Finally Reunited
A BELTRA man within months of his 94th birthday has told of his absolute joy on being reunited in a Sligo nursing home last week with his beloved wife of 66 years, after spending more than two years apart.
Heartbroken great-grandfather Patrick Rushe had begged the Health Service Executive (HSE) to allow him to join his 92-year-old wife Molly when she entered the Nazareth House nursing home last year, having previously been in St. John's Hospital after breaking her hip in 2009. It was the first time the loving couple were separated in almost 70 years.
Now, after two lonely years, Rushe has at last received the news he yearned to hear.
"I am delighted. I thought the winter would be gone before I would get in. I was worried about being another winter on my own,” Rushe said.
His daughter, Alice Gilmartin, said she couldn't be as happy if she had won the Lotto. She spoke of how her father had really missed her mother for the past two years.
"You could see it when I brought him in to visit her in the nursing home every Wednesday. When he was leaving he always said he would love to stay there. They can look forward to being together, having their own chats, and having their dinner and tea together," said Gilmartin.
The green light allowing the couple to be reunited came after Minister John Perry, who had taken a personal interest in the case, informed the family that Rushe had been approved for funding under the Fair Deal Nursing Scheme, after he was initially refused.
"To be able to spend his latter years together with his wife is the very least they both deserve after a lifetime of wonderful contribution to the fabric of life in rural west Sligo," said Perry.
Now that Rushe has been allowed to join his wife in the Nazareth House nursing home, Gilmartin said it was great to know that her parents were together again, and that they would be safe and well looked after.
"It's like a four-star hotel up there," she said.

(Source: The Sligo Champion)


As Gaelige No Defense
TWO publicans who argued in court in July that they should not face prosecution for selling drink after hours as the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2000 had not been translated into Irish were both fined last week as the act is now available as gaelige.
At Mallow District court in July, solicitor Ruairi Ó Catháin told Judge Olann Kelleher that there was a duty on the state to provide a translation of new legal acts within a reasonable time. However, the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2000 was 11 years old and was, at the time, without a translation.
O Catháin was representing Tony Deady, who was charged with being in breach of the act at St. Ledger's Arms on Main Street in Doneraile.
In a separate case also at the July court sitting, another solicitor, Neil Corbett, also put forward the same argument for his client, Aidan O'Connor who was charged with being in breach of the act at Kitt Roche's on Main Street in Buttevant.
Inspector Senan Ryan said that the Supreme Court said the translation did not have to be given forthwith, but "as soon as possible," and the Liquor Act 2000 has now been translated.
Kelleher in return said that as the act had now been translated, then just where was the prejudice to Deasy.
O Catháin said his client had a constitutional right to have his case heard in Irish. Kelleher said if Deasy wished to have his case heard in Irish then it was his right but he would be unable to hear it as he is not fluent in the language. 
Ryan added, "Well, I'm putting my hand right up right now, as I don't have Irish either. But if Mr. Deasy is so inclined to have it as gaelige, then I know an inspector in Cork city with fluent Irish, and he would only be delighted to do it."
O Catháin said that, on the basis that the act has now been translated and, rather than "put out the court to do the case in Irish," his client would now be pleading guilty.
Corbett also said his client, Aidan O'Connor pleaded guilty to two counts of selling drink after hours. Corbett said it was O'Connor's birthday on January 28 and he "just had some family and close friends around.”
Both publicans were fined several hundred euros.

(Source: The Corkman)

Tiny Dog a Killer?
A STRABANE woman has been left traumatized after a van load of men accused her little dog of eating their kitten.
Local councilor Eugene McMenamin said he was contacted by the “distraught woman” following the lunchtime incident at Laurel Drive on Thursday, September 29.
McMenamin takes up the story, “The woman was walking her dog when a blue Ford Transit van containing three male occupants pulled up along side her. She initially thought the driver was seeking directions.
“Those in the van, who asked the woman did she live locally, said they were looking for their little white kitten. She sensed that all was not right.
“They then accused the woman’s dog of eating their kitten. The dog in question is a small pedigree Bischon Frise. They also said they were going to report her to the RSPCA.”
The woman, who is aged in her late fifties, then made her way to a nearby house when one of the men appeared to be getting out of the van.
McMenamin added, “The woman had the guile to get the registration number of the van.
“The police have checked the registration and have confirmed they have the information regarding the owner of the vehicle, but they have said that the registration plate has appeared on other vehicles.
“This incident raises a number of questions. Where these men driving around casing homes?
“On the day in question, several residents have complained of being approached by men selling their services in an aggressive manner.
“Furthermore, in recent times, family pets have been stolen in Strabane and this incident raises questions as to the motives of these three men. Where they engaged in stealing dogs?
“The occupants of this van need to be apprehended and questioned regarding their sinister motives. It is totally unacceptable that a woman walking her pet is intimidated in this manner.”

(Source: Derry Journal)


Doctor Misconduct

A DOCTOR has been found guilty of professional misconduct in his treatment of a 37-year-old man from Rush who died of cancer.
The Medical Council found that Dr. Peter Peng-Cheng Ting had been guilty of six out of eight counts of misconduct by not sending a mole he removed William Cashell's back. A little over a year after the procedure, Cashell, a father of one, had died from cancer.
Ting has a practice in Artane, and the Medical Council is now weighing up what sanctions will be applied to the doctor in the wake of the case.
Cashell's father, Michael, told reporters the family were happy with the outcome of the inquiry and said he hoped the case would help “raise awareness for other people.”
In February of 2007, Cashell presented at Ting's practice with a mole on his back. Cashell's partner, Lorraine Coady, told the inquiry that he had been complaining that the mole was sore and itchy. She also told the inquiry that the mole had increased in size and changed shape over a number of months.
Ting removed the mole which he believed to be a “skin lesion” and “not sinister,” and admitted to the inquiry he did not record the procedure in his medical notes.
Two months later, Cashell returned to Ting with a lump under his arm and was referred to Beaumont Hospital to be seen by a specialist.
By July of 2007, the underarm lump had doubled in size and Cashell also developed a lump in his groin.
After further visits to the hospital and a crucial visit to the DDoc service that September, it was finally revealed on September 6 after a biopsy that Cashell had terminal cancer. He died on May 31, 2008.

(Source: Fingal Independent)

Doctor Recruitment
MINISTER for Health Dr. James Reilly has defended the state's handling of the recruitment of hospital doctors from India and Pakistan for vacant posts in Ireland.
Reilly said the initial recruitment campaign was a "resounding success" given that 290 doctors had been interviewed, 260 arrived in Ireland and 230 are now working.
A further 70 to 80 arrived in Ireland after the first exam, and a second exam is due to be held later this month by the Medical Council.
Reilly said he would be concerned if some doctors who had arrived here had not been treated in a proper fashion.
A group of doctors are still waiting for a job and some have said they feel financially and emotionally drained.
Reilly said he had not been contacted by the Indian or Pakistan embassies regarding claims that some doctors are in distress and feel they are not being treated well.
He said doctors waiting for a post are getting food and accommodation, plus €100 a week.

(Source: RTE News)