An emergency hostel for homeless children in Cork City which was the subject of a recent damning report by the health watchdog has closed indefinitely.

A HSE residential unit for troubled teenagers in Cork City should be closed down immediately before a resident or member of staff is seriously injured, the senior District Court judge in the city said yesterday.

CHILD protection services are “dysfunctional, ineffective and inconsistent” and do not safeguard the rights, welfare and best interests of a child, a former HSE social worker has claimed.

I WORKED with Christopher O’Driscoll during my employment as a HSE social care worker in Pathways, Cork.

Four Waterford students will begin a 4,000 mile cycle to Gaza tomorrow to raise money and awareness for the war-torn region.