EVERYONE who knew Ross Coakley, especially as he approached the end of his life, respected and admired him, writes Fergus Finlay

Mater Private Hospital together with Dukes Coffee Company and KSG at the City Gate Plaza, Mahon, Cork are organising a joint ‘Drink Tea for MND’ day to help support a very worthy cause.

Few rugby players can simply be identified by their first names. Gareth, Sonny Bill, Zinzan, Jonny, and Jonah are some of the few whose deeds and skills have given them that particular status. And Joost.

Irish filmmaker Simon Fitzmaurice is in front of the camera at Sundance this weekend for a documentary on how his life has been affected by motor neurone disease, writes Esther McCarthy.

Irish geneticists have played a leading role in isolating three genes that shed light on the underlying causes of motor neurone disease.

Your weekly guide to some health stories making headlines online.

 

Imagine not being able to say “I love you” this Valentine’s Day. That’s the experience of most people with motor neurone disease (MND), among them Emma Fitzpatrick, a mother-of-two from Kinsale, Co Cork.

A movie actor attempts to resuscitate his career in Birdman, Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are destined for Oscar nominations in heart-rending biopic The Theory of Everything, and a vengeful spirit returns to terrorise a class of evacuees in The Woman in Black: Angel of Death.

School children got top marks for drenching their teachers in a very special ice bucket challenge tinged with sadness.

Kylie and Kendall take the plunge.

It has been confirmed that the Ice Bucket Challenge is the most popular social media craze this year, surpassing No Make-Up Seflies.

It isn’t every day that Trinity College students get the pleasure of seeing their professor endure a head to toe drenching but, then, Orla Hardiman is not your everyday academic.

He’s a confident man.

D'oh!

Standard = raised.

"The dive-line is open now!" Classic...

She got some whack...

The ice bucket challenge just got sexy.

So we did it... And now we're cold.

“I’m freezin’! Absolutely freeezin’!”

Veteran sports pundit Jimmy Magee is to release his debut single — at the grand old age of 79.

Award-winning TV chef Neven Maguire will rustle up some delicious delights in Cork this week to help launch a fundraising cookbook featuring the favourite recipes of an array of Irish celebrities.

An increasing number of people with motor neurone disease are having their medical cards withdrawn, while many applicants are being refused outright by the HSE.

Colm Murray was honoured by a People of the Year award in September 2012 in recognition of his efforts to further medical research into motor neurone disease, writes Dan Buckley

RTÉ broadcaster Colm Murray has passed away at the age of 61.

IMAGINE having an itch and not being able to scratch it.

In a month or so where dropped passes will be called disasters, missed kicks labelled catastrophes and defeats likened to tragedies, the stories of Joost Van der Westhuizen and former Springbok team-mates puts things in perspective, explains Ciaran Cronin.

BRAIN cells bearing a potentially deadly genetic mutation linked to motor neuron disease were created for the first time in a British laboratory.

SCIENTISTS studying one of the most baffling disorders of the nervous system have made a breakthrough that could help identify the role some genes can play in increasing the risk of motor neuron disease (MND).

A landmark British trial could offer new hope for people with motor neurone disease, the devastating nerve illness suffered by scientist Professor Stephen Hawking.

IRISH researchers have discovered new genetic pathways they believe will lead to the development of new drugs for treating Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

THE scientist who created Dolly the Sheep was yesterday granted a licence to clone human embryos in an attempt to find a cure for motor neurone disease.