A round-up of today's other Irish news stories in brief
Talks to convene in attempt to resolve refuse services dispute
Talks are due to be convened at the Labour Relations Commission this morning in a bid to resolve a dispute over refuse services in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council area of south Dublin. Siptu has served strike notice over plans to outsource the collection of bins to Panda, an outside company. The strike is due to start this Thursday.
The union said if the strike goes ahead it could spread to South County Dublin, Fingal and Dublin city.
It claimed the action was being taken “as a direct result of the unilateral decision of the Dún Laoghaire county manager, Owen Keegan, to end waste collection by direct labour”.
Man dies after Howth Head fall
A man has been killed after he fell from a cliff at Howth Head in Dublin on Saturday afternoon. It is understood the accident happened at around 3.45pm and that the man fell almost 50ft.
The emergency services were alerted by a tourist walking on the cliffs at the time. Howth Coast Guard was on the water nearby. The man was found on the cliff but he had already died.
Paddy Hickey, former FF Cllr, dies
Fianna Fáil has expressed its condolences to the family of former Fianna Fáil councillor Paddy Hickey who died yesterday. Mr Hickey, who lived in Dundrum, Dublin was Cathaoirleach of the old Dublin County Council and was also a member of the Eastern Health Board. He was a senior figure in Fianna Fáil's organisation in Dublin south. An accountant by profession, he worked with the ESB up to his retirement.
Irish doctor recounts Uganda experience
An Irish doctor in Uganda has recounted her experience of setting up hospices in Africa in a book published yesterday, writes Alison Healy. Dr Anne Merriman (75), a former nun with the Irish Medical Missionaries of Mary, wrote Audacity to Love, the Story of Hospice Africa after spending the last 17 years establishing the charity organisation. It has now cared for more than 160,000 patients.
Hospice Africa Uganda now employs 135 in three centres. More than 7,000 personnel from Uganda and other sub-Saharan countries have also been trained, allowing hospice care to spread to wider regions in Africa.
Dr Merriman began the work after visiting Nairobi Hospice and seeing that patients with advanced disease and in severe pain were sent home to die with just a few paracetamol. Dr Merriman developed a type of morphine that is cheaper, accessible and more acceptable to people in Africa.
The book is published by the Irish Hospice Foundation.