Battling Pat leads election campaign from hospital bed

WHILE other local election hopefuls are pounding the streets, one is laid up in hospital at “the worst possible time”.

Pat Murphy, a 37-year-old county councillor from Bantry, Co Cork, recently caught a infection which was being treated at the outpatients clinic at Cork University Hospital.

But last week doctors told him his condition had deteriorated so much he’d have to be admitted for an operation.

Pat’s now recuperating and trying to run his campaign from his hospital bed.

He can’t wait to get out and back in the race.

But, unfortunately, he won’t be able to put in the hours of canvassing he wanted, as doctors have told him he’ll require a fair bit of bed rest in the coming weeks.

Canvassing isn’t easy for him anyway. The Fianna Fáil candidate is confined to a wheelchair since he was involved in a serious car crash in 1993.

“Being confined to hospital now really couldn’t have happened at a worse time. It’s frustrating to be stuck in a hospital bed when I could be out meeting people. My father, Pat, aunts, uncles, friends and supporters have rowed in. I’m coordinating the canvass from my bed and am in constant contact with Donal Casey, who is director of elections,” he said.

“A lot of people have been ringing me offering support on the ground.”

Pat was co-opted onto the county council in February 2008 after Donal Casey, a businessman from Bantry, decided to retire from local politics.

Being confined to a hospital bed has made Pat acutely aware of the value of the health services.

In particular he’s concerned about a leaked report, featured in the Irish Examiner, which showed that the HSE is considering stripping A&E’s from Bantry, Mallow and Kerry General Hospital and centralising all acute services at CUH. “I just can’t see that happening, it’s totally impractical. I will fight to ensure a 24-hour A&E is maintained at Bantry General Hospital,” Pat said.

He acknowledged that some Fianna Fáil candidates are having a hard time knocking on doors.

“People have to realise this is local politics, not national politics. They must separate the two.

“I will be going on my track record locally,” he said.

Pat was recently appointed chairman of the West Cork Development Partnership. He has also been involved in several other community initiatives, such as West Cork Rural Transport, Caring Peninsulas, West Cork Community Partnership and the Attic Youth Club in Bantry.