Cllr calls on TD to resign from hospital group

A Navan councillor has called on Deputy Peadar Tóibín to resign as chairperson of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign in favour of a non-political chairperson. In a further escalation of the row with the Sinn Fein chairperson of the hospital lobby group, Fine Gael's Cllr Suzanne Jamal is calling on Sinn Fein's Deputy Toibin to step down, claiming that his being politically affiliated to a party is doing damage to the cause. It follows a row between the pair last week in which Cllr Jamal accused the TD of "shameful attempts" to block her from a delegation from the Our Lady's campaign which had been granted a meeting with Health Minister Dr James Reilly. However, Deputy Tóibín hit back, saying that, less than two weeks ago, the campaign voted overwhelmingly for him to coninue as chairperson. Cllr Jamal quoted Deputy Toibin's appeal to elected representatives "to put the people and the hospital first". She said: "He needs to lead by example and allow a non-political person to take over as chairperson in the interests of the people and the hospital and the campaign. "I urge Deputy Toibin to step aside as chairman, but continue to use his political leverage in Dail Eireann to fight the cause of Our Lady's Hopsital, Navan," she said. Deputy Tóibín said he was seriously disappointed at what he termed the disregard Cllr Jamal had for the hospital campaign. "Not two weeks ago, at a packed meeting of the Save Navan Hospital campaign, the secretary of the campaign proposed a vote of confidence in myself as chair. "Not one person out of the 120 people in the room voted against me. I was supported by members of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and those who are of no party. Indeed, the campaign has an excellent working relationship with senior elected representatives from Fine Gael. The last press statement which was released by me, I formulated in tandem with Deputy Damien English," he said. Deputy Tóibín said that many of those who founded the campaign and who have done the heavy lifting were astounded that Cllr Jamal had sought to force her way into the recent meeting campaigners had with Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly. He said the delegation had already been agreed, but "in a huff, she tried to overturn the democratic wishes of the campaign". He went on: "These attacks in the newspapers are loud-hailer diplomacy and negative politics. If Cllr Jamal was for real, she would have raised these issues at a campaign meeting or called me to discuss her concerns. "At no time, has she attempted to do so. The overall effect of her actions is to weaken the campaign. These attacks are music to the ears of those in the HSE who seek to remove services from the hospital," he said. He said it was interesting to note that other Fine Gael elected representatives had been chairpersons of other hospital campaigns throughout the State. "It would be sadly ironic if Cllr Jamal, who stood for the council on the hospital ticket in 2009, ended up splitting the campaign and weakening our chance of maintaining our hospital," Deputy Tóibín added.