Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Serving Cork for 120 years
Edition No: 36409
RRP: €1.50
INSIDE
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Women on Wednesday! Fashion Beauty & Health Family Lifestyle
Step into your new comfort zone!
Meet the new Network Cork President
Coping with the help of FirstLight
Women on Wednesday!
Fashion Beauty & Health Family Lifestyle
Meet the new Network Cork President: Pages 6/7
Ciara’s chain of command
Flu straining hospitals 1Cent Laser Sale - January Special Offers Lower Leg
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Garda bailed on charges
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CIARA SAVED MAN’S LIFE ON CHRISTMAS EVE
■ Kelly O’Brien & Audrey Ellard Walsh
■ Liam Heylin A MEMBER of An Garda Síochána was arrested yesterday for questioning and was charged with 212 counts related to alleged deception, theft and receiving corrupt payments. John O’Halloran, aged 45, from South Douglas Road, Cork, was brought before a special sitting of Cork District Court yesterday afternoon. The total amount of money allegedly involved could run into tens of thousands of euro. The 212 charges relate to alleged offences between 2009 and 2014. Some theft charges refer to sums as little as €50, one refers to an amount of €2,500, while most of them are in or around €100 to €200. Inspector Fergal Foley gave evidence of arresting the accused at his home in Douglas at 9.25am yesterday morning. “I arrested John O’Halloran and conveyed him to Togher g arda station,” Inspector Foley said. ■ See Page 6.
WEATHER TONIGHT L: 7ºC
Partly to mostly cloudy
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Trolley numbers hit daily all-time high ALMOST 60 patients were lying on trolleys in Cork hospitals yesterday amid warnings of a major spike in flu cases, and appeals for the Minister for Health to get a grip on the crisis.
Ciara O’Callaghan used the defibrillator at the back of Penney’s on Oliver Plunkett Street to save a man’s life. Picture: Eddie O’Hare A QUICK-THINKING Cork woman has been commended for saving the life of an elderly man who collapsed on the street in front of her workplace on Christmas Eve. Ciara O’Callaghan, who works at Hallmark on Winthrop Street, sprang into action when a bystander ran into
■ Kelly O’Brien the shop shouting for someone who could perform CPR. The 21-year-old, who has been volunteering with St John Ambulance for the last three years, immediately went to help. Ciara quickly realised the man’s
heart had stopped beating and called for someone to get the defibrillator located ay Penney’s on Oliver Plunkett Street. Thankfully, that very same defibrillator, worth €2,500, which had been vandalised twice in previous weeks, had been replaced. ■ Continued on Page 2.
New figures have revealed that 6,032 patients waited on trolleys at Cork University Hospital in 2016, while yesterday’s figures set a record high for a single day nationally. There were 59 patients on trolleys at emergency departments at CUH and the Mercy University Hospital yesterday, and a record 612 people on trolleys across the country. Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Billy Kelleher said the latest figures make “grim reading”. He said the Government’s failure to tackle the issue of overcrowding was putting lives at risk. “It has now gotten to a stage where the HSE believes it is acceptable to have 300 to 400 patients every day lying on trolleys waiting for admission. It’s not.” Meanwhile, Cork GP John Sheehan has warned of a major spike in flu cases. “We received a warning a couple of weeks before Christmas about a viral infection and since then there has been a big increase in cases. A lot of people are quite sick, particularly elderly people and young children.” ■ See Page 3 for more.