A Department of Health allocation of £500,000 announced yesterday has raised hopes that a hospice built in Galway more than two years ago may finally open.
The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, who is a TD for Galway West, said he hoped this would be the basis for "a speedy conclusion to talks between the trustees of Galway Hospice and the Western Health Board" and that it "would lead without delay to the opening of a 12-bed in-patient -hospice facility in Renmore.
The hospice, which already provides a home medical and nursing service for cancer patients, had said it needed £1.2 million a year to run the £2 million facility, which was financed by public subscriptions.
