Madam, - I applaud Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children and Tallaght Hospital, for taking a stand against the proposed development of a children's hospital at the Mater site.
It is inevitable that both hospitals will come under great pressure and there will be intimidation behind the scenes, no doubt including issues concerning funding, research and other critical aspects of the work of these hospitals. But they must resist and hold their positions - for the good of the children who will need hospital services, and for their families. It was disappointing to see that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin didn't find it possible to support his own board at Our Lady's, instead, calling now for a dialogue in which the HSE and Department of Health appear to have no genuine interest.
The proposed site is in a congested, city-centre location; the strategy of the city council is to remove private transport from the city. Did these facts enter at all into the consideration of the so-called experts? At the weekend, I read in a newspaper that the Taoiseach sometimes has a helicopter drop him off near his Drumcondra home. Is it any wonder, therefore, that this Government does not see, or chooses to ignore, the practical impediments to this project for children and families all over this country? They won't have access to helicopters to beat the traffic, nor reserved parking when they arrive.
The two hospitals are right and they deserve our support. - Yours, etc,
T GERARD BENNETT,
Templeroan Park,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.
A Chara, - The refusal of some of the professionals in our health service to look beyond their own narrow self-interest beggars belief, and makes no small contribution to the lack of progress in improving standards.
The development of a single world-class children's hospital in Dublin is being held up by a group of people who are still refusing to accept that their choice of site was not selected. Another group is running a concerted campaign on the basis that the new facility would suffer from the lack of a Protestant ethos, as if that matters to a two-year-old needing an operation.
Worst of all, for what must be at least the third year running, hospital consultants are blocking the recruitment of more staff in protest at plans to make them work evenings and weekends, as if nobody could possibly get sick while they're off playing golf. If the situation were not so serious and so urgent, it would be a joke.
If these groups were up for election in June - rather than Mary Harney, who is actually driving the process forward - would such disgraceful behaviour be tolerated by the public and would their mandates be renewed? - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL,
Castle Gate,
Dublin 2.
Madam, - The proposed site for the new national children's hospital is wrong for sick children and their parents. Our daughter spent 10 months in hospital in Crumlin. Without fail, my husband or I travelled there every day to spend time with her and help take care of her. On occasion, we were able to bring her home for the day or the weekend. As it happens, our family life was lived out exclusively in the hospital as our daughter died there.
If the hospital had been located in the north inner city, we would not have been able to spend the same amount of time with our daughter. We most certainly would have missed out on getting to know and care for her to the extent that we did during those precious months, all simply due to an inaccessible location. For parents and sick children, some of whom unfortunately will have to spend prolonged periods of time in hospital, who want to nurture a loving relationship, maintain a sense of family and enhance the medical care provided, then it is not too late to revise this decision to reflect the true value of family-centred care. - Yours, etc,
GRÁINNE McGETTRICK,
Rockfield Park,
Kilmacanogue,
Co Wicklow.
Madam, - Why not build the hospital in Athlone, a central point for all the children of the country? - Yours, etc,
ANNE CANNING,
Monasteroris,
Edenderry,
Co Offaly.
Madam, - We are informed that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin attends only one meeting per year of the board of Our Lady's Children's Hospital (The Irish Times, January 12th). Remarkably, he holds the chairmanship of this board. Surely a bishop would be expected to have the grace to resign from this position in such an abysmal circumstance. - Yours, etc,
Dr TOM HOGAN,
College Grove,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.