IRELAND
Irish Times
Paul Cullen
The announcement by the Sisters of Charity that they are ending their involvement with St Vincent’s Hospital at Elm Park, Dublin, after 183 years is a major turning point in the history of religious involvement in Irish healthcare.
It also represents a huge victory for “people power”, much of it expressed online after controversy erupted last month over the fact that the nuns would, through their ownership of St Vincent’s, also take control of the new national maternity hospital to be built on the same campus.
The “people” who made the running on the issue were unhappy at the extent of religious involvement in healthcare, and incensed at the notion that this involvement might be increased further though the “gifting” of ownership of the maternity hospital to the Sisters of Charity.
In Dr Peter Boylan, former master of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH), this viewpoint found an unlikely, yet articulate and determined, hero. Now in retirement, Dr Boylan spoke out against the interests of his alma mater, which had already signed up to the deal mediated last November that would give the nuns ultimate ownership of the site.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.