Ronan Glynn resignation
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn, one of the health officials who steered the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, has resigned.
He is the latest health official to leave his role, as the State emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Glynn follows in the footsteps of outgoing chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan, who has already confirmed he will leave his role at the Department of Health.
Professor Philip Nolan, who chaired the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group as part of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), was announced as the new director general of Science Foundation Ireland last October.
Maternity hospital row
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has accused Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald of “playing politics”, in another heated exchange in the Dáil over the co-location plans for the National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
The Cabinet is due to decide next week whether to approve the plan to move the NMH from Holles Street in Dublin city centre to St Vincent’s Hospital’s Elm Park site.
Concerns have been raised about the ownership structure of the NMH at the new site, in which the State will own the building and the land will be owned by a legal entity called the St Vincent’s Holdings Group.
The Government has stressed that the clinical integrity of the hospital is preserved in its constitution, and that the leasing arrangements, costing €10 a year for 299 years, effectively amounts to public ownership.
Construction funding
The Cabinet has agreed to provide funding to contractors working on public projects in order to off-set the rising cost of materials due to inflation.
Thee Government could offer up to €160 million by the end of the year under the new scheme, aiming to ensure public projects, such as new roads, public buildings and civil infrastructure, remain viable and are delivered on time.
Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath said the measures are necessary due to the soaring rate of inflation in recent months, which have left construction companies who entered into fixed-price public projects struggling.
Santina Cawley trial
A woman accused of the murder of a two-year-old girl was shown pictures of the bloodied apartment where the child was found injured and told Gardaí that all of the evidence seemed to point to her having committed the crime.
The jury at the trial of Karen Harrington, who is charged with the murder of Santina Cawley on the 5th of July 2019, at Boreenmanna Apartments in Cork, were given the opportunity to view the recording of the fifth garda interview the accused underwent following the death of the child.
Karen told Gardaí that she “couldn’t explain herself” but that the scene suggested that she “went mad.”
Deliveroo driver
A food delivery rider accused of stabbing schoolboy Josh Dunne to death said he used a knife on the night to defend himself, a witness has told the Central Criminal Court.
The jury in the trial of George Gonzaga Bento was also shown WhatsApp messages between the accused and witness Mr Guilherme Quieroz on the night of the incident.
Mr Queiroz described the conditions for delivery riders in Dublin 3 as “dangerous” and confirmed that food delivery workers had a WhatsApp group to communicate to each other about "trouble spots or danger areas" in Dublin.
