#IslandNews - Some 58 people on an island off west Mayo face their first Christmas in decades without medical cover, as The Irish Times reports.
The residents of Inishturk have been left in the lurch as the HSE West has not filled the vacant nursing post on the island, following the retirement of the community's previous nurse after 30 years in September.
Since then the island has only had two days of medical cover, according to local community worker Mary Heanue – who blamed the wider issue of cutbacks in services to Ireland's offshore island communities.
And last night Clifden RNLI was tasked to provide "urgent and immediate" medical attention to an elderly resident on the island, some 14km off the Mayo coast.
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.