Children’s hospital - Farce has dragged on far too long

At the very moment when rebuilding a can-do, positive image for Ireland is critical, yesterday’s refusal of planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a National Children’s Hospital on the Mater Hospital site in Dublin, was another kick in the teeth for anyone who wants, but struggles every day, to believe that this small, often dysfunctional Republic, has a bright future.

The decision, after something approaching €50m has been spent writing reports and developing proposals, is in stark contrast to Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s by now almost daily mantra — “Ireland is the best small country in the world in which to do business”.

The farce would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragically amateur, so embarrassingly distant from what should be expected in a functioning society with a real sense of public morality and civic purpose.

The farce would have some black entertainment value if another generation — at least — of sick children and their families did not have to face the challenges brought by their illnesses in less than ideal circumstances. They are the real victims in this year-after-year, three-ring circus. Every other consideration is secondary to their needs and frustrations but, outrageously, they, and the medical staff who work with them, will be asked to be patient yet again.

This sorry saga has dragged on for over a decade involving nearly every political party in the State and, in more ways than are comfortable, epitomises many of the things that are wrong in our society. The kind of things that make rational and objective citizens worry deeply about what our future might bring.

There have been allegations of political interference in the project and in the choice of location. These allegations have been dismissed by some of those once central to the project, yet others in the very same position insist there were decisive and negative interventions from once senior politicians. We may never know the full truth, but the damage to Ireland Inc’s reputation has been done simply because such allegations are so very plausible and widely believed.

The usual pin-striped voices — many of them well known to Nama — will harangue An Bord Pleanála but that is as one-eyed as it is dishonest. The planning authority was doing no more than implementing policy about height restrictions in our capital. The real question is why was such a proposal — 74 metres high and 134 metres long — was made in the first place. Did its backers imagine they would be exempt from the rules? Were they encouraged to do so by some sleazy political fixer? Rather than attack An Bord Pleanála we should celebrate the fact that we have at least one regulatory authority prepared to uphold policy and defy the consensus. Powerful, independent watchdogs are essential if we are to become the kind of society that can deliver a project like this in the most effective way.

What now? As in so many conflicts in our public life, a person would need the wisdom of Solomon to decide which argument — the Mater site or a green-field alternative — is best but it is hard not to imagine that a green-field site would be the better long-term option.

This episode has dragged on for far too long and Taoiseach Enda Kenny needs to knock heads together to immediately recover lost ground. A good first step would be the appointment of a junior minister whose sole responsibility would be delivering the project in the lifetime of this Government. Unless that is achieved, it will be even harder to shake off the banana republic tag.