Joyce Fegan: The core issue at the heart of new maternity hospital, confusion

'You would need cross qualifications in land law, canon law, obstetrics, urology, gynaecology and corporate law to get anywhere near having a full and black-and-white understanding of the current state of affairs'

A model of the new National Maternity Hospital proposed for the St Vincent’s Hospital campus in Dublin 4. Picture: Gareth Chaney, Collins

WHEN it comes to women’s health, especially their reproductive health, Irish women are well used to playing the long game.

The women of Ireland waited 35 long years to receive the right to control their bodies. From 1983 to 2018, approximately 200,000 girls and women made the journey to Liverpool, Manchester, or London to terminate pregnancies they were legally mandated to carry against their will on home soil.