News Headlines Cork

Heroin addicts in Cork are not getting fast access to Methadone Treatment Programmes, which could be causing some to overdose. Cork's Methadone Treatment Programme currently has 150 members, while there are a further 14 people waiting to access the programme, according to the HSE. However, to be included on the waiting list, people must be assessed, and one city councillor says the low figures are merely due to delays in the assessment procedure.

New figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) this week confirm that the Cork Independent is not only the largest freely distributed weekly newspaper in Cork, but in Ireland, another accolade for the real capital. The ABC this week certified the Cork Independent's Letter Box Delivery throughout Cork City and County at 25,673 copies, for the period 2 January to 4 July 2010.

The sunny weather we have enjoyed over the summer is set to end this weekend. Met Eireann, the Irish Meteorological Service said that the good weather is at an end for the foreseeable future. Meteorologist, Jerry Scully claims this weekend will bring rain along the rebel county.

Despite 25 children at Crab Lane NS being infected with TB, the school will reopen as planned next Monday. Parents at the 220-pupil school were informed this week that a further two active cases of the disease were confirmed after three initial cases were diagnosed previously.

Plans by the Department of Social Protection to activate the economy through a social employment 'work for dole' scheme have been criticised in Cork. Minister for Social Protection, Eamon O Cuiv announced this week that he wanted to focus on job activation through providing social employment schemes for the unemployed.

Cork people are still willing to take part in clinical trials at the Shandon Clinic, despite last week’s incident in which three men were hospitalised during the testing of a drug for cancer patients.

A facility that makes prosthetic limbs at St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital (SMOH), which has been in operation for over 20 years is to be shut in November.Joe Moloney from Blarney, whose son, Tom, was born without any hands or feet has started a campaign to save the service that has treated Tom for nine years, after the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) decided to outsource the service.

Bishopstown Credit Union’s MasterCard debit card is two years old. To celebrate, shoppers in Wilton Shopping Centre were treated to some birthday cake yesterday 1 September, the official birthday of the worldwide card. Local councillor Brian Bermingham was on hand on the day to slice up the cake.

Plans are well underway for the Midleton Food and Drink Festival, taking place on Saturday 11 September. Festival Project Manager, John McCormack, grandson of the world famous Irish tenor, promises a great day out. “The Festival is a fantastic showcase for the wonderful variety of locally produced foods and crafts in East Cork,” he says. “It is now one of the premier food events in Munster.

The privatisation of Cork County Council’s bin service began yesterday, after a deal expected to net the council €10 million over the next year. Cork County Council sold its waste-collection business because it was faced with an “unsustainable financial position” arising out of falling customer numbers, the introduction of a VAT charge of 13.5 per cent and rising costs associated with a new EU landfill directive on the pre-treatment of waste.

A Total of 8,850 first and second-year girls are to get the free cervical cancer vaccination in Cork from 13 September, according to the HSE. Last May, 251 doses of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, were dispensed in North and West Cork, as part of a pilot programme. However, TD Deirdre Clune said the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, needed to reassure parents and young adults about the safety of the drug following concerns raised in the media this week.

A second ‘Freedom Flotilla’ to Gaza, led by UCC lecturer Dr Fintan Lane will take place next month. Preparations are well underway internationally for the Flotilla, which is being organised by the same groups that were behind the Freedom Flotilla in late May. Between 10 and 15 ships are expected to take part in the flotilla and a coalition of Irish pro-Palestinian organisations has now come together to ensure that a large Irish contingent.

A total of 2,500 families in the HSE South region who applied for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance are still waiting for payment, even though schools re-opened this week. As of 27 August, the HSE had received 22,500 applications from the Cork and Kerry region. From June to the same date, it has processed 20,000, has registered 21,230 and has paid out 17,819 claims, at a cost of €8,429,675.

Women need to be encouraged to become more politically active, according to a Cork TD, who believes the balance of gender is too heavy on the male side. Deirdre Clune TD told the Cork Independent that the departure of Olwyn Enright from Dail this week was a sad day for women in Irish politics. Fine Gael's Deputy Clune and the Labour Party's Kathleen Lynch are the only female sitting members out of 19 TDs representing the Cork area.

A civic reception was held at Cork City Council this week for one of Cork's most popular councillors. Independent councillor Dave McCarthy (65) was honoured for his contribution to Cork over the last 25 years, including one year as the Lord Mayor of the city. Labour Party councillor Michael Ahern was among those who paid tribute to Mr McCarthy.

The ceremony took place at the Ennis Pro-Cathedral last Sunday and the 57-year old native of Turners Cross succeeds Dr Willie Walsh, who held the position since 1994. Born in Cork in 1952, Bishop O'Reilly joined the Society of African Missions in 1970 and was ordained a priest in 1978. He then carried out two years of pastoral work in the Archdiocese of Monrovia, Liberia, before returning to Rome to complete his Biblical studies.

Four Presentation Sisters from Cork are part of the relief effort for the floods in Pakistan, which has so far killed over 1,600 people and has left over six million homeless. Sr Bridie Walsh has been at her Ballycotton home since June but is returning to Pakistan on Friday 10 September where she will help flood victims come to terms with the tragedy.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe has hit back at remarks by Fine Gael’s Michael Creed on statutory redundancies, labelling them as “inaccurate and politically motivated”. Minister O’Keeffe said his officials were dealing with a large volume of claims due to the recession, pointing out that the number of statutory redundancy claims has tripled in the past two-and-a-half years.

Rescue Organisation Ireland (ROI) in association with the World Rescue Organisation, are bringing the competition to Ireland for the first time between Friday 3 and Sunday 5 September. The event will bring over 400 visitors to the city centre and is estimated to bring over €100,000 in revenue to Cork over the three days. With up to thirty teams taking part, The World Rescue Challenge is an international Fire Services event that involves national rescue organisations coming together from every corner of the globe, including the USA, South Africa, Russia and Europe.

The winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 is to visit Cork on Wednesday 8 September when he gives the Inaugural Cancer Lecture of the Cork Cancer Research Centre at UCC. Nobel Laureate, Dr James Watson, will help UCC mark the formal collaboration between the Leslie and Jean Quick Cancer Laboratories at Cold Spring Harbour (Long Island, New York) and the Cork Cancer Research Centre.