Savita Halappanavar - Time to set a date to end hypocrisy

Over the last while Ireland has had to work very hard to try to restore its reputation. As part of that process we were all delighted to acknowledge the positive impact of a series of moderately significant events.

Fri, 23 Nov, 2012 - 00:00

Editorial

Time magazine gave Enda Kenny a ringing endorsement and we were all delighted that Ireland got some positive coverage through that piece. The same reaction followed a German publisher’s decision to name Mr Kenny as European of the Year. Ireland’s election for the first time to the UN Human Rights Council was another positive step.

When Ireland assumes the presidency of the EU in a few weeks that honour will afford us an opportunity to show that we are a decent, capable and trustworthy people, pragmatic enough to know the difference between reality and wishful thinking.

Unfortunately all of that good work has been undone by the Savita Halappanavar tragedy which is, by the hour it seems, becoming more and more damaging to this society and our good name.

Despite the awful event that led to the scandal, and that must always be the primary focus in whatever ensues, we have managed to add a deep, divisive and unnecessary air of farce and opportunism to a tragedy already more than heartbreaking,

Efforts to establish a credible investigation into the hospital death could hardly have been more flawed.

The initial inclusion of three Galway hospital staff on the inquiry team proposed by the HSE, and it is not a reflection on the unquestioned integrity of those people to say this, was bizarre. It looked like a stitch-up to protect the system that had so failed the Halappanavars. It reeked of impropriety and surely no one with the authority to select members of such and inquiry could be so blinkered as to have imagined that it might withstand even cursory scrutiny?

Equally, those who compiled this panel must have seen that offering the chairmanship to a person who has advocated abortion would have compromised the process for those who strongly opposed his views.

Praveen Halappanavar’s refusal to co-operate with any HSE inquiry could be justified on any one of these grounds but yesterday’s assertion by his solicitor that there is no record in Ms Halappanavar’s medical file of her request for a termination introduces a sinister air to the affair. It is hard to understand this omission in the light of Mr Halappanavar’s repeated declarations that such a request was made by his wife on a number of occasions before she died.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has behaved, and this is one of the kindest phrases that could be used, like a man out of his depth emotionally and politically. His Dáil appeal to Mr Halappanavar was as inappropriate as it was insensitive. His political opponents need not gloat though as very few records have been enhanced by what has transpired over the last week — and indeed the last 20 years — on this issue. It is hard to think of another incident in recent history when very senior politicians have shown themselves so far out of touch with a public weary and shamed by institutionalised evasion and hypocrisy.

How interesting it would be to be a fly on the wall when the Indian ambassador meets Mr Kenny to demand a public inquiry. How might such an entirely reasonable request be dismissed?

Very few things can be said with any degree of certainty about Savita Halappanavar’s death today. However, it is probable that any inquiry will take far too long and, if history is anything to go by, facilitate endless prevarication by those responsible for legislating for our reality rather than some imagined nirvana.

Most Irish people of a certain age will recall the great, bitter debates about the legalisation of contraception — it was made legal for you to get them even if you were not married. Imagine! Some people will remember the dire warnings about evil consequences from those who opposed the measure as an act of faith. How comforting it is that those warnings proved so inaccurate.

They will remember too the extraordinary warnings used during the divorce debates. One was that half the men in Ireland would “run away with floozies” but an amendment to allow marriages be dissolved was eventually endorsed. How comforting it is that none of those warnings proved remotely accurate either.

Unless Savita Halappanavar’s death becomes the catalyst for long-overdue legislation then we can forget about our international reputation and probably our self respect too. It’s time to summon the courage and honesty needed to confront the bullying extremists and do the right thing. It’s time Enda Kenny set a date to bring an end to all this shameful dodging and uncertainty.