Bertie dodges as Government stands firm on SARS

Mary Dundon, Jim Morahan and Dan Collins

Amid mounting opposition to the ruling, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday set a sprinting record of sorts when he gave the media the slip at the launch of the Irish Special Olympics Team.

Mr Ahern's rapid escape from a waiting group of reporters came as the President of the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr Joe Barry, said the Government's decision to ban certain Far Eastern teams from the Special Olympics was illogical and discriminatory.

He also said that a different decision would have been taken if public health doctors had not been on strike and were sitting on the advisory committee.

Dr Barry said that it was not too late to reverse the decision, as the games were not due to commence for five weeks.

The Department of Health and Children had gone for an almost zero-risk strategy, which would be tantamount to closing the borders, he said.

Department officials had not consulted the public health doctors before taking the decision to ban athletes from the Far East. This was one of a number of bad judgment calls made recently by the Department, Dr Barry added.

But a spokeswoman for the Department rejected all of Dr Barry's claims.

She said there were three public health specialists on the expert committee, including the department's Chief Medical Officer, who chairs the committee, and two deputy medical officers in the department.

"He was late for an appointment and he had to go," was how Mr Ahern's press officer later explained the Taoiseach's dash from Croke Park despite a prior undertaking to members of the media.

During his short address at the launch of Team Ireland, the Taoiseach made no direct reference to the SARS controversy, arising from the travel ban on countries where the problem still persists.

Wishing the Irish organisers of the event every success in their huge undertaking, Mr Ahern said "even though we've had a few hiccups in the last while, hopefully we'll get over that too."

The event has been shrouded in controversy since the announcement last week that contestants from regions affected by the SARS virus were being asked not to come to Ireland. The decision affects teams from China, Chinese Taipei, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

Hopes that Singapore might be exempted from the ban after coming close to disease-free status were dashed yesterday, when the first new case in 20 days was reported.

The World Health Organisation has announced that it will not remove Singapore from its list of areas affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus.