Cancer misdiagnoses - Cross-party response to crisis needed

THE outcome of the no-confidence motion in Health Minister Mary Harney was never in any real doubt throughout the two-day Dáil debate.

But the vote should not be considered as some kind of vindication, or an end in itself. Instead, it should be seen as a beginning.

In her passionate and at times robust defence of her performance as minister, Ms Harney apologised to the women who have been victims of the misdiagnosis of cancer. Admitting that the system is flawed, she called on the opposition to put politics aside in order to tackle the problems of cancer in the bipartisan way that all parties eventually approached the difficult issues of Northern Ireland.