Elderly patients forced into 2½ hour round trip

ELDERLY people living on the Mizen Head have been forced to make two-and-a-half hour round trips on public transport to collect medication as they have been unable to process prescriptions nearby.

County Councillor Dermot Sheehan, who owns a shop in Goleen, said many distressed pensioners had come into his shop worried about how they would make the 80km journey from Schull to Clonakilty.

“These people are living in rural areas, often from around Mizen or Killcoe, and they have to get a bus at 7.50am from Schull town if they want to get to Clonakilty and then they can’t get a return bus until 5.30pm. It’s a ludicrous situation for people who just need their daily medication,” he said.