*Photograph: Don Moloney.
POLITICIANS and local media in Clare were “excluded” from Tuesday’s official announcement by the Minister for Health that a new €14m hospital would be built in Raheen.
Flanked by her Fine Gael colleagues including Clare TD, Joe Cooney (FG) and Mayor of Clare, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG), the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG) heralded a milestone for the region with the 43.8 acre site in Raheen secured to ease the burden on University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Minister Carroll MacNeill appears to have only invited her colleagues from Fine Gael to the announcement while only members of the media based in Limerick and Mid-Western correspondents from RTÉ and Virgin Media were invited to attend by the Department of Health.
A spokesperson from the Department told The Clare Echo, “There was a technical error on our side with MediaHQ, which resulted in the invitation not issuing”.
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) said he was “excluded” from the event. “A few people have asked why I wasn’t at the Minister’s official announcement in Limerick, the answer to that is very simple, she and her office staff never notified me that she was in the region and I was not invited. I was excluded. I understand that our fine media outlets in Clare, Clare FM, The Clare Echo, The Clare Champion and The Clare Herald were also excluded”.
Donna McGettigan TD (SF) questioned, “was this a government announcement or a Fine Gael announcement” based on the personnel that were present in UHL on Tuesday morning. “No local media from Clare or Tipperary were invited. Despite the fact that the Minister said that Clare was at the centre of these plans. Only one of the four TDs from Clare, a Fine Gael TD, were invited. If Clare were at the centre of these plans, why is this new site one hour and twenty four minutes away from Carrigaholt or one hour and twelve minutes from Ballyvaughan. I have to ask, does that show that Clare is at the centre of this. Who is making these decisions” Fine Gael or government as I’m not sure if any Fianna Fáil TDs knew this was coming or did they? As far as I’m concerned, this is another complete let down for the people of Clare”.
Deputy Crowe said he had “very mixed feelings” about the Minister’s announcement with more than forty percent of the Clare population over an hour away from the proposed facility, “we’re the most peripheral part of the country in terms of access to healthcare. I suppose that’s where the mixed feelings lie. The development of a new hospital will certainly help to alleviate the incessant pressures that UHL faces, in particular at its accident and emergency department but there is no denying the fact that the chosen site is a great distance from people in the western and northern parts of Clare. I never voted to close the Accident and Emergency Department at Ennis General Hospital and I have always out rightly opposed its downgrading”.
Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) who is part of the Regional Health Forum stated, “I am deeply disappointed to see the people of Clare once again treated as an afterthought”.
She said the Raheen site “does nothing to improve access to emergency care for the 130,000 people living in Clare. Even more concerning is that Clare media and Clare TDs were excluded from the invitation list for the announcement. That speaks volumes. For years patients from Clare have had to travel across the county and through Limerick city to access emergency care at University Hospital Limerick. This decision changes absolutely nothing for them.The Minister had an opportunity to begin correcting the wrong that was done when Clare was left without its own acute hospital. Instead, the people of Clare are once again being asked to wait”.
Freelance reporter, Pat Flynn in response to Limerick TD, Willie O’Dea (FF) stated, “it’s so sad that the minister was so afraid of being asked the hard questions by the Clare media, they were excluded”.
