Carndonagh protest to call for greater ambulance cover in Inishowen

The demonstration will take place at Carndonagh Community Hospital at 4pm and is being organised by North Donegal IRSP.

Spokesperson for North Donegal IRSP Simon Mc Elroy said the peninsula needs more ambulance cover.

He said: “I am appalled and outraged at the lack of life saving services within the Inishowen peninsula. Being a native of Inishowen I know first hand the vast distance that needs to be covered and this cannot be done by one ambulance.”

He added: “This is not the first time that the issue of ambulances has arose within our community. In early 2014 our ambulance service in Inishowen made national headlines over response times and two years on we are still dealing with the same problem. For an area the size of Inishowen one ambulance is just not enough. We are 60km from Letterkenny and quite frankly that is to far.”

Mr McElroy said “every second is vital” in the event of an emergency.

He said: “We call upon the people of Inishowen to show their support in an attempt to regain a suitable service. I would like to commend our dedicated paramedics on the work they do and also thank the many local voluntary defibrillator teams throughout Inishowen who give up there time to preserve the lives of our community. I now call upon our government officials and the HSE to take immediate action to supply an adequate service to the people of Inishowen.”