Frantic attempts to salvage children’s hospital

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.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who singled out the €650m development as a priority in his address to the nation last December, insisted it would go ahead and within the Coalition’s lifetime despite An Bord Pleanála’s refusal of planning permission likely adding years to the project’s 2016 completion target.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, meanwhile, said he would consider a Fianna Fáil proposal for radical legislation to allow the Government overrule the board.