Protesters march in Waterford over hospital downgrade

“Enough is enough” — that was the message as more than 12,000 protesters took to the streets in Waterford against what they see as the latest attack on their city.

The march was organised by Save Waterford, a lobby group formed less than two weeks ago, in response to fears of a downgrade of Waterford Regional Hospital (WHR).

However, organisers, who joined with the Waterford Gives a Shirt campaigning group for Saturday’s event, say they are also angry about other “government neglect” of Waterford and the wider region.

Examples cited include the plan to merge Waterford city and county councils and high-profile job losses which have left the area with the country’s highest unemployment rate.

“The people of Waterford and the people of the South-East have sent a clear message: Don’t touch our hospital,” said co-organiser Audrey Galgey. She and Gillian Sauvage-Corcoran came together on Facebook and set up Save Waterford in response to perceived threats against the city and region.

“The hospital was the final nail in the coffin for the people of Waterford. Enough is enough,” she said. “There’s no county in Ireland that hasn’t been hit by the recession but, if you look at the statistics, Waterford has been hit by more than others.”

Saturday’s march trended on Twitter throughout the afternoon. The group’s Facebook page has almost 3,700 likes, with almost 7,000 people “talking about” the campaign.

The march came amid speculation the Government will move to implement the report from an expert group which is believed to recommend breaking up the South-East hospital network.

This would see WHR and South Tipperary General Hospital linking up with Cork University Hospital and St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, and Wexford General Hospital partnering with teaching hospitals in Dublin. It is feared in Waterford that the end of the South-East network would lead to some services being transferred away from the region.

Waterford TDs Paudie Coffey (FG) and Ciara Conway (Lab) were at the march along with others from neighbouring counties including John Paul Phelan (FG for Carlow-Kilkenny), and independent politicians including city-based TD John Halligan.

Mr Halligan called on government representatives to put Waterford before their parties: “It’s easy for me, in my position as an independent TD, to be saying that and I do have some sympathy for them, but at the end of the day they have to step up to the plate and stand up for Waterford.”

The former mayor of Waterford said it was “essential”, WHR did not lose services such as cancer care and cardiology.

WRH clinical director Dr Rob Landers said the organisers and everyone who took part in the protest deserved “great credit for standing up and being counted”.

“It was particularly encouraging to meet so many people from right across the region and that underlines the support that exists for maintaining and building on the existing South-East hospitals group, with excellent hospitals at Clonmel, Kilkenny, Wexford, and Waterford providing acute care for a region of 500,000 with many regional services centralised in WRH,” he said.

Professor Ríona Mulcahy, consultant geriatrician at WRH, also took part in the march with her family: “I marched first and foremost as a mother of five young children and a concerned citizen. It was a tremendous gathering of people from across the South-East.

“One of the things that was really clear from those participating in the march was that they were drawn from all backgrounds and that reminds us that healthcare is one issue that really does unite people.”