THE month of July saw a decrease in patients waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry compared to the same month in 2023 and 2022.
According to figures supplied by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) there were 286 patients waiting on trolleys this month compared to 314 in 2023 and 415 in 2022.
Nationally, over 9,755 people, including 73 children, were treated on a trolley, chair or other inappropriate bed space in Irish hospitals in July according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
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Speaking about the national picture, INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “The level of overcrowding this July has been really worrying and is an indicator for what we can expect for the remainder of 2024 unless meaningful action is taken by the HSE and individual hospital groups.
“The trolley figures for July are a clear indicator that the INMO’s call over the past five years for winter planning to commence immediately must now be heeded as the level of demand will only continue to increase over the coming months.
“Over 26% of patients on trolleys this month were placed on a trolley or chair in wards outside of the emergency department. Over 20,287 patients have been treated on a trolley outside of the emergency department so far this year.
This is a worrying trend that should not be accepted. The medical implications of long-term stays on trolleys are well flagged, allowing patients to be treated on wards that are already short-staffed puts patient safety at further risk.”
THE judging panel, tasked with selecting the next Rose of Tralee has been announced, made up of a Rose of Tralee, an RTÉ star, a councillor and an international fashion designer to the stars.
The 2024 Selection panel will be chaired this year by 1998 Rose of Tralee, Luzveminda O’Sullivan with fashion designer Don O’Neill, RTE’s Nuala Carey and broadcaster Ollie Turner making up the quartet.
Luzveminda, a native of Castlebar, Co Mayo, is a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry with more than 20 years’ experience and still returns to the Festival as often as possible since her win 26 years ago in 1998.
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Returning to the panel this year is Nuala Carey of RTÉ Weather and National Lottery fame. Another returning member of the Judging Panel for 2024 is Ollie Turner – a Galway broadcaster who has been head of Sport with Galway Bay FM since 2000 and was recently elected as a local councillor in Co Galway.
The final member of the 2024 Judging Panel is international fashion designer to the stars and proud Kerryman, Don O’Neill. Don recently relocated home to Ireland with his husband Pascal Guillermie, having spent 30 years in New York, and has recently been elected to the board of the Design and Craft Council of Ireland, where his goal is to give back to the makers in Ireland.
Don says: “I am beyond excited to be an International judge in the 2024 Rose of Tralee – a Festival I have loved for as long as I can remember and grew to love even more when I moved to New York, coming to know and admire the extraordinary Roses down through the years. I am really looking forward to working alongside Nuala, Mindy and Ollie and can’t wait to meet this year’s wonderful Roses. The experience of a lifetime awaits us all!”
There will be 32 Roses taking part in this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival, all hoping to impress this fantastic panel of judges. The National Rose Tour begins on Sunday the 11th of August, with the Festival itself taking place from Friday the 16th to Tuesday the 20th of August.
The countdown is truly on now for Sunday and we’re all hoping it’ll be third time lucky for the Kerry Senior Ladies Football team in the All-Ireland Final when they face Galway.
Here’s the players and management team heading to Croke Park to bid for glory…
The Kerry management team during a Kerry squad portrait session at Austin Stack Park in Tralee, Kerry ahead of the TG4 LGFA All-Ireland Senior Championship Final. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
MINISTER for Education and Kerry TD Norma Foley has welcomed the expansion of the Hot School Meals programme to a further 12 Kerry schools.
Schools in Ballyheigue, Kilflynn, Lisselton and Killorglin are among the ones who have been added (see full list below).
The scheme was first set up in 2019 with a pilot of 30 schools but has now expanded to almost 2,200 primary schools.
Around 69 primary schools in Kerry are currently operating the Hot School Meals programme and this is now being extended to a further 12 primary schools in the county.
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Minister Foley said: “The Hot School Meals Programme has been a tremendous success and it is fantastic that it has now been expanded to another 12 primary schools in Kerry. We now have almost 2,200 primary schools on the programme and all remaining schools can apply to join for the next school year in September.”
The Kerry schools added are…
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There are 8,984 children in Co. Kerry currently benefitting from free hot school meals and the addition of 12 more schools to the programme will increase this even further.
The Department of Social Protection provides the funding to schools for the School Meals Programme, and it is the responsibility of schools to choose their supplier in an open, fair and transparent manner in accordance with national legislation and EU directives on procurement.
The Department of Social Protection has this year contacted all of the remaining Primary Schools who have not yet joined the Hot School Meals scheme asking them to submit expressions of interest in commencing the provision of Hot School Meals.
Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Social Protection, has said that the responses will be reviewed with the aim of including more schools subject to available funding in Budget 2025.
KERRY’S culture and identity will be celebrated on RTÉ Radio 1’s The County Measure this Sunday morning and Tralee is one of the locations visited by the presenter.
Writer and broadcaster Vincent Woods voyages across Kerry on Sunday August 4 at 10am on RTÉ Radio 1. The County Measure uncovers the vibrant arts, history, heritage, sport, and diverse communities of Kerry.
From unforgettable Uragh Woods, the deep culture of Daingean Uí Chuis, to speaking to artist Ciara Kenny in Tralee, Vincent takes a measure of all that the county has to offer.
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“Ancient, fragile, resilient, renewed – Kerry and its people hold their Kingdom proud within the borders of county and nation. What is it here that makes Kerry so unique?” asks Vincent Woods.
“The knot, the twist, the power of forest and mountain and sea. The way the unexpected emerges in a day. The glory of music and language, the voice of Micheál O Muircheartaigh, the ball high in the air and the hands reaching for it, the rouse of Begley music, the journey over the Conor Pass, Carrauntoohill rising in mist and sunlight,” he added.
Vincent Woods with Tralee choreographer Ebun and her dance students.
Súil Amháin, the acclaimed Listowel poet and rapper Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháín will unveil brand new music inspired by his native county. The author Paddy Bushe will also feature with an exclusive piece of writing on the programme.
The County Measure is a landmark RTÉ Radio 1 series that explores the identity and communities of Ireland’s 32 counties.
The series previously visited several counties including Antrim, Cork, Longford, and Roscommon. You can listen back to the series on www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/the-county-measure
.Kerry YMA Stockjudging First Place Winners (12-18 years category).
MEMBERS of the Kerry Holstein Friesian Breeders Club enjoyed success recently when they competed in the Irish Holstein Friesian Association National YMA Finals in Kilkenny.
The club won the Denis Barrett Auctions & Pedigree Sales Perpetual Trophy for Sportsmanship.
The club also retained the West Midlands Friesian Breeders Club YMA Perpetual Trophy for Ag-Analysis Competition. The Kerry team members were Jack Walsh, Muiris Harty and Christopher Heffernan.
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The members also brought home gold from the IHFA National Stockjudging Finals in Kildare on July 10th.
The 12 – 18 years winners were Cormac Walsh, Gearoid Harty Jennifer Harty while the 18 – 26 years category winners were Aisling Harty, Jack Goulding, Muiris Harty.
The Ag Analysis Competition winners.The YMA Group.Kerry YMA Stockjudging First Place Winners (18-26 years category)..
EVENTS from Casement’s life will be recalled and celebrated once again at the Roger Casement Gathering in Casement Fort (McKenna’s Fort), Ardfert on Saturday, August 10.
Dr Tim Horgan, historian and author, and Mícheál Ó Ruairc,file agus údar, will address those in attendance.
Everybody is invited to attend. The Gathering is being organised by Tionól Mhic Easmainn and Conradh na Gaeilge (Trá Lí). Fáilte roimh chách.
Five years after being knighted by King George V of Great Britain, for his humanitarian work in The Congo and in Peru, Roger Casement was hanged for treason. His unfortunate hanging took place in Pentonville Prison, London, exactly 108 years ago.
THE month of July saw a decrease in patients waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Kerry compared to the same month in 2023 and 2022.
