Israel and Russia deserve better than Netanyahu and Putin

Trauma surgeon Morgan McMonagle spoke last evening on Channel 4 News about the barbarity that is being inflicted on the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israelis. He has been plying his skills in Gaza and spoke about working in survival mode in extremely dangerous situations.

When asked if he will be returning to Gaza, Dr Morgan feels it might be difficult now that he has spoken out opposing the Israeli barbarity.

In the same news there was a report of a 15-year-old boy arriving in London to receive facial surgery. His jaw will have to be completely reconstructed. He is the victim of Israeli bombing.

Earlier on the news there was a report on the damage inflicted on the people of Kiev on Tuesday night.

The barbarous actions of the Russian and Israeli governments must be stopped. The people of these two great nations deserve far better leadership than the horror their current strongmen are inflicting on their neighbours.

Forty five years since the Buttevant rail crash

On this day, Saturday, August 1, 1980 18 people and over 180 passengers were injured at Buttevant, Co Cork. They were travelling on the 10.00 train from Dublin Heuston to Kent Station Cork.

Due to engineering work taking place at Buttevant station the points had been disconnected from the signal on the main down line.

The train, pulled by 075 GM locomotive, was made up of old timber-framed coaches.

The locomotive driver, Berti Walsh, did everything according to the rule book and at the subsequent State Inquiry gave a great account of himself.

At the time of the accident the railway was in a poor and dangerous state of repair; out-of-date signalling systems, old dilapidated rolling stock and successive governments with little or no interest in the railway.