[ Family blames State for loss of son’s foot after Libya shootingOpens in new window ]
The family of a young Irishman who was shot in Libya has criticised the Department of Foreign Affairs for failing to fund an air ambulance, saying the delay in his evacuation led to the loss of his foot through amputation.
The surgeon who treated Abduraheem Duibi (23) says the outcome would have been “completely different” but for the delay of almost three weeks from the time he was shot to treatment in Ireland.
Prof Sherif Sultan, vascular surgeon at University Hospital Galway, says Mr Duibi “would still have both legs today” if he had been medically evacuated immediately after being shot.
[ Government scheme, new lending rules blamed for house price surgeOpens in new window ]
House price price inflation picked up significantly in the first three months of the year, making the return to double-digit growth more likely.
Two quarterly reports, from property websites MyHome.ie and Daft.ie, linked the latest price acceleration to the Government’s new tax incentive scheme for first-time buyers and a loosening of the Central Bank’s mortgage lending rules.
MyHome’s report, produced with stockbroking firm Davy, suggested annual house price inflation is running at 9 per cent nationally and at 10.2 per cent in Dublin, where supply shortages are most evident.
[ Religious order rejects calls to share redress costs with StateOpens in new window ]
Pressure by politicians on religious congregations to pay half the €1.5 billion cost of compensating those abused in Catholic institutions “is immoral and should stop”, one of the congregations has said.
The Oblates (Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate), who were severely criticised by the Ryan Commission report which investigated institutional abuse, dismissed the notion they were under “moral pressure” to pay more towards the compensation bill.
Nor do any of the 18 congregations involved “have a moral obligation to pay a share of the administration and ancillary costs of the Commission of Investigation and the redress board. Such a demand has never been made in all the history of the State,” it said.
[ Ice-breaker: Syria and Pakistan play soccer in BallaghaderreenOpens in new window ]
As another 40 Syrians arrived at the former Abbeyfield hotel in Ballaghaderreen around lunchtime last Friday, local Pakistani-born barber Sajjad Hussain, was on the phone arranging a soccer game between his community and the new arrivals.
Sport is big in Ballaghaderreen as the Syrians are finding out. Saturday’s game was the second in less than a week between a selection from the Emergency Reception & Orientation Centre (EROC) and the fit, and the not-so-fit, from the local Pakistani community.
Shairose Akram, who has the distinction of being the first Pakistani-born GAA player to win an All-Ireland medal (with the Mayo Under-21s last year) and is something of a local hero, togged out alongside his father, Muhammed, for the Pakistani side.
[ Former ambassador condemns Ireland’s Brexit policyOpens in new window ]
Watch the €60 billion Brexit bill.
That, says Ray Bassett, a former diplomat turned critic of the Irish Government’s approach to Brexit, will be the clearest sign of how bad things could get for Ireland.
If the EU sticks to a demand for a €60 billion payment from the British government it will be a sign that things will get very bad indeed. It is, he says, “one of the canaries in the mine”.
“The Irish Government should scream and say: Look, let’s be realistic; let’s not put figures on it; let’s sit down and do a joint study with the British. But if you see the €60 billion coming in then our vital interests have been ignored.”