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In fairness the ground of Craigavon hospital are huge and unless someone was creating a scene/noise I doubt security are going to look into it. Money is tight enough as it is and daily searches of the whole hospital site probably aren't practical.

While this is a tragic case I really don't see what the hospital could have done. Was the man reported missing? If they knew he'd gone missing and had searched the hospital grounds for him (and not found him), it would be a different matter. But if  no one had reported him missing (which would be tragic) then there would be no reason for a full search of the hospital grounds.

Priceless. Keep up the good work!

Belfast just before rush hour. It's perfect, you'll spend most of the test in traffic.

Absolutely priceless!


It provides a great little break from the revision. Keep up the good work!

Feck it! I fell for it.


I'll show myself out...

The Bot and Fly have posters up about it.

I agree. Sack Harte now. I mean he's only won 1 minor, 2 U21s and 2 senior titles with tyrone. Sack him now.

Congrats Ziggy. Enjoy the celebrations!

A bit of both - meath let things slip a little, antrim were a (little) bit better. Antrim goal came very late. But Antrim never really looked liked coming back.

guess i was wrong about gormley. he was definately match fit. great game.

dublin 0-10 tyrone 0-11

2 mins to go

dublin 0-9 tyrone 0-11

Is Gormley fit enough/match ready at this stage?

[population study]

I think one of the main problems with this whole issue is the lack of knowledge. These cardiac conditions are very rare and this makes properly controlled research (such as randomised control trials) impossible. The treatment for many of these rare cardiac conditions is usually based on small, non-randomised trials. However, due to the rare nature of these conditions there never will be proper randomised control trials (they would also be unethical). So important decisions are made on the limited evidence available.

The study cited in the article is based on a population study carried out in one region of Italy. It's been a while since I read the full artice (will look it out) but from what I remember it does show promising results.(however, it is subject to the bias associated with a population study).

And I agree with you when you say something needs to be done. I like the idea of a screening program, but it's a huge huge undertaking. There are many areas to be considered

-  What age do you start screening at?
-  The numbers of players involved (how many kids play GAA?) Where are we going to do the ECG? How many ECGs are we going to perform? Who's going to read the ECG (this is one area where you do need a specialist).
-  If someone tests 'positive' then you need to screen all first degree relatives
-  Genetic testing needs to be considered for all first degree relatives
-  Counselling needs to be arranged- a 'postive' test represents a huge life change (it's not as simple as giving up sport). There will be frequent doctors appointments, many more tests, drugs to be taken, possiblity of operations, even lifestyle changes such as having no alarm clocks and turning down the doorbell. There is a risk for the mother in future pregnancies. It's a huge life changing diagnosis.

So, who pays for all this? (I've no idea how the scheme in Italy was funded and who covered the medical costs of the patients)Will costs for treatment be covered? (some of the treatments at present for these conditions are experimental). Who will run the screening program? You'll need an experienced team in this field (not easy to find) and someone who can read an ECG properly (very very hard to find).

None of the above points are a good reason for not doing it. As you rightly say - just because it's difficult, does not mean that it isn't worth doing.

However, I don't think the resources are there for a nationwide GAA screening scheme yet. It would take a few years to get a scheme running and unforunately money will be a problem. The scheme will only pick up structural problems in the heart and not any of the other causes. But if we're serious about doing something we need to start somewhere.

Difficult subject to address. While the screening program in Italy shows some good results, it is somewhat limited. The authors themselves admit that the scheme only picks up certain cardiac abnormalities (from memory, i think it is good at identifying structural problems with the heart such as cardiomyopathy) but it is poor at picking up rhythm disturbances (such as long QT syndrome) and other causes of sudden cardiac death. The issue is further complicated by the fact that these conditions are not fully understood. We don't know why some people who come through the screening with an 'all clear' get SAD and why some of those who have problems identified on screening never suffer any ill effects.

I'm really not sure what the answer to all this is. More needs to be done, but i'm not sure what exactly.