Medical Council was split on college approval

The Irish Medical Council’s controversial decision to give accreditation to an Irish-owned university in the Middle East at the centre of human rights concerns caused significant division within the council, documents obtained under Freedom of Information show.

Fewer than two-thirds of the council members supported the proposal to accredit the facility, owned by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), in Bahrain, according to minutes of their meetings.

The minutes also reveal the Medical Council had concerns for several years about the treatment of medics at hospitals used by the RCSI in Bahrain but decided accreditation should be based on the quality of teaching, while human rights were a matter for the Government.