Is saving face more important than saving children’s lives?
My Irish Examiner column of Oct 21, 2010, on the NCH: “The arguments in relation to traffic congestion and inaccessibility could prove deadly for the 5% of emergency cases that are time-critical. If Metro North is deferred or axed, additional problems will be encountered by parents with seriously ill kids. Bord Pleanála may yet determine that a city-centre location, with limited parking and crowded adjacent Croke Park events, is not optimal for such a facility. The limited size of the site prevents future capacity expansion and requires extra cost, due to deep, underground development and its vertical height. Funny money and best-practice urban development could scupper the scheme.”
In that article, I cited the five reasons given by Philip Lynch in relation to his resignation as chairman of that board, after three years of service. Mary Harney refused to listen. From the get-go, she blindly supported Bertie Ahern’s insistence that the Mater site be chosen. Bertie worked as an accountant at the Mater Hospital, prior to being a politician. The hospital campus is in the heart of his former Dublin Central constituency. In the Dáil, Pat Rabbitte, as Labour leader, revealed correspondence between Bertie and Des Lamont (Mater chairman) in which the Taoiseach was thanked for pledging their site — many months before the “independent” group indicated their selection.
