Campaign to oppose ambulance cuts grows

THE only ambulance available in west Cork last Friday night was stationed in Castletownbere, 85km from where 470 people gathered at a public meeting opposing cuts to the service.

The revelation drew gasps from a crowd that packed the 320-seat capacity function room at the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen, where there was standing room only for a further 150.

The stark reality of an already strained service meant that any emergency requiring an ambulance in Skibbereen at 8pm on Friday night was facing a wait of almost two hours.