EDITOR -   The pages of The Southern Star have often carried stories about out-of-hours medical services in West Cork, but if I may, I’d like to outline the events of a recent Saturday for our family.

Our young daughter became ill in the evening (thankfully not too serious, but it did require prompt medical assessment).

We contacted SouthDoc and got an appointment for two hours later at the HQ in Bantry.

Bearing in mind we live in the Skibbereen area, the 50km-plus round trip with a distressed child was not ideal, but such is life in West Cork where it’s accepted that you should leave one large urban centre to go to another for basic medical services.

And that’s not forgetting those who live in more remote areas to begin with.

Having arrived in Bantry, we waited for another 45 minutes to be seen.

Understandably, this wait was out of everyone’s control – it was a busy night with seemingly only one doctor on duty.

Following assessment and diagnosis, the doctor prescribed medication, but with no interim supply on-site, we then had to figure out how to get the medication considering it was Saturday night with no pharmacy open in Bantry or at home in Skibbereen, and no regular pharmacy hours in Skibb the following day (Sunday) either.

The late-night pharmacy in Clonakilty (a godsend) was the only realistic option, but it was now approaching 9pm, we were in Bantry, and the Clon facility closes at 10pm.

So, the challenge now was to get a sick child home to her bed in Skibb, and then drive to Clonakilty and back to get her medication.

Long-story-short, we got sorted, all’s well that ends well etc, but it does beggar belief that to get basic out-of-hours medical treatment in West Cork, it requires a 120km mini-tour of three of the major towns and that you are fortunate in terms of exactly how ‘out of hours’ you are.

Five minutes later and the trip to Clon would have been a wasted trip. And all this is assuming you have access to a car in the first place and that the sick person is not the one driving.

Please don’t get me wrong – we are more than grateful for the services we have and the unenviable work of the dedicated professionals involved, but it does seem that there needs to be some more joined-up thinking on all of this.

Yours sincerely,

Name with Editor

Shared social purpose can allow for faith

EDITOR -  It may be a case of pure coincidence for me to imagine I see a commonality between Ms Cahill’s fervent letter last week and a suggestion that was floated by a fairly senior politician in The Dáil some two decades ago?

Her fluent and heart-felt plea will feed the reader’s better nature to a large extent, that is until reality makes one individual place a notional microscope over the beliefs of another and reveals the differences between them. The status quo then rears its ugly head with greater or lesser effect.

The suggestion in the early years of this century was to separate matters of a political nature from the diverse faiths, or lack of them, in favour of a purely democratic legislature by which ALL citizens would be subject to, in effect, a common code.

The phrase used was for a ‘secular’ constitution but it attracted few followers at the time. Might this satisfy Ms Cahill and others like her, safe in the knowledge that all around her share a social purpose, whilst enjoying their chosen faith unfettered?

Nick Turner, Drimoleague.

Roll on Rugby World Cup after Six Nations

EDITOR - It was an exciting finish to the Six Nations for 2026 on Saturday March 14th with France winning in the final minute with a penalty kick beating England 48-46. They both played excellent rugby with England leading towards the end. France never gave up showing us what it takes to be Six Nations champions.

This was their second win in a row. France played a lovely style of rugby throughout the campaign.

Ireland had a very good tournament and won the Triple Crown beating Scotland in Dublin on Saturday. Not to mention they recorded their biggest ever win over England at Twickenham 42-21, and also a great game.

Scotland had their shock and splendid win beating France a week ago by 50 to 40. Italy too had a good Six Nations. Wales and England less so but England finished with a storming game against France.

Overall, the 2026 Six Nations was exciting and unpredictable - which is good for the game.

No team could take winning a game for granted. Roll on to the rugby World Cup in Australia in October and November 2027.

Mary Sullivan,

Cork.