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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Siobhan O'Hagan details impact of Tattle Life trolling
Social media influencer Siobhan O'Hagan has spoken out about the "harmful" and invasive acts of "sabotage" she says she endured over several years at the hands of users on the gossip website Tattle Life. Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time on Tuesday night, the Irish fitness influencer, who has 161,000 followers on Instagram, described the relentless scrutiny she's faced and the profound impact it has had on both her personal and professional life. "I think for the last seven or eight years I've had every single thing I've done twisted and criticised and analysed," she told presenter Miriam O'Callaghan. "I'm a very open person, I'm a very opinionated person. I always say, 'If you don't like what I post, don't follow me.' "But, I found that I will even think now, 'What are they gonna do with it? How are they gonna twist this into a negative narrative?'" O'Hagan said users on the site have fabricated stories and deliberately tried to undermine her work and reputation. "We all make mistakes. I've made mistakes in the past. I don't know if they're talking about that… but I know they've made up a lot of lies," she said. "They've done whatever they can to try to sabotage me. I don't really know what they want me to do. But, in terms of influencing, I work with a lot of businesses, and I know they contact them and send them lies." She also recalled attempts to hack her website and disrupt her online coaching business, describing how trolls have signed her email up to spam lists or flooded her inbox with junk. "Just little things… they have too much time on their hands. Luckily, I'm in a very good place, so I've been able to rise above it. I know I have friends who have been harmed much more by it, and they're looking at it. "It is tempting to see what they say because you want to correct it, or you want to say the truth. But, I've learnt from other people trying to correct it that they don't want the truth. They just want gossip." Her appearance on Prime Time came just days after the formerly anonymous owner of Tattle Life was named as Sebastian Bond in a Belfast court. In a landmark ruling, Neil and Donna Sands were awarded £300,000 in damages after taking legal action over defamatory comments posted about them on the site. O'Hagan said: "I'm not sure how much will actually change, but I definitely feel like…[I have] a bit more confidence in myself this week. I've never even mentioned Tattle before this week, and now here I am talking about it." She's not alone in doing so. Television presenter and radio personality Brian Dowling Gourounlian also welcomed the news, describing it as a long-awaited moment of vindication. "Also on Friday, my birthday, I got messages saying that the person that runs the website Tattle has been exposed," he said. "I am absolutely delighted. This is something, a battle, Arthur and I have been having with this website for a long time now. "They have tried to destroy our reputation, ruin our lives, in fact, with the vileness they have been saying. "We have all the messages, we've spoken to the guards, we have screenshots, we have usernames, we have everything." The Six O'Clock Show host added: "My hope is, now this man has been exposed for who he is, that as part of his deal, he will now release the email addresses of all those people online with all their names. "And I get to find out who they are. I can't wait." Journalist and podcaster Rosemary MacCabe also reflected on her experience, writing on Substack about "how it feels to be torn apart online by people who, for whatever reason, really f****** hate me," while admitting the site "almost destroyed me". UK influencer Mrs Hinch, real name Sophie Hinchcliffe, said she feels "ready" for the anonymous users of the site to be unmasked. Hinch, who has over 5 million Instagram followers, has also been a long-time target of online abuse via Tattle. Tagging Donna and Neil Sands on Instagram while watching a report about the Belfast court case, she wrote. "Well, hello there Sebastian. I've silently waited over 7 years for this! Your identity finally revealed." "Next up… reveal the rest of the anonymous sickening toxic tattlers. I'm so ready."
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
HSE warns of risk to nursing home exit plan for under-65s
The HSE has warned of a "significant" risk to its programme aimed at reducing the number of people under 65 living in nursing homes. In a letter to the Ombudsman's office, seen by Prime Time, the HSE said it requested €8.5 million to relocate 40 people under the age of 65 from nursing homes in 2025. It was allocated only €4.8 million — enough to fund just 24 moves to more appropriate settings in the community, including group or individual houses or a return to their family home. Separately, in an interview with Prime Time, Ombudsman Ger Deering criticised funding relating to younger people in nursing homes, describing it as "completely unacceptable." "We've seen time and again where ministers and Taoisigh come into the Dáil and they actually apologise for our failings in the past," Mr Deering said, "this is a failing that's happening today, and it's happening because the government is not putting the funding into this programme that is required." The current Programme for Government commits to ending the placement of young people with disabilities in nursing homes. A similar commitment was also made by the last government. But progress has been slow. The number of people under-65 currently living in nursing homes stands at around 1,227, the HSE told Prime Time. Since 2021, just 104 have been moved to more appropriate settings. The HSE letter from last November also said its budget for transitioning younger people from nursing homes to the community would be fully committed by March 2025. "With no security of funding," it stated, "the transition plans for many individuals will either cease or be delayed until further funding can be secured in 2026." The HSE was granted just 32% of its overall requested budget for under 65s, which includes services to those who are in nursing homes and for whom there are no immediate relocation plans. The HSE letter, written by an Assistant National Director of the HSE's National Disability Team, added that "the risk to the overall U65 programme is significant." There is widespread agreement that nursing homes are not appropriate places for under 65s, many of whom are in homes because of brain injury. In 2021, the Ombudsman's office produced a lengthy report on the issue called Wasted Lives. Then Ombudsman, Peter Tyndall, stated that "people who could and should be living in our communities, contributing to our society, are left without hope or futures." Medical professionals who spoke to Prime Time agree. "It is a completely abnormal situation for a younger person to be living in a nursing home often with much older adults who may have conditions like dementia," said Raymond Carson, Medical Director of the Brain Injury Programme at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. "People have said to me how lonely they feel, how imprisoned they are in that context, often far from home and without access to stimulation and support," Mr Carson added. Wasted Lives After the 2021 Wasted Lives report from the Ombudsman the HSE set up its U65 Programme to move younger people to more appropriate settings. Figures supplied to the Labour Party's health spokesperson, Marie Sherlock, in March showed that there were 176 people in nursing homes aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s. One of those is William Scott, a former truck driver who suffered a brain injury after a cardiac arrest in 2013. He was left with short-term memory problems, poor motivation and initiation, and limited mobility on his right side. Now 49, William has spent a decade in a Donegal nursing home which specialises in caring for elderly people with dementia. He is neither elderly nor does he have dementia. He says he feels he is in the wrong place and that he spends his days "in the room, bored out of my mind." William wants ultimately to live more independently, ideally in Dublin where he is from. He receives assistance from the Acquired Brain Injury Ireland charity each week, five hours split over two consecutive days. "It's not near enough" says Gregory Harris, a Community Rehabilitation Assistant with the Acquired Brain Injury Ireland charity. Mr Harris brings William out for social activities – visits to the cinema, friends or family. But two days a week of community rehabilitation are not enough to prepare William to be able to live more independently outside of the nursing home, Mr Harris says. "We get a certain distance with him and in a few days' time, he has gone back again." It needs "to be more consistent," Mr Harris added. For those who remain in nursing homes, there is also the HSE's Enhanced Quality of Life Supports Programme, aimed at providing benefits to those living in nursing homes, such as regular hours with a personal assistant, or devices like an iPad, an exercise bicycle, or a powered wheelchair. The HSE applied for €1.7m from the Department for Disability to fund those supports in 2025, but that application was rejected. So, the HSE has to dig into its overall budget, which is for moving under-65s from nursing homes. It declined a request for interview, but in a statement, it said that its Enhanced Quality of Life Supports funding for under 65s in nursing homes "has not been cut entirely for 2025." It added that it will pay €251,000 from its overall under-65 Programme budget towards the quality-of-life supports. That's less than one-third of the €812,000 allocated in 2024. "If the government wanted this programme to progress, it would progress," Ombudsman Ger Deering said. "It's the Government who sets the standards, the Government who sets the budgets. If the Government decide that people with disabilities actually matter and that people with disabilities are entitled to live the same lives that the rest of us want to live, then the funding would be made available," he added. An Saol One non-governmental charity is stepping in to fill the gap in services provided by the State. An Saol, which supports people with brain injuries, was founded by German national Reinhard Schäler after his son Pádraig was hit by a truck while cycling in the United States. Pádraig, then 22, suffered a serious brain injury. A university graduate and Irish language enthusiast, he can no longer walk or speak, but remains acutely aware of the world around him. "He can understand four languages," Reinhard says. "I speak German to him, his friends speak Irish to him. My wife and I speak Spanish, and he understands that. He has a Spanish carer that talks Spanish to him," he added. Pádraig lives at home with his parents and regularly attends An Saol in Dublin's Santry for therapies. He communicates responses to questions using a beeper. An Saol plans to open a larger facility in Ballymun, including step-down accommodation that could help people avoid nursing homes. 'Bureaucracy' Dublin City Council has made a site available, but Reinhard Schäler says the project is now mired in HSE bureaucracy. "A year and a half ago, we were nearly there" he says. "Then everything stopped." Reinhard says he is now filling in a new set of forms "for the same purpose" as forms he filled in previously. "It's very hard to understand, and it's very frustrating," he said, noting that the HSE is in full support of the proposed project and has highly evaluated the current An Saol service. He says that there is no time to waste. "We have an urgency here. We have the people here who need this now, not in five years or 10 years." In its statement, the HSE said it was "proactively engaged with An Saol Foundation and making significant progress regarding securing a site for a proposed development project. It is anticipated a full submission will be in place for a National HSE Capital Steering meeting in late 2025 or early 2026."
Newsweek
5 days ago
- Sport
- Newsweek
Ex-NFL MVP Gets Critical of NY Giants' Cam Skattebo After Viral Moment
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Cam Skattebo still has NFL fans riled up over the fact that he couldn't recognize some of the best players the game has seen. On a recent appearance on the 'St. Brown Bros' podcast, Skattebo received plenty of online criticism over the fact that he couldn't recognize former Detroit Lions wide receiver, Calvin Johnson. The clip got to former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, and it's not exactly sitting well with the former NFL MVP. "They not fans of the game," Newton said on '4th&1 With Cam Newton.' "These kids— they playing video games all day. Have you ever heard of Chad Ochocinco? Have you heard of Terrell Owens? Have you heard of Steve Smith? Have you heard of Prime Time?" Newton understands the state of the game. When he was coming up, YouTube highlights weren't relevant the way they are now. Skattebo enters the NFL in a different time, where technology dominates. He might be an NFL player, but knowing the history of the game isn't exactly a requirement to get into the league. Newton calls for young players in Skattebo's position to study the game more, spending 30 minutes to an hour understanding the history better. The advice for Skattebo comes from a valuable football mind. Newton, a former first-overall pick, lived up to the hype for most of his career. Cam Skattebo #44 of the New York Giants speaks with the media after rookie minicamp at NY Giants Quest Diagnostics Training Center on May 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Cam Skattebo #44 of the New York Giants speaks with the media after rookie minicamp at NY Giants Quest Diagnostics Training Center on May 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Newton went under center for the Panthers in 2011, he was one of the most exciting players in the game. During his first season, he earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors as he dominated on the ground and in the air. By year three, the Panthers found a lot of success with Newton, as he totaled 30 touchdowns on the year, rushing for over 500 yards, and throwing for nearly 3,400 yards. The ex-QB left the game in 2022. His resume included three Pro Bowl selections, one First-Team All-Pro nod, an Offensive Player of the Year award, and an NFL MVP award in 2015. Skattebo enters the NFL as a 2025 fourth-round pick. He was taken 105th overall out of Arizona State. This past season, Skattebo appeared in 13 games. He rushed for 1,711 yards, averaging nearly six yards per carry. He also caught 45 passes for over 600 yards. Skattebo finished off his final college season with 34 total touchdowns. Whether he takes up Newton's advice to study the history of the game or not, the Giants are optimistic that Skattebo could be a solid young addition to their offense for 2025 and beyond.
RTÉ News
14-06-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Safeguarding concerns in the spotlight after RTÉ exposé
On Thursday, families of nursing home residents and those in disability services protested outside Leinster House in pouring rain. One by one, daughters, sons, nephews and nieces, mothers and fathers addressed those gathered about abuse and neglect of their loved ones in care, including in nursing homes. The event was organised by Care Champions. It is an independent advocacy group which was established when nursing home deaths and visiting restrictions were to the fore during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, a small team led by Majella Beatty has been fighting for the rights of so many families nationwide who feel they have no one else to turn to for support and empathy. For years, concerns have centered around safeguarding in nursing homes. Since the transmission of the RTÉ Investigates programme, Care Champions has been inundated. When he watched the programme, Minister for Older People Kieran O'Donnell rang Health Service Executive CEO Bernard Gloster to ask that the HSE put safeguarding teams into the two nursing homes in question. However, families claim they were told by local HSE safeguarding teams that they could not go in and assess private nursing homes under current legislation. In a statement, the HSE said that while safeguarding and protection teams do not have a legal right of entry to private nursing homes without the owners' permission, under the current statutory framework, they can and do, when required, enter private nursing homes with the owner's consent to respond to allegations of abuse and harm to residents and work with providers. Which led to the question, are safeguarding teams in the homes as requested by the minister, or not? The Department of Health said that the HSE had confirmed that the directors of nursing from both local HSE Community Support Teams had been onsite in the nursing homes and "are continuing to engage with them". Almost two weeks from the transmission of the programme, Majella Beatty says the families of residents feel abandoned. The HSE said that Department of Health policy "will provide legislative underpinning to strengthen governance across all parts of the health and social care system, including private nursing homes". That policy, due to be published this year, has moved at snail's pace in the last number of years and in the meantime, there have been repeated calls for adult safeguarding legislation following the Brandon case, the Grace case and the Emily case, to name but a few. Many are astonished that it has not been dealt with more urgently, considering the proliferation of private nursing homes in Ireland. As the older population increased in the 1990s, so too did the privatisation of nursing home care, with approximately 80% of beds now privately owned. In 2005, undercover filming by RTÉ's Prime Time resulted in the establishment of the regulator, the Health Information and Quality Authority. There has been much criticism of the watchdog in the wake of the latest RTÉ Investigates programme and it has been invited before an Oireachtas Committee to provide answers. In this case, there is a body to be held to account, but there is growing concern about the privatisation of other forms of care, including the care of children and those who are in disability services - some of the most vulnerable in society. During the week, there was a briefing on the issue organised by The Wheel, which represents charities and community organisations. It expressed concern over the increase in people with disabilities receiving essential care from profit-driven providers while voluntary service providers decreased. In April, the independent think-tank Social Justice Ireland pointed out that the Government continues to look to the market and engage private enterprise to provide the public services that should be part of "a basic floor" that everyone in the State should expect. "They do this notwithstanding continuous evidence that it is more expensive and less effective. "The rationale given is that the private sector can provide more, faster and cheaper, but again and again, this is not borne out in the evidence," it stated. The National Association of Voluntary Residential Childcare and Aftercare providers CRAVA have also been vocal about children in the care of the state being sent to 'privates'. It has pointed to the "phenomenon" of growing privatisation in residential childcare in other jurisdictions, including the UK, where it has been sharply criticised by the Children's Commissioner and the Markets and Competition Authority as the primary cause of the increasing dysfunction in children's social care in England. CRAVA has said that the dominance of private for-profit provision is viewed as being directly responsible for spiralling costs and poorer outcomes for children in residential care and aftercare. Many children are being placed in residential care centres, often hundreds of kilometres from their own family, community, social networks and left more open to exploitation. There are similar concerns about residential care for children with disabilities in Ireland, which has been working on an emergency basis for many years. Many of the protesters outside Leinster House on Thursday, some of whom were very raw from the RTÉ Investigates programme, spoke about their loved ones being "warehoused". They spoke of their helplessness in witnessing what they did on screen and yet two weeks on they continue to feel helpless. The families want transparency, they want safeguarding reviews completed on their loved ones, and for the HSE to take over the home or that residents will be moved into an HSE-run home with one-to-one care. A former staff member who worked in one of the homes featured in the RTÉ Investigates programme wrote to Care Champions following its transmission. The letter, seen by RTÉ News, began by describing the hope, excitement and enthusiasm for their work with the residents. However, that staff member left, unable any longer to deal with inexperienced colleagues, overwork and poor management. Covid-19 and Leas Cross were failures and should have ignited far more action by the Government, which will point to initiatives like Healthy Age Friendly homes which provides support packages to people to remain at home, but this is not possible for everyone. Therefore, policymakers need to think about what care looks like in Ireland. It should look like "warehousing", nor should it be solely about shareholders. It should be about offering a quality of life which includes physical health, psychological support, a level of independence, social relationships, and a relationship with the environment, with sufficient staff to offer support and care.
Irish Daily Mirror
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
RTE star set to go into harrowing detail about breakdown of marriage in new book
RTE star Miriam O'Callaghan is set to go into the harrowing detail of the breakdown in her first marriage in her first memoir. And the Prime Time host has also ruled out '100 per cent' that she will not run for the Irish Presidency. The mum-of-eight revealed on Friday she will debut her first memoir in October after taking 20 years to write it. Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Miriam said: 'I am 100 percent ruling out running for the presidency." On considering putting her name forward for nomination she said: "I address the whole subject in my book. That's all I'll say." In 1983 she married fellow broadcaster Tom McGurk and the couple had four daughters: Jessica, Georgia, Alannah and Clara. They split in 1995. Her second marriage was to Steve Carson. They married in 2000 and have four sons together - Conor, Jack, Daniel and Jamie. Asked if the book will cover the breakdown of her first marriage she said: "There's no part of my life or story that I do not address. 'I write about everything. And I think that is only fair to readers. Otherwise, they'll feel I'm just telling half a story. "I've lived my life in the public eye for a long time - and I always feel that if I ask people to open up to me in interviews, then why shouldn't I be open with others? "What is so precious and important about my life that I can keep it all hidden, when I expect others to tell me the truths about their lives? So there will be things in the book that people don't know about me." The book will also address the inside story of media storms and career disappointments, including rumours about being considered for the Late Late Show. "I explain the full story, which not everyone knows. I talk about the process around it and how it can end up a terrible mess. I've been inside a number of huge media storms down the years. 'And I explain the anatomy of those in the book, which is interesting." She also ruled out any desire to leave RTÉ, saying: "I'm obsessed with figures. I really care about how many people listen to me and watch me. And right now, loads of people listen and watch. "So long as that happens, I'll be there. I'll know the day people are really, really sick of me and I'll be gone. "But right now I love it - and, as Nigella Lawson says: 'It's important for younger women to see that you can be out there doing a good job as an older woman and doing it well."
