New proposals from the Religious Sisters of Charity, the owners of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG), do nothing to allay serious concerns about the ownership, governance, and clinical independence of the new publicly-funded National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
They want to change the board composition of the planned new NMH, and increase the lease it will grant to the State from 99 to 299 years.
SVHG insists it must own the site for “clinical, governance, and operational reasons”. SVHG’s unyielding position to date on ownership clearly reveals how land ownership is critical to ensuring the independence of clinical practice and appropriate governance. Extending the length of a lease over the site offers no reassurance, it is ownership of the land that is crucial.
There is not a single hospital anywhere in the world built on land owned by a Catholic organisation, whether lay or religious, which provides procedures forbidden by universal Catholic teaching. Can anyone seriously still believe that the new NMH at Elm Park will be the sole exception in the world?
Ministerial promises guaranteeing that women will be able to access all legal reproductive health services at the new hospital cannot be accepted under current plans, not least because of the legal protection underpinning conscientious objection in medical practice. Having closely followed the controversy surrounding this project for several years, it is our firm belief that the State must own the land at Elm Park if it is to proceed with the NMH project on that site.
The Sisters of Charity must agree to sell the site at Elm Park to the State, or the State must utilise its power to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order to acquire the land. The NMH project is a test of the resolve of this Government.
A public national maternity hospital is the only way to guarantee that women will have access to modern reproductive healthcare, independent of Catholic ethos and private business interests. This Government must not fail the women of Ireland again.
Dr Peter Boylan
Former Master, National Maternity Hospital
Linda Kelly
Campaign for Better Maternity Care
Orla O’Connor
Director, National Women’s Council of Ireland
Siobhán O’Donoghue
Director, Uplift
Jo Tully
Chair, Campaign against ChurchOwnership of Women’s Healthcare
Flawed survey on daylight saving
Having read ‘Daylight Savings: Why are the clocks still going back in winter?’ (Irish Examiner, October 30), I am amazed at how MEP Séan Kelly
arrived at his stance, and also that the article did not challenge his contentions on the removal of the biannual time change.
In stating “huge public support” for the removal of the time change, he is referring to a survey carried out online that people had to search out, so it skews any result to those who want change.
The survey respondents encompassed less than 1% of the EU population, with 75% of those respondents originating in Germany.
In no way was this a reasonable opinion poll and it is of no scientific value at all based on how the data was gathered and it can no way be deemed as representative in his
contention that 80% of EU citizens want change.
Indeed, if Mr. Kelly is really worried on citizen health, he should be advocating for Spain, France, and Benelux to switch to GMT, and that we remain on GMT all year round.
The effects of daylight saving, or staying on summertime all year round, are less the further south you are. In summer, it works as the sun is up for us all in the EU before we have to go to work or school.
Aonghus Mac Domhnaill
Ballycullen
Mullinahone
Co Tipperary
Climate change not a top priority
I’m not too surprised at this finding in the article 'Just 6% of Irish people view climate change as their top priority as Cop26 commences' (Irish Examiner, November 1). Most of us haven’t suffered much from climate change here in Ireland. And ‘if it doesn’t affect me then it’s OK’, it seems. It hasn’t been a top priority in politics either. We are too individualistic.
It’s most definitely my top priority, even if I won’t be around too much longer. I love this earth, and try to care for it where and as I can.
But who is joining the dots here? Covid has become a huge issue, but all life is connected. We cannot be healthy in a sick world. And a sick world is one where diseases flourish in plants, animals and humans.
I understand people’s need for good housing, services, etc, and agree these should also be prioritised, but it’s not an either/or issue.
That’s the problem with surveys: Tick one box and you have to exclude the rest.
Carol Dorgan
Dillon’s Cross
Cork
Acknowledging their violent past
The decision by Sinn Féin to recognise the Special Criminal Court marks a significant step forward for Sinn Féin but further steps are needed on the journey towards taking violence out of Irish politics.
Such steps must also be taken by other parties, especially Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, whose very foundations were laid with violence.
If the arguments by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that Sinn Féin are unsuitable to be in government because of their violent past, then that same criterion should have been applied to themselves.
We should not whitewash or censor those parts of history that we would like to forget, lest we go on repeating past mistakes.
There is a valid case to be made for a truth commission into the killings during the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland, as documented in Lost Lives, edited by David McKittrick et al. There should also be more honest discussion on all the unjustified killings that occurred during the war for independence and the civil war.
As the centenary of the Civil War approaches now is a good time for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Sinn Féin to admit to and apologise for all the unjustified deaths and injuries caused by them in the past.
Edward Horgan
Castletroy
Limerick
Sweet irony of Sinn Féin and court
Oh, the delicious irony of Sinn Féin
endorsing the Special Criminal Court, which was initially brought about to put manners on the Provisional IRA.
Robert Sullivan
Bantry
Co Cork
Spanish bull run is cruelty, not culture
The tragic death of a man at a Spanish bull run serves as another reminder of how cruel and dangerous this practice is. It puts both people and animals at high risk of injury or death, and for no reason other than to provide humans with a sporting challenge. The bull is doomed from the start, because at the end of the run he is taken to a bull ring where he is stabbed repeatedly with darts and lances prior to having his anguish terminated with a matador’s sword.
Both bull-running and bullfighting have resumed in Spain after an enforced hiatus due to Covid lockdown.
Unfortunately, the closer bond with animals and nature that marked lockdown for many people worldwide doesn’t seem to have touched the hearts of those involved in blood sports. And Spain doesn’t have a monopoly on cruelty dressed up as tradition or culture.
John Fitzgerald
Callan
Co Kilkenny
Archive of Irishmen on Arctic convoys
Early this year during a virtual commemoration for Russians who were lost during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 (during the second World War), it came to light that Captain (later Commodore) Peter Kavanagh Flag Officer Commanding of the Irish Naval Service had served on the Arctic convoys prior to him enlisting with the Irish navy in 1947.
A contributor, Vladimir Petrovich Solomonov, director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Memory located in St Petersburg, advised this was new to him and requested more information. An Irish flag is being flown in the new museum to honour the contribution of those Irishmen from the Republic of Ireland who had served on the Arctic convoys.
In order to build an archive within this Russian Maritime Museum of those
Irishmen from the Republic of Ireland who served on the Arctic convoys, and because of a lack of information, it is necessary to seek the assistance of families to consider sending me the details of their relative for eventual inclusion in this Russian archive; email: mulvanypeterie@yahoo.co.uk.
Peter Mulvany
Irishseamensrelativesassociation.ie
Clontarf
Dublin
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB
