By Sarah Gill
21st Sep 2023
21st Sep 2023
Your speedy summary of today's must-read stories.
Poland halts weapon transfer
Poland has said it will no longer arm Ukraine, focussing instead on its own defence as the two allies clashed at a key moment in Kyiv’s fightback against invasion by Russia. In a mounting row over grain exports from Ukraine, Poland summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to protest remarks at the UN by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Children’s Health Ireland
Co-founder of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network Claire Cahill has said that parents have lost “trust and faith” amid a “long-running national scandal” regarding the care and treatment of their children. Her comments come after the publication of the internal and external reviews into spinal surgery for patients with spina bifida at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin by Children’s Health Ireland, which found that 75% of patients who underwent spinal surgery developed a wound infection requiring extra surgery.
Leinster House protest
Protesters displayed a mock gallows and photographs of high-profile politicians on the Kildare Street side of the parliamentary complex as the Dáil returned following the summer recess. The demonstrators, many of them chanting shouting “traitors” and obscene slogans, later moved to the Merrion Street entrance and several politicians, including Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, were prevented from leaving until gardaí escorted a convoy of politicians’ cars out of the gate. In total 13 people, 11 men and two women, were arrested in relation to incidents in the vicinity of Leinster House and Government Buildings with two of the men subsequently charged.
Garda Representative Association
The Garda Representative Association is waiting to hear what “options” the Garda Commissioner will present at a meeting that might ease industrial tensions. Rosters and the vote of ‘no confidence’ in Commissioner Drew Harris by GRA members dominated when the GRA met Justice Minister Helen McEntee, a meeting that coincided with RTÉ reports that a 2019 internal Garda report found that work rosters, due to be re-introduced in just over six weeks, did not provide “sufficient resources” to police the country. Commissioner Harris has directed that this roster, known as the “Westmanstown Roster”, will see staff working six days a week, for eight hours per shift, followed by four days off. It will require five garda units to operate it. This replaces the current 12-hour roster, worked over four days, followed by four days off. This roster requires four units.
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