In Short

A round up of today's other stories in brief...

A round up of today's other stories in brief...

Famed fiddle player Paddy Canny dies

The death has taken place in Co Clare of the renowned fiddle player and founder member of the Tulla Céilí Band Paddy Canny.

Mr Canny, an uncle of the acclaimed fiddler Martin Hayes, passed away in hospital on Saturday night after taking ill weeks ago.

READ MORE

Born in 1919, the former All-Ireland Champion fiddle player grew up Glendree, Tulla, Co Clare. His father Joe played the instrument, as did both his brothers, and the blind fiddle instructor Paddy MacNamara boarded with the family in wintertime.

Mr Canny played on the first LP of Irish traditional music, recorded in 1959 and featuring PJ Hayes and Peadar O'Loughlin.

Musician and broadcaster Kieran Hanrahan, who featured Paddy Canny several times on his RTÉ Radio 1 show Céilí House, said: "He was a great man and very gentle. He was honourable and a lovely man."

Nurses highlight beds shortage

Calls have been made for a summit to be held in Cork to deal with the shortage of hospital beds for emergency patients in the region.

The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) says there are over 50 acute beds closed in the city due to a lack of necessary resources and a shortage of staff.

The union says nursing and other support staff have been curtailed at Cork University Hospital due to HSE cutbacks.

The call from the INO coincided with a rally in Cork on Saturday where members of the local branch of the Campaign for a Real Public Health Service took to the streets in a bid to draw attention to cutbacks in the health service in the city.

Family rescued as yacht hits rocks

A Co Wicklow family of five had to abandon their yacht and be taken to safety by a lifeboat crew on Saturday after their vessel ran aground in the Shannon estuary.

A rescue operation was launched around 4.45pm after the Coast Guard received a request for assistance from the skipper of the yacht which reported being "high and dry" on rocks about 2km off Aughinish Island near Foynes.

The Kilrush-based RNLI lifeboat was launched soon after the alarm was raised and headed to the scene.

The family had travelled down river Shannon via Limerick city. Along the route they stopped to secure the mast and unwittingly drifted on to the rocks. No one on board was injured.