The Irish women’s team’s Olympic Games hopes received a huge boost as they were confirmed as one of the host nations for the next phase of qualifiers for Tokyo.

Seven HSE staff travelled to the US, to Kansas, at a cost of €19,000. The trip was to attend a conference at which two of them made a presentation.

A number of doctors involved in the clinical validation of an IT system that cost €35m and has so far accrued around €1m in additional consultancy fees said it has had “a positive impact on the hospitals who have deployed it”.

Kinsale’s Conor Harte has overcome a knock to take up a place in the Irish men’s squad for next month’s World League semi-final tournament in Johannesburg, the main qualifier for the 2018 World Cup.

Kinsale man Conor Harte will become the fifth Irish man to reach 200 international caps this evening when he lines out to face Pakistan at Comber Road (7.30pm).

Midwife-led care which allows normal labours to take their own course are as safe, and cheaper, than consultant-led care, writes Victoria White.

EuroHockey Championships semi-final: Netherlands 1, Ireland 0

A system devised by an Irish doctor that allows hospitals to easily and reliably compare caesarean-section rates and outcomes has been endorsed for worldwide use by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Ireland pushed world number five England hard, but ultimately fell in a shoot-out after drawing yesterday’s men’s Investec Cup final 2-2 in London.

THE HSE has said it “aims” to see women in Cork during the first 12-14 weeks of their pregnancy, despite long-term claims of severe overcrowding at the county’s multi-million euro maternity hospital.

Dublin’s three maternity units should be shut down and relocated next to the capital’s main hospitals, it was claimed today.

THE head of the National Maternity Hospital has apologised for upsetting foreign nurses allegedly threatened with repatriation if they did not agree to sign contracts which would result in loss of earnings of €26,000.

An infant who was infected with the MRSA superbug is reported to have died from an “underlying” illness.

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl who was abducted after a man broke into her family’s home and killed her parents was released unharmed after a police chase yesterday morning, authorities said.