Harney leaves a mixed legacy in healthcare

IT’S no secret that when Mary Harney accepted the health portfolio in 2004, other ministries had been discussed.

“Many people might have said ‘my goodness, are you mad?’,” Ms Harney said in an interview with the Irish Examiner last year.

“I just said ‘no, health’... you get stuck in there and there’s a good reform programme, that remains the situation today.”