Baby organs incinerated
A Cork couple has spoken of the trauma of learning that their baby’s organs were incinerated abroad without their knowledge or consent.
An investigation is underway at Cork University Maternity Hospital after it emerged the organs of 18 babies were sent to Belgium for incineration in late March and early April 2020, without the knowledge of their bereaved parents.
According to RTÉ, the incident came to light in May of last year when Cork couple Leona Bermingham and Glenn Callanan received a phone call from the hospital regarding their late son, Lee.
The couple later learned that it was their baby’s brain that was incinerated abroad in Antwerp in Belgium.
Ireland the best place to be during Covid
Ireland has been ranked as the best place to be during Covid, according to Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking.
The State now leads a pack of European nations that sit at the top of the ranking, unseating Norway from the top spot and ahead of Spain and the Netherlands.
The ranking is a monthly snapshot that tracks 53 economies’ performance in Covid containment, quality of healthcare, vaccination coverage, overall mortality and progress towards restarting travel and easing border curbs.
It marks a remarkable turnaround from the beginning of this year, when the State had the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, followed by some of Europe's harshest lockdown measures.
Glenisk fire investigated
The managing director of Glenisk yoghurt, Vincent Cleary, has said the company will regroup and rebuild to become operational as quickly as possible following the fire on Monday which completely destroyed its Offaly manufacturing plant.
The fire broke out at Glenisk’s organic yoghurt factory on Monday in Killeigh, near Tullamore.
On Twitter, the company – founded in 1987 and among the best-known organic dairy brands in the country – described it as a “serious” fire but confirmed that no staff were injured in the blaze.
Mr Cleary said tears were shed during the night and described the factory as a burnt out shell this morning. It was still uncertain what exactly had happened on Monday, he said.
However, he said he would be meeting with line managers on Tuesday to “make a list” to get back to work, adding he wanted all the staff to “buy into” whatever plans are developed.
Ryanair reopens Cork base
Ryanair has announced plans to restore routes and reopen its base at Cork Airport.
The announcement is a major boost for the airport, which remains closed until November 22nd for the multi-million euro rebuild of its main runway.
The €200 million investment will restore all of Ryanair's pre-pandemic passenger carrying capacity at Cork from December, and will include the introduction of new services to Birmingham and Edinburgh which are unserved following the collapse of Stobart Air.
The airline, which closed its Cork base last October, said the reopening will secure 60 Ryanair jobs and deliver thousands of tourism jobs in the region.
Covid bonus
An extra bank holiday and tax credits are among the measures under consideration as part of a “Covid bonus”, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said.
The Government is discussing a number of options to reward workers on the frontline for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Varadkar said he expects the bonus would be paid to Irish citizens before the end of the year, with speculation that a decision could be made on Budget day.
Mr Varadkar declined to give a date for the potential additional bank holiday, after Fine Gael TD Ciaran Cannon suggested it should tie in with the American holiday of Thanksgiving.
