Alison O'Connor: Expert voices may not be enough to convince dissenters on maternity hospital

Experts appear to be on the same page, but it may not be enough to convince the dissenters on the National Maternity Hospital move, writes Alison O’Connor.

Dr Rhona Mahony, who is spearheading the move to the new National Maternity Hospital. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

When she sat in front of an Oireachtas committee in 2013 to talk about Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws, the then master of the National Maternity Hospital Rhona Mahony was, as she describes it, “a lone voice”.

Nine years ago, she appeared before a room full of politicians in Leinster House discussing the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. She wasn’t to know she would subsequently become a household name, only that she clearly felt compelled to speak out on behalf of doctors and women.