Kian Anthony Bourke, who weighed in at 3.31kg, became the first baby arrival in Ireland for 2015, popping into the world just four seconds after midnight.

Patients with infectious diseases have been left in crowded emergency units for up to 30 hours, while blood stains and soiled bed pans have been found in maternity wards.

The number of people forced to wait on trolleys at one of the country’s largest hospitals, Cork University Hospital, is at its highest in a year.

A man was recovering in hospital tonight after a hammer attack in Co Tipperary.

OUR Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and the Mater in Dublin have been pinpointed as the hospitals with the country’s two worst accident and emergency (A&E) services in the country.