Profit not a factor in hospital move

IF one is given to airing opinions on something as important as society’s treatment of the mentally ill, then it is only proper one is familiar with the real facts of the situation, as well as overall intent and trend.

Nowhere in his letter (Irish Examiner, August 1) does Sean O’Neill display such a familiarity. Consequently, what readers got was sloganeering and third-hand gossip.

The misrepresentation of the reasons for moving the location of the Central Mental Hospital cannot go unchallenged. The reason for the construction of the new complex at Thornton Hall is a matter of public record: the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) reported in both 1998 and 2002 on conditions and services in the Central Mental Hospital.