The wrong person has resigned in row over new children’s hospital

ONE of the more strident sayings in our period of construction mania between 2004 and 2007 was “build it and they will come”.

The mood music of the time gave us elaborate trophy designs such as Dublin’s Metro (morth and west), Terminal Two at Dublin Airport, Thornton Hall prison and the National Children’s Hospital. The wish list also included the Bertie Bowl. Several thousand seats at the Aviva Stadium (costing €400m) can’t be sold, yet Bertie wanted a third mega stadium at Abbotstown – deluded grandeur.

The prevailing political culture was limitless ambition to deliver the biggest, best and most expensive plans. Our economic miracle deserved no less.