[6]
2014. The new year came in as the old one went out: gale force winds, widespread flooding and,
in many parts of the country, millions of euros worth of damage. [It looked as if we had been spared the worst when, on Wednesday, February 12th,
a violent storm hit the town. Much damage was done throughout the county and one family - two adults and three children - was lucky to
escape with their lives when a massive tree fell on their car on the Block Road].
At the end of January, Portlaoise made national headlines for all the wrong reasons. As revealed by a report on Prime Time,
four infants - none of whom had any congenital abnormalities or experienced any infection - died during or shortly after birth in the local hospital.
The deaths - which occurred over a six year period - were the result of negligence pure and simple: failure to learn from previous errors, failure to act
on signs of foetal distress, failure to properly administer the drug Syntocinon. And to add insult to injury, the unfortunate parents were then treated in a
most cavalier manner by hospital authorities[31]. Needless to say, the Health Service Executive
has offered profound apologies and promised a review of the maternity unit. Will that review name the hospital personnel guilty of such awful negligence?
Will approproate action be taken? Or will these tragedies be explained away by 'System Failure'? As I write this, Bob Dylan's lines are echoing in my head:
February 28: The review by the Department of Health's Chief Medical Officer is a damning indictment of maternity services in the hospital:
They "cannot be regarded as safe and sustainable within its current governance arrangements". The report concludes that "families and patients were treated
in a poor and at times appalling manner"[32].
The upshot is that a number of medical personnel are rightly facing disciplinary investigations, and a new team - under the auspices of the
Coombe maternity hospital in Dublin - has been seconded to run our maternity services.
May 8: According to figures based on the Property Price Register compiled by myhome.ie, Laois was the only county that showed
a drop in transactions in 2013 (down 3% on 2012). In other words, the recovery in the property market happened everywhere else but not here.
In the
County Council elections on May 23rd, Councillor Willie Aird stormed in on the first count, but the real talking point was the success of first-time Labour Party
candidate, Noel Touhy. His achievement is all the more remarkable given the disastrous performance by his party nationwide.
Under the terms of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, Town Councils were abolished on June 1st and
Councillor Aird had the distinction of being the last Cathaoirleach (Chairman) or Mayor of Portlaoise. You win some, you lose some.
Celebrity-spotters among you must have heard by now that newlyweds Kanye West and Kim Kardashian
spent part of their honeymoon in Ballyfin, the luxury hotel just a few miles out the road. On May 28th - Bargain Wednesday. All tickets €6.00 -
they were photographed leaving our Odeon cinema after
the afternoon showing of the new X-Men movie. He had previously visited Portlaoise in June 2012 and obviously liked our town so much
he wanted to bring 'herself' here. So, newlyweds: come to Portlaoise, the Honeymoon Capital of Ireland!
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain't the time for your tears.
[31]
Minister for Health James Reilly spoke of "the dehumanising nature of the way some people were dealt with"
and how it was "totally unacceptable" that people were not informed that investigations had been carried out.
The Irish Times February 1, 2014.
[32]
The Irish Times March 1 and 2, 2014.
HOMEPAGE