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3,000 Monaghan People March Against Hospital Closure
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news report
 Wednesday July 31, 2002 14:24 by Justin - Sinn Fein maigh_nuad at yahoo dot com
There was a massive turnout of over 2,000, possibly close enough to 3,000 people at a march in Dublin city centre today to protest against the government’s policy on Monaghan Hospital, which is facing closure. There was a massive turnout of over 2,000, possibly close enough to 3,000 people at a march in Dublin city centre today to protest against the government’s policy on Monaghan Hospital, which is facing closure. Talking to people on the march it was clear that many of them had never demonstrated before but after months of campaigning, petitions, postcards and the election of an Independent Hospital candidate they still have got nowhere. The crowd was very enthusiastic and angry as it was led off from the Garden of Remembrance after listening to speeches from women whose lives had been affected by the downgrading of Monaghan Hospital including one woman whose father is dieing in Cavan Hospital as a result of the inept management and bureaucracy of the North Eastern Health Board. The march proceeded down O’Connell St and the tail end of the march was still coming on to the street as the truck leading the march was already crossing the bridge. The march headed on to the Department of Health but, being a recent hospital visitor myself I wasn’t able to go on much further so for all I know they’ve seized the Department HQ and are holding Martin hostage. Interestingly, among the multitude of banners and placards from GAA clubs, residents associations, farming groups, Union groups were many with the slogan ‘Michael Martin, NO to Monaghan Hospital, then NO to Nice’ By common agreement party political banners and spokespersons were not allowed (Though Fine Gael snuck in a banner, maybe the establishment right isn’t all that different from the sectarian left ;) ) but Sinn Féin TDs Caoimhghin O’Caolain, Sean Crowe and Arthur Morgan joined Independent Hospital TD Paudge Connolly and councillors from across party lines in Monaghan, including three Dublin Sinn Féin councillors.
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Comments (9 of 9)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Sinn Fein march against hospital closures in the South but privatise hospitals in the south. Strange.
that should be privatise hospitals in the NORTH
Irish Politics, A Beginners Guide.
In the Southern parliament, the government has tax raising power. Taxes are use to fund public works such as hospitals.
In the North, the Assembly has no tax raising power and Sinn Féin sits in a coalition with three parties who all support PFI. This means the Assembly cannot raise taxes which, you might remember from the first paragraph, can be used to build hospitals. The Assembly is therefore reliant on Westminster for funding.
Sorry for the rather childish sarcasm but Sinn Féin sits in a northern assembly which is far from perfect. We don't support PPP in the South, nor do we support PFI in the North, but we are forced to implement it because that's the nature of the Assembly and of northern politics.
We can't up and resign from the Executive because the last thing the North needs is more confusion and instability leading to violence. And yes, it is very easy for people to wander about exposing the contradictions and many, many people have made the point to me, but when asked, not one has ever been able to answer satisfactorily the question of what they would do in our position, a position which nonse of them, lacking any popular support, will ever find themselves.
Oh the poor dears. Poor little Martin and Barbara are forced into signing those PFI deals by the wicked Brits again.
PFI is Thatcherism full stop and Bobby Sands must be spinning. The reality is both mininsters are gung ho about privatisation - just look up their press releases. Republicans fought for 30 years supposedly against Westminster rule and now Sinn Fein apologise for carrying out Tory policies. There is an alternative - resign and find another way to fight that does not involve armed stuggle or its flipside - purely constitutional politics.
Yeah, that's the one most often suggested by critics. 'Well, if they don't support PFI, why not resign?' Frankly, it's a difficult question to answer, not because the solution is in anyway complex, but because it is so glaringly simple that explaining it seems superfluous.
The North is not a normal society, it is a deeply divided society in an extremely precarious conflict resolution process, made all the more difficult by the belief of many Unionists that there was no conflict and thus, no need for conflict resolution. With armed paramilitaries on both sides, tension and street violence every day, the threat of more fatal attacks on nationalist communities etc. your solution is that the Sinn Fein ministers should contribute to the chaos and the confusion.
In an ideal world, Sinn Fein would not implement PFI, but in an ideal world there would be no threat of violence and if Sinn Fein was in government in the North it would be in government either by ourselves or as the majority party. But that's not the case, nor is it more likely to be the case following resignations. The damage to the Process, the damage to the creation of All-Ireland bodies would be severe. The unutterable joy that such a decision would bring Unionism is nauseating to contemplate.
No-one in Sinn Fein is 'gung-ho' about privatisation, no-one in Sinn Fein wants to be implementing PFI, but no-one in Sinn Fein is prepared to walk away from our responsibilities.
What's that Justin - Labour must wait? whatever happened to the 32 county socialist republic or is that too complicated as well?
Labour has waited long enough and if it has to look to anyone other than Sinn Féin it will be waiting a very long time. And a 32 county socialist republic was, is, and will remain Sinn Féin's objective.
Oh that ideal world. Justin that is a recipe for every sell out. Every cut, job loss and decision made to benefit capitalists can be defended in that way. This does not explain why the 2 SF ministers unilaterally pushed for PFI. There are alternatives to funding than PFI. Both education and health have been funded for 50 years without handing over schools and hospitals to private companies. McGuinness has the power for instance to decide that new schools are kept in the public domain. Instead this proto thatcherite has given them over to companies such as Cement Roadstone Holdings - remember them?? Ansbacher, Haughey etc
Is this united Ireland through privatisation or what. This is NOT peace at any price. This is peace on Thatcherite terms. Whats more is that the bitterness that privatisation brings - low wages, no unions, no pensions, few permanent jobs etc will feed sectarianism anc create more instability. On the other standing up for jobs and the public sector will undermine sectarianism.
A new SDLP is being revealed ...
I don't understand sfs big deal about refusing to oppose privatisation. After all you took part in a 30 year long armed struggle. Opposing PFI is hardly going to be as much of a struggle as the former. SF could simply refuse to do it run up a decefit and organise support for the tactic.
Why they don't I can only judge because they don't want to.