against downgrade. My experience of the service provided by the hospital is through the care an uncle who passed away peacefully there last month.

AN aborted plan by Sligo General Hospital to end employees’ automatic entitlement to sick pay would have been replicated in other hospitals if the move had not been strongly resisted, IMPACT has claimed.

Staff at a hospital in Kerry are engaging in a one-hour work stoppage today in protest at management changes being introduced by the HSE.

THE HSE has been told to ‘name and shame’ private nursing homes where elderly patients have been abused.