Harney to Close Children's Hospital

MARY HARNEY

Health Minister Mary Harney plans to close Dublin's three Children's Hospitals and build a new hospital along the M50. This proposal includes the closure of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. Disguised as a measure to rationalise healthcare for children, it amounts to cutting back on a vital social service.

Sinn Féin activists held a protest outside the Dáil last week to protest at Mary Harney's decision to close down Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD handed in a letter of protest and a petition containing thousands of signatures to the Minister for Health outlining his and Sinn Féin's opposition to this unnecessary closure of a vital facility for the health and well being of children in the whole West Dublin area. This follows on from a campaign against the closure that Sinn Féin has been running for several weeks.

Ó Snodaigh said: "We are calling upon the Minister for Health Mary Harney to scrap the plans to close the Children's Hospital in Crumlin. We have gathered thousands of signatures from concerned constituents all over Dublin South Central in a petition calling for the same and we have sent these in along with a letter of protest stating our opposition. This gathering of signatures is part of our campaign against the closure that has been ongoing for several weeks. The sheer volume of signatures clearly illustrates the local opposition to this proposal."