Crisis deepening at Drogheda hospital as patients are sent elsewhere

Some of the ambulances that were backed up at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda earlier this week

The ongoing crisis at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda deepened last night after the hospital was taken off call.

No new patients were admitted last night due to overcrowding with medical patients being referred to Cavan and surgical patients to Blanchardstown before normal service resumed around 8am.

Earlier this week there were seven ambulances backed up at the hospital, some of whom had to wait up to four hours to admit patients due to the fact there were no trolleys for them with more than 70 patients on trolleys at the time. At present there is 71 patients on trolleys in the hospital.

Commenting on the latest development, Cllr Tomás Sharkey said the crisis was getting worse.

He added: “Now more than ever the beds and patients need to be in Louth County Hospital.”

Gallagher launches new real estate group

Sean Gallagher

Sean Gallagher, the high-profile former presidential candidate and Dragon’s Den star, has raised over €25m to buy commercial property with the launch of his new Clyde Real Estate group.

Gallagher and his backers are seeking to tap into the huge demand for quality offices in Dublin and other parts of the country. The firm has just bought the Alcatel-Lucent complex in Blanchardstown, in the largest commercial property transaction in Ireland in the first quarter of 2015.

Clyde Real Estate has raised €25m from an unnamed US private equity player, as well as bank debt and founder equity to fund the purchase of properties.

Gallagher, who lived for a number of years in Blackrock, has teamed up with telecoms magnate Colm Piercy, who runs European communications group Viatel, to buy office and commercial properties in Dublin, Carlow and Louth over the last year.

Piercy is one of the most successful telecoms entrepreneurs in the country. He merged his Dundalk-based Digiweb business into Viatel in a €120m merger in 2013 and the expanded firm has become increasingly valuable. He is also an investor in the data centre sector.

“Clyde Real Estate is a business-led property venture that has been founded by experienced business builders,” said Gallagher. “Each of us has grown our own technology companies and we feel uniquely placed to understand the flexible and high specification accommodation needs of modern business,” he added.

“We are focused on acquiring substantial office and commercial properties which will be made available to meet the growing needs of indigenous Irish companies, corporates and multinational firms seeking to establish or expand their operations here,” explained Gallagher.

As well as buying the 300,000 sq ft Alcatel-Lucent building, Clyde Real Estate has also done a deal to acquire the landmark Braun facility in Carlow from multinational Procter & Gamble.

Gallagher says the company will develop this 30-acre site into a dedicated corporate and technology park for the South East. Clyde Real Estate is working on closing a number of other deals which will give it a portfolio of office and commercial space encompassing around 1 million square feet.

The company’s existing clients include well-known names such Citibank, Alcatel-Lucent, Viatel, Ask.com and Paragon Global Resources.

Clyde is in talks with a number of other private equity and institutional funders on financing further acquisitions after it beds down its first round of commercial property deals. It is likely to seek to raise a larger sum from backers for property buyouts in Ireland and overseas markets.

PayPal and eBay donate €33,000 to Irish charities

Nine Irish charities will receive funding totalling over €33,000 from the eBay Inc. GIVE Foundation.

The nine benefiting charities were all nominated by employees of PayPal and eBay, at their Dundalk, Blanchardstown and Ballycoolin offices, and their grant allocation was determined by the results of a vote carried out in PayPal and eBay. Almost 700 employees engaged in the voting process. 

The nine charities receiving funding through the eBay Inc. GIVE Programme are the Children’s Fund For Health, PAWS Animal Rescue, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Jack and Jill Foundation, Irish Red Cross, AsIAm.ie, DEBRA, Arthritis Ireland and Order of Malta. 

Yesterday a cheque was presented to the main beneficiary, The Children’s Fund for Health, which is set to receive almost €7,000 from the GIVE Foundation. The presentation was made by Louise Phelan, Vice President of Global Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), PayPal and Hazel Mitchell, Site Director, eBay.

Site Director at eBay, Hazel Mitchell said: “The PayPal and eBay teammates in both Dublin and Dundalk work so hard to support their local charities, through volunteering, through donations, and through participating in the many fundraising activities that are held at our offices.

“I‘m delighted that the eBay Inc. GIVE Foundation can provide additional support to another nine Irish charities and I’m immensely proud of the amazing community spirit shown by our teammates in Dublin and Dundalk.”

Sharkey insists new hospital CEO “must deliver services to Louth County Hospital”

Cllr Tomás Sharkey

Sinn Féin County Councillor Tomás Sharkey has reacted to the news that Mr Bill Maher has been appointed as CEO of the Dublin North East Group of hospitals by the HSE.

In a statement to the media, Cllr Sharkey said that the new hospital boss must deliver services back to the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk again.

He said: “The HSE has grouped Louth County Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda, Monaghan, Cavan, Beaumont, Connolly in Blanchardstown and the Rotunda as one hospital group. In Dundalk and Louth we know that this means our hospital is the small minnow in a large pond. We have lost services down the years under the pretense that the bigger hospitals were safer places to go when sick. The HSE ignore the fact that actually getting to the larger hospitals, being seen and then admitted to a ward is the new risk in our health system.

“The incoming CEO has been in charge of hospitals in Roscommon and Galway so is no stranger to cutting back emergency and acute services in smaller hospitals.

“As a member of the HSE Forum for this region, I will be tasking Mr Maher to admit that the closure of A&E and Acute Medical services in Dundalk have been a disaster and have added to overcrowding and safety concerns in Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda.

“Mr Maher is coming into his job under a government whose local TDs and Senators promised the return of A&E and Acute Medical Services,” he said.

Nun has damages claim against local woman rejected

A judge yesterday rejected a damages claim by a nun against a local woman for injuries she allegedly suffered in a car crash eight years ago.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane said she preferred the evidence of the other drive who told the Circuit Civil Court there had been “no bang, no crash, no impact and no accident.”

Sr Helen Ugbome of the Nigeria-based Holy Family Sisters of the Needy, told the court she was a nurse in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, Dublin and had been driving home from night duty when the incident happened.

She said a car driven by Edel Macklin, formerly of Willow Park Avenue, Glasnevin, Dublin but now living in Dundalk – had hit her car from behind when she stopped at traffic lights near Hart’s Corner in Glasnevin on January 28^th 2005.

Sr Ugbome, of Grange Court, Stamullen Road, Gormanston, Co Meath, told defence council William O’Brien that Ms Macklin had been dressed in her pyjamas when the incident happened around 11am.

She claimed she had suffered injuries to her neck and right shoulder and lower back.

Ms Macklin told the court she had been stopped at lights when Sr Ugbome got out of the car in front of her and approached her with pen and paper.

She had said her car had been struck and they had exchanged addresses and insurance details. She said there had been no contact with Sr Ugbome’s car and she had given her details just so she could move on.

Judge Linnane said that while there was a direct conflict of evidence between both women she preferred the evidence of Ms Macklin, who denied there had been any contact between the cars. Dismissing Sr Ugbome’s claim with costs against her, the judge said she had heard evidence of Sr Ugbome having obtained a garage estimate for repairs to the back of her car arising from a previous rear-end crash she had been involved in a month earlier.