Protesters enter Roscommon hospital

Hundreds of protesters have entered the A&E unit at Roscommon County Hospital in a bid to prevent the ending of its 24-hour emergency service.

The Urgent Care Centre was due to close at 8pm this evening, and was not due to reopen until 8am tomorrow morning.

300 people gathered for a candle-lit protest this evening to express their anger at government plans to restrict the hours at the centre and only to treat patients with non-emergency conditions.