Latest news with #Guckian
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Widespread sadness following death of former Leitrim Councillor Des Guckian
Mr Guckian of Derrywillow, Annaduff, Leitrim died on Thursday at North West Hospice, Sligo following a brief illness. Earlier this year, he stepped back from council duties due to health reasons with this daughter Councillor Irene Guckian Rabbitte being co-opted onto his council seat. He previously worked as a teacher at St Mel's, Longford and was a father of five. Mr Guckian was first elected to Leitrim County Council in 2014 and subsequently elected in 2019 and again in 2024. He served as an Independent councillor. Funeral arrangements are yet to be confirmed. A spokesperson for Leitrim County Council said, 'Leitrim County Council was saddened to learn of the death of former Councillor Des Guckian, who passed away earlier today (Thursday) following a brief illness. "Des Guckian was elected to Leitrim County Council for the first time in 2014 and subsequently elected in 2019 and again in 2024. "He performed his role as Councillor with distinction until his resignation due to illness in April of this year. "We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his daughter Councillor Irene Guckian Rabbitte and all his family.' Tributes have been paid to the former councillor who has been remembered as a 'gentleman' who was always 'eager to help.' ADVERTISEMENT Carrick-on-Shannon and District Historical Society said, 'We are so very sad at this news. "Not only was Des a very principled hardworking representative, but his research into and knowledge of Irish history, particularly and around the Annaduff area, was fascinating. 'We will miss him. "Condolences to the Guckian family. Rest in peace, Des.' Funeral arrangements are yet to be confirmed. Mr Guckian is predeceased by his wife; Myra, brothers; Padraig and Seamus. He is survived by his children; Irene, Paul, Emer, Deirdre and Brendan, his sister; Ita Curran, sons-in-law, daughter-in-law, sisters-in-law, nine grandchildren, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours, work colleagues and friends. Funeral arrangements are yet to be confirmed.
The Irish Sun
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
‘Always did what he felt was right' – Former councillor, 70s, dies after short illness as tributes pour for ‘true gent'
FORMER Leitrim County Councillor Des Guckian has died following a short illness. Guckian, who was aged in his late 70s, served as an independent councillor for more than a decade for the Originally from Annaduff, he stepped down from the council back in April due to Guckian's daughter, Irene Guckian-Rabbitte, co-opted onto his seat earlier this month following his resignation. Guckian began his career as a teacher at St Mel's College in He was first elected to Leitrim County READ MORE IN NEWS Sharing a statement to announce his tragic passing, Leitrim County Council said they were saddened to learn of his death yesterday. They said Guckian "performed his role as Councillor with distinction until his resignation due to illness in April of this year". Not only had he carried out work within Leitrim County Council, the fluent Irish speaker was also the author of several books. These included Deported: The Story of Jimmy Gralton, Effernagh, Co Leitrim, which told the story of the only Irishman ever deported from Ireland in 1933. MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN Cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council, Paddy O'Rourke remembered an intelligent man, who had success as a historian and an author. He told Shannonside FM that Guckian was a champion of people whom he saw that were left behind. He said: "On behalf of the members and the council, I'd like to extend our sympathy to his family, his extended family and those who he engaged with through his time in politics." 'A TRUE COUNCILLOR' He told Shannonside FM: "Des was fearless. He always did what he felt was right, regardless of other people's opinions, public opinion, council opinion. "He went after what he thought was right, and if that meant ruffling a few feathers, we've all read the articles, we know the arguments he got himself into, but he did that from a good place in his heart where he felt that he needed to make a stand and he was willing to fall out with a few people if it meant getting the right result and I admired him for that." One local resident said: "Des was a Councillor and a half, got things done, and kept you informed. "He never deserved the flack and opposition at every turn. A true Councillor. Rest in Peace." A former student said: "I had Des as a geography teacher in St Mel's. He left and indelible mark on all of his students. Condolences to his family, he was a committed man." While a friend said: "Sad to hear of the passing of Des, we shared a common interest in Trade Unions back in the 1980's. "He was a true gentleman and always had the good of all as his goal. Sincere sympathy to his family at this difficult time. May his gentle spirit rest easy." 1 Des Guckian passed away yesterday Credit:
RTÉ News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Tributes paid to former Leitrim councillor Des Guckian
Tributes have been paid to former Leitrim County Councillor Des Guckian, who has died following a brief illness. A native of Annaduff, Mr Guckian represented the Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District as an independent councillor for more than a decade. Mr Guckian officially stepped down from the Council in April due to health reasons and his daughter, Irene Guckian-Rabbitte, co-opted onto his seat earlier this month. A former teacher at St Mel's College, Longford, he was elected to Leitrim County Council for the first time in 2014 and subsequently re-elected in 2019 and in 2024. In a statement, Leitrim County Council said it was saddened to learn of the death of the former councillor who passed away earlier today following a brief illness. They said Des Guckian "performed his role as Councillor with distinction until his resignation due to illness in April of this year". Mr Guckian, who was also a fluent Irish speaker published several books, including 'Deported: The Story of Jimmy Gralton, Effernagh, Co Leitrim', detailing the story of the only Irishman ever deported from Ireland in 1933. Cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council, Cllr Paddy O'Rourke told Shannonside FM that Mr Guckian was an intelligent man, who had success as a historian and an author. Cllr O'Rourke said Des Guckian was a champion of people whom he saw that were left behind. "On behalf of the members and the council, I'd like to extend our sympathy to his family, his extended family and those who he engaged with through his time in politics."
BBC News
13-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Draft Budget: Health leaders warn of cuts worth 10,000 staff
Northern Ireland's draft budget could result in health service cuts equivalent to the loss of 10,000 staff, according to health figure has been calculated by the six health and social care trusts, who say they measure cuts in terms of potential job losses - ranging from nurses to domiciliary care draft budget has been described as "unworkable" by the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care (NICON), which represents leaders of HSC organisations.A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the minister has made his very serious concerns known about the draft budget and its potential implications for health and social care services. NICON have called for "creative political action" to secure a three year financial said the proposed budget is "unworkable, counter strategic and undermines the value of additional funding". 'An untenable task' NICON spokesperson Neil Guckian said the HSCNI will need to find £400m in savings in 2025-26."Coupled with the increase in demand for health and social care services, this is an untenable task," Mr Guckian said."Achieving this level of savings in-year will require high-impact cuts on a scale not previously seen, with catastrophic impacts for frontline services."According to NICON, even if the health minister were to agree to implement such measures, "a one-year budget means our senior teams will likely spend six months in statutory consultation, leaving little to no time to plausibly deliver this level of savings by the end of the financial year". Health received £8.4 billion in the 2025-26 budget settlement, which was described by the Department of Health as an increase of only 2.6% - the finance minister, however, described it as an 8.7% increase by comparing the allocation to the opening budget for this financial year and excluding funds that had already been set aside for specific to Northern Ireland's budget watchdog, the difference between the two figures is largely because health has been allocated an additional £471.9 million this year since the 2024-25 costs facing the Department of Health include £65 million to meet the National Living Wage increase, £36 million to cover employer NICs increases, and £150 million to cover the 2.8% pay rise that the UK Government has recommended to the pay review to NICON, to keep within budget, health and social care would remain still with little or no change in direction or funding allocation - if anything allocation could impact might include multi-million-pound budget cuts; little improvement on hospital waiting lists; and the health minister not being able to move as he describes "shift left", which means prioritising resources into social care and general practice. At the start of March, there had been concerns the Programme for Government (PfG) did not confirm the required £215m to tackle hospital waiting lists would be made available to the Department of Health or if it would be recurrent for five acknowledged the PfG said funding "up to that amount" would be available and on that basis would move forward with trusts on a plan to address waiting minister said there will be a "cocktail of delivery" to begin tackling the lists, including using the independent NICON statement said it welcomes that investment but stresses the funding mustn't be secured by "raiding" the existing budget for the day-to-day running of Guckian added that would be "entirely counterintuitive as any investment in waiting lists would be undermined by the curtailment of services and cuts elsewhere, such as domiciliary care packages".A fiscal assessment of the budget also pointed out that there wasn't clarity around this amount, including where the funding will come from.
