It has been revealed that almost 58,000 X-rays taken at Tallaght Hospital in Dublin between 2005 and the end of 2009 were not reviewed by a consultant radiologist. The anomaly came to light when Professor Kevin Conlon took up the post of CEO of the hospital in December and since that time th X-rays have been reviewed at the rate of 3,000 a week.

All the X-rays, which amount to 6% of the total during the period, were, of course, viewed by other clinicians but should also have been seen by a consultant radiologist. Of the 34,752 reviewed so far only two have produced anomalies; one patient has died and one is being treated for cancer, both victims of late diagnosis.

The Health Service Executive is to carry out an investigation into the circumstances of the situation under an independent chairperson. I should say that the media is treating this as a major "scandal" and there have been numerous calls for Minister for Health Mary Harney to resign.

Cabin crew representatives to meet Aer Lingus management

Aer Lingus management will today meet with representatives of the IMPACT trade union over the airline's decision to call for 230 compulsory redundancies among cabin crew. Cabin crew were the only group of five which rejected the €97m cost-cutting plan set out by the airline.

The airline plans to proceed with the cost-cutting plan as agreed with the other unions. This calls for voluntary redundancies but in the case of cabin crew these will be compulsory.

Seven questioned over murder plot

Seven people detained in Waterford and Cork yesterday in relation to an alleged plot to murder Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks continue to be questioned by Gardaí. The four men and three women, from Morocco and Yemen, were arrested following information regarding the plot to kill the cartoonist who drew a picture of the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

In September 2007 Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of one of the al-Qaeda factions, offered $100k to anyone who killed Mr Vilks. All of those detained are living here legally, having applied for and been granted political asylum.

Foreign couples face marriage legality problem

Some 3,000 foreign couples who were married in embassies by diplomats since November 2007 have been told their marriages aren't legal. The problem came to light when the General Register Office informed embassies that marriages were not legal unless carried out by an authorised registrar in a registered building. Those couples affected will not be able to register any children of their marriages in the names of both parents.

Volvo Ocean Race finish confirmed for Galway

Later today Taoiseach Brian Cowen and the Chief Executive of the Volvo Ocean Race organising committee, Knut Frosted, will jointly announce the selection of Galway for the final stage of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2012.

When Galway missed out to two other European ports as a stopover on the 2012 race it was feared that the city had missed out. Instead it has been chosen as the ending point of a race which will again start in Alcante in Spain. Clearly the hugely successful manner in which the race was handled last year influenced the decision.

Taxi protests continue

A High Court order brought an end to yesterday's sit-in at the office of the Commission of Taxi Regulation. Taxi drivers continued to create traffic problems as they protested at the difficulties they are experiencing in making a living. Ideally they would like the taxi regulator to go back to the old days of limiting the number of taxi plates available. They would also like to stop those with full-time jobs becoming taxi drivers for a few hours each night when most of the work becomes available.

Further protests are taking place in Dublin and Limerick today.

Wednesday's Papers

The three Southern papers take three different stories as their lead this morning. The Irish Times goes with a report from the Government taskforce with "Innovation taskforce says 120,000 can be created"; the Irish Examiner focuses on the arrests yesterday in relation to an assassination plot under the headline "Murder plot"; and the Irish Independent takes as its lead the Tallaght Hospital controversy with "Thousands still in dark over X-ray fiasco".

The Irish News headline reads "Criminal ‘cheating' community service".

The Weather in Galway

It was yet another cold, frosty and sunny morning, with temperatures gradually rising during the day. Temperature should reach 10C.

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