10,000 people sign petition to demand return of 24-hour A&E - protest over hospital overcrowding

Pressure is to be placed on the Government to restore 24-hour accident and emergency services in Nenagh Hospital at a public protest to be held this Saturday.
The protest in Limerick is being organised by people who are fed up with the inability of the Mid-West's main hospital – UHL Limerick – to cope with patient numbers, which has resulted in record numbers lying on trolleys and medical staff at the point of exhaustion struggling to cope with patient overcrowding. A petition organised by Nenagh Needs its A&E, has almost 10,000 signatures demanding the restoration of 24-hour A&E services at Nenagh Hospital.
People from north Tipperary, Clare and Limerick will come together for the march, which is set to commence from Saint John's Hospital at 1pm.
The protest is organised by the Mid-West Hospital Campaign, and a train and bus will leave Nenagh railway station at just after 11am for anyone wishing to travel and join the march.
One of those who will be addressing marchers will be Damian O'Donoghue, a spokesperson for the group Nenagh Needs its A&E, who is urging people from north Tipperary to join the protest.
"Our main regional hospital, UHL Limerick, has consistently had the highest numbers of patients on trolleys in the country and people just have enough," said Mr O'Donoghue.
The numbers on trolleys hit a record of 92 earlier this month, prompting calls by Mr O'Donoghue to reduce the pressure by restoring the 24-hour A&E service that was cut in Nenagh Hospital eleven years ago.
"The people want this service restored in Nenagh – we have a petition with almost 10,000 signatures from people calling for full A&E services to be reintroduced in Nenagh," said Mr O'Donoghue.
With the general election campaign now about to enter its last 10 days, the organisers of the protest are aiming to put pressure on political parties to give a commitment to restore full A&E services in smaller hospitals in the Mid-West like Nenagh and Ennis.
Mr O'Donoghue, who has been involved in canvassing in the election, said the overcrowding in Limerick and removal of full A&E services from Nenagh was a huge issue for voters in north Tipperary. The protest will culminate with a gathering of speakers from all over the region who will give personal testimonies on how overcrowding in UHL Limerick impacted on them and their families.

TRAIN TO LIMERICK PROTEST
THE North Tipperary Rail Community, which is also campaigning to retain local services, are recommending that people travelling to the Limerick protest on hospital services this Saturday should use our local train service. The train is due to leave Cloughjordan at 10.50am, Nenagh at 11.10am and due in Limerick at 12.10pm, returning from Limerick at 4.55pm.