Desperate attempts were being made last night by the Government to salvage the National Children’s Hospital, after plans for the long-awaited facility descended into a shambles.

A group that had always argued against the geogra- phically constrained Mater site welcomed the decision by Bord Pleanála.

The Government has insisted it remains 100% committed to the long-awaited national children’s hospital as it ordered experts to explain why planners rejected the Mater site.

Plans for the new dedicated children’s hospital in Dublin have been refused, it has been confirmed.

A NEW national children’s hospital to be built on the site of the existing Mater Hospital in Dublin will provide “a world-class medical facility”, a public inquiry heard yesterday.

THE sudden resignation of Philip Lynch, the Government-appointed chairman of the board of the new national children’s hospital, has thrown into sharp focus the ongoing controversy surrounding the choice of the Mater Hospital in the heart of Dublin as its proposed location.