Health crisis - Harney must take blame for failures

SO, THE LADY is not for turning. Surprise, surprise.

It was inevitable that Health Minister Mary Harney would dismiss the near-universal calls for her resignation on foot of Thursday’s revelations that nearly 600 women must endure having their cancer tests revisited, and that at least 100 of those will get a call — whenever it might come — telling them that all is not well.That resignation call to Ms Harney would have been universal if RTÉ had not corralled a chorus line of pliant Fianna Fáil backbenchers to do what backbenchers do — sing the party line in perfect harmony. One of that cannon-fodder chorus — Dara Calleary from Mayo — went so far as to assert that Ms Harney “does not have ultimate responsibility for the matter”.

Who does then? The Sugar Plum Fairy? Maybe it’s George Clooney — after all, he was a doctor in ER.