THE body count will continue to rise in Monaghan, community activists claimed last night, because the local hospital must continue to function without emergency surgery.

THE death of the 75-year-old man who bled to death in Monaghan General Hospital is the most tragic example of how patients suffer as a result of reducing nursing numbers as a cost-saving measure, an international expert on the worldwide nursing crisis has claimed.

YOU heard it here first: Martin Cullen has split personalities. And, no, we’re not making sly reference to Martin’s seeming confusion as to whether he’s Minister for Transport or Mayor of Waterford.

A SURGEON at Monaghan Hospital was reprimanded earlier this year because he carried out emergency surgery on a patient in breach of protocol, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny told the Dáil yesterday.

The family of a 75-year-old farmer who died from a bleeding ulcer in Monaghan Hospital after three failed attempts to transfer him for emergency surgery tonight demanded permanent theatre services to be restored to the centre.