A round-up of today's other home news in brief ...
Warning on travel to Mexico lifted
Irish citizens are no longer being advised by the Government not to travel to Mexico unless their journeys are essential. The travel advice was introduced following the outbreak of H1N1 flu virus.
The Department of Health has said the risk of contracting the swine flu virus in Mexico has decreased as has the number of the confirmed cases there.
However, Irish travellers are still being advised to monitor their health on returning from Mexico.
An Irish delegation was updated on the virus by the World Health Organisation at its annual meeting in Geneva on Tuesday, Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said at a briefing yesterday.
As part of the Government’s preparations, some two million information leaflets on H1N1 flu virus had been distributed to households at a cost of some €250,000, Dr Kevin Kelleher, head of health protection at the HSE said. Some 80 to 90 per cent of households are estimated to have received the leaflet, he said.
The HSE has put in place a number of contracts to access a vaccine, Dr Kelleher said. It aimed to seek enough vaccine to cover the whole of the population but the minimum production period is four to six months.
€2.8m cannabis seizure: two held
Two members of a north Dublin crime gang are being questioned by gardaí about the seizure of 400kg of cannabis resin valued at €2.8 million.
The drugs were seized at noon yesterday during the course of a planned search.
Gardaí moved in on an apartment on Castlekevin Road, Kilmore West, Dublin, as two men were packaging drugs for distribution. The drugs were being taken from cardboard boxes and being packed into bags by two men, aged in their 20s or 30s.
Both men were arrested at the scene. They were taken to Santry Garda station where they were being questioned under Section 2 of the Drug Trafficking Act.
Nurse stoppage to go ahead
A one-day work stoppage by nurses at Sligo General Hospital is due to go ahead today following the breakdown of talks last night.
The Labour Relations Commission was facilitating talks between hospital management and two nursing unions, the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and Siptu.
The dispute is over bed closures and non-renewal of 19 nursing contracts.
The strike is due to begin at 8am and is expected to last for ten hours.
According to Sligo Hospital Management nurses will not provide emergency cover but will provide eight nurses on-call for the whole hospital.
There are currently 210 patients at the hospital.
Hospital management last night expressed major concerns for patient safety and disappointment in the lack of emergency provision.
Some procedures have been cancelled due to the action including, 21 elective operations, 10 endoscopy procedures, 262 outpatient appointments and 31 day case procedures. Seventeen renal dialysis patients were also transferred to another service.