What the papers say: Wednesday's front pages
Eva Osborne
Here are the stories making headlines this Wednesday.
The Rotunda maternity hospital has been warned it could have its funding pulled if it does not withdraw permission for consultants on public-only contracts to practise privately on its premises, The Irish Times reports.
The HSE has told the State’s busiest maternity hospital, located on Parnell Square, Dublin, that any permission given to public-only consultants without its consent is “void” and must be withdrawn.
Danny Healy-Rae has insisted that "Team Healy-Rae" remains intact despite his brother Michael publicly accusing him of "pulling him overboard" and out of Government, according to the Irish Examiner.
Responding to Michael Healy-Rae's extraordinary criticism during a Radio Kerry interview on Tuesday, Danny told the Irish Examiner he was "saying nothing at all in the world" about his brother's remarks.
The Echo leads with people living next to Cork prison saying their gardens are being used by people trying to smuggle drugs, as the first stage of plans for a facility on the site have progressed.
More than 1,600 consultants, or nearly a third, are not yet signed up to the contract agreeing to treat only public patients in their hospitals and forgo private fees, according to the Irish Independent.
The mother of Dublin city centre stabbing victim Qayyum Balogun has told of her family's devastating loss, the Irish Daily Mirror reports.
The Irish Daily Star also reports on the Qayyum Balogun stabbing, adding that his family said he was not involved in crime and worked in a local Burger King.
The Irish Daily Mail leads with Michael Healy-Rae saying he was ‘sacked on air’ in a ‘cock-up’ of an interview by his brother Danny, that ‘cost Kerry’ a ministry.
Gardaí are trying to identify who was involved in a brutal attack on a 31-year-old man before he swam across the Liffey in Dublin on Saturday night, The Herald reports.
Thomas Griffin, of Croftwood Park, Ballyfermot, was pronounced dead at St James’s Hospital on Sunday.
Griffin’s death is another tragedy for his family. His his older brother, James ‘Jay’ Griffin, was the victim of an unsolved murder in November, 2014, after he was stabbed to death at a city rave.
