10,000 voices cry 'enough’

More than 10,000 people took to the streets of Navan on Saturday in a massive show of support against the downgrading of Our Lady’s Hospital. Chanting “We are the people, we have the vote”, young and old from all over the county made their way from the Enterprise Centre on the Trim Road through the streets of the town before gathering close to the hospital in a huge show of strength that took even the organisers by surprise. The marchers heard a moving speech from breast cancer survivor Margaret Regan who told the crowd “I am here today because this hospital in Navan saved my life,” while Louise O’Reilly, who was representaing hospital staff, warned that the people would make the Government suffer when the election came. GP, Dr Ruairi Hanley, in an impassioned and strongly-worded speech, spoke of the “faceless cowards” who had started a smear campaign and blackened the name of brilliant doctors in their efforts to downgrade the hospital and described them as “incompetent morans on six figure salaries”. He said it was time “to tackle the waste and inefficiencies and give P45s to the clowns who belong in a circus tent and not running our hospitals”. Meath East Fianna Fail TD, who was booed by the crowd, said his party had made a solemn commitment that it would not allow the hospital to close. The rally had been expected to attract about 5,000 and the organisers were thrilled at the turn-out. The demonstration was described by Save Navan Hospital chairman, Cllr Peadar Tóibín, as “the biggest cross-community development in Meath” and said they were “only starting and we would continue to roll”. He said “people were furious over the savage cuts that have been inflicted on the hospital and that hundreds of emergency patients were being forced to do a tour of the north-east in order to find a bed”. Cllr Tóibín paid special tribute to the workers at Navan Hospital who had been the target of a negative smear campaign by the HSE and whose morale had been battered and bruised by ward closures and cutbacks. “We back you 100 per cent,” he said. Politicians of all political persuasions were joined on the march by former patients, local community groups and sporting organisations, trade unions and individuals waving banners and placards calling for the restoration of essentials ervices at Our Lady’s Hospital. A large group of miners from Tara Mines, wearing their mining gear, were among the protestors that took over 25 minutes to pass through the town. When the rally reached the hospital, the crowds stretched back down Brews Hill and Trimgate Street, as far as McDonalds and speeches were relayed across the main streets on a public address system. RTE’s Hector ” hEochagháin, a native of Navan, was among the protestors. Gardai called in extra personnel to police the huge crowds and were assisted by Meath Civil Defence. The Garda Air Support Unit also monitored events from the air. According to the Gardai, the crowd was well-behaved and co-operative and there was a carnival atmosphere. Traffic was diverted for about half an hour and access to the hospital was kept open at all times. The monster rally was held in protest at the HSE’s decision to remove emergency and acute surgery from the hospital two months ago, amid claims that the hospital would be reduced to nothing more than a nursing home or cottage hospital. However, in a statement issued before the weekend, the HSE reinterated earlier assurances that the hospital was not closing. Local Minister and TD Noel Dempsey called for both the HSE and the Navan hospital consultants to appear before the Oireachtais Committee on Health. He said the HSE was making one set of claims and the consultants and medical staff another. “I want to get both sides into the committee, so that the truth will have to be told in public,” the minister said. He added that because of the privilege that is attached to the committee, it would also mean bringing into the public domain the reports that led to the initial changes, which are currently tied up because of litigation. A public meeting of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign will take place this Friday night in the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan, at 8pm.