Local representatives and charities have welcomed the beginning of extension work at Cork's Fermoy Community Hospital.

The construction scheme will provide the hospital with an additional 30 beds.

Chair of St. Patrick's Hospital Fundraising Association, Tom Higgins, said: "This is welcome news to the fundraising committee and all the people who contributed so generously to fund this much needed unit, which will provide care and facilities for the patients at the hospital.

"Fermoy Community Hospital will compare with the best in the country and we are all proud of our role in contributing €460,000 to the project.

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"This unit will be a tribute to the generosity of the people who made the association's fund possible," added Mr Higgins.

Fermoy Mayor, Tadhg O'Donovan, said he was delighted to see the construction equipment arriving on the site.

The Mayor lauded the commitment of the entire community, who managed to raise €460,000 towards the project.

A precondition for the scheme getting the go ahead, laid down by the Department of Health, was that the community raised €380,000. This target was more than exceeded.

Mr O'Donovan said: "Every townland, village and town in the area displayed the initiative, commitment and imagination to ensure that what was for so long an aspiration, became a reality with the contractors coming on site to make everyone associated with the hospital so proud."

He also praised the fundraising committee, as a "driving force" behind the project.

(PR/JM)