Family demand meeting with Harney

The family of the seventy-year-old man who died because his local hospital could not carry out life-saving surgery, are demanding a meeting with Mary Harney.

Patrick Walsh presented himself to Monaghan General Hospital with a bleeding ulcer last week but hospital staff could not treat him because they longer run emergency surgery services.

The man was then transferred to Drogheda, Cavan and Beaumont hospital who did not have beds for the man, but later died.

Fine Gael's calling for Monaghan General to be returned to full on-call service.

The dead man's sister Phylis Hughes says she lost her brother because of the “carelessness of the health system.”

She said if she is granted a meeting with the Tánaiste she will ask her how many more people have to die in Ireland before the Department of Health do the right thing.