A petition to prevent the overnight closure of SouthDoc services in Fermoy had gained over 1,700 signatures by Wednesday afternoon this week, with signatories expressing the importance of the ‘vital’ service.

The petition was initiated by local councillor Deirdre O’Brien, who stated that there was an ‘imminent’ reduction of services predicted following a soon-to-be-held board meeting, at either the end of this week or next.

Describing the possible overnight closure as ‘shocking’, the understanding is that the service will not operate after 10pm on weeknights, and past 6pm on the weekends.

Cllr O’Brien pointed to the overstretched – some would say broken – health service, and also brought up the shortage of GPs nationally …

Full story in this week’s Print & Digital Edition