The new developments will include 52 homes at The Miles, Clonakilty, 50 houses at Poundhill, Skibbereen, and another 50 in Oakwood, Macroom.

Minister for Health Simon Health has defended his record in the area of mental health services and said he has been working “extremely hard” for the past three years to make up for “decades of neglect” of the service.

The new National Forensic Mental Health facility will be equipped with 13 high-tech scanners at a cost of €750,000 to prevent drugs, weapons and other contraband being smuggled into serious offenders who have been deemed legally insane.

Almost three-quarters of Irish bathing waters have been rated "excellent" by European standards, but the country is lagging significantly behind many of our European neighbours.

Ireland’s beaches and lakes benefitted from the scorching sunshine last summer, as record heat killed off bacteria and other harmful growths that can contaminate bathing waters.

It is now “crystal clear” to prison staff and managers that the failure to monitor vulnerable inmates will result in dismissal, the head of the Irish Prison Service has said.

Mental health services are at crisis point as staffing shortages are expected to worsen, a psychiatric watchdog has warned.

EPA classifies 102 of 142 bathing waters as ‘excellent’ and 18 as ‘good’ but warns about bacterial contamination caused by bird droppings

Six popular bathing spots have failed to meet minimum EU standards, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual report which is released today.

A 21 year old student died after he fell from cliffs while free climbing at the coast near his home Co Dublin.

The trial of a man charged with murdering his stepson has heard that the deceased had a death wish due to feelings of guilt about his missing sister, Amy Fitzpatrick.

Nurses who are members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association have voted in favour of industrial action at St Ita's Hospital in Portrane, north Dublin.

Good evening. Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on IrishExaminer.com today.

A new facility is being built in north county Dublin to replace the Central Mental Hospital.

Gavin Moynihan survived a war of attrition with his teenage clubmate Kevin LeBlanc to win his second Irish Amateur Open in the space of four years and seal his return to the Walker Cup team.

ROSSDOHAN WALK, KERRY WAY

Plans could be in place by the end of the year that would make it easier for children who have been in care to secure access to housing and education, the minister for children said.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan has poured cold water on the chances of Ireland accessing the EU solidarity fund for repairs and rebuilding after severe storms battered the country.

I DON’T like to mention it in polite company, but my foundations are a bit exposed. The recent storm lashed at Portrane and made my Martello Tower spring leaks in more places than you could imagine. Eight buckets were deployed at the height of it, and we’re now in the check/replace/repaint phase.

A GP took his own life in the grounds of a psychiatric hospital shortly after visiting his patients there, an inquest heard.

Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus are set to lose 10% of their routes to private operators.

A road running through Beaumont Hospital has been raised to a height where traffic is running level with the tops of adjacent garden walls, because of an oversight by Dublin City Council (DCC).

Sixteen of the country’s best-known bathing spots have lost their coveted blue flag status this year after the introduction of more stringent standards for testing water quality by the EU.

JUST as paintings “go into a wall” over time, as their owners become so used to them that they hardly notice them any more, so a once-dominant feature of the Irish coastline has become almost invisible.

Catherine Fulvio, Mulranny, Co Mayo

A retired psychiatric nurse from Tipperary has been jailed for two years for killing an 87-year-old man while drink driving in north Dublin.

It’s easy to start saying you cannot do something because something bad has happened, but the dragon boating pushes you to bring yourself back to the best recovery possible

Seclusion and physical and mechanical restraint using chairs and bandages were used 5,370 times on patients in psychiatric units during 2010, according to the State’s mental health watchdog.

WOMEN in the Central Mental Hospital are locked up for 12 hours at night in cell-like rooms and have to ring for nurses to go to the toilet at night, an inspection report by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) found.

THE HSE made just €6 million from the sale of mental health properties between 2005 and 2011, documents obtained by the Irish Examiner have revealed.

CONCERNS have been raised over the handling of an investigation into the alleged abuse of an intellectually disabled resident at a HSE-run facility.

The number of Irish beaches securing coveted Blue Flag status has hit an all-time high.

A MOTHER-OF-THREE who died after taking a drug overdose was failed by the health system, her mother told an inquest yesterday.

Gardaí are seeking the public's help in finding a 15-year-old boy missing from Portrane in north County Dublin, for more than a fortnight.

LARGE residential institutions are using medication to subdue residents who exhibit challenging behaviour, it has been claimed.

DARACH Murphy was devastated when his brother Seamus, who has a mild intellectual disability, was admitted to a closed ward at St Ita’s Hospital in Portrane, a north Dublin suburb miles from his home in Glasnevin.

OLDER people with mental health problems who have been moved out of a 19th-century asylum deemed unfit for purpose by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) will move back again once a unit has been refurbished.

GARDAÍ at Swords are seeking the public’s help in tracing the whereabouts of 17-year-old Teresa Burke who is missing from her accommodation at Portrane, Co Dublin since October 31, 2010.