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Aontú deputy leader Councillor Anne McCloskey has hit out strongly against the Civil Services move to scupper the prospect of a medical school for Derry

Aontú deputy leader Councillor Anne McCloskey has hit out strongly against the Civil Service's move to scupper the prospect of a medical school for Derry

 

 



Councillor McCloskey stated:

"I’m outraged, but not surprised at the recent announcement by the civil service that the graduate entry medical school to train general practitioners locally to serve this community will in all likelihood not happen.

 

"As a GP for over thirty years, I understand too well the problems in primary care provision in the north, and particularly west of the Bann. Workloads are spiralling and practices closing for want of staff and resources. “Emergency only” appointments and queues outside surgeries are the norm, and people struggling with chronic conditions or mental health problems are finding it increasingly difficult to access the care to which they are entitled.

 

"The funding has been allocated, the premises sourced, the administrative and teaching staff are ready to go, the course content approved by the General Medical Council,  and young people are ready and waiting to take up places. But the project needs a Minister of sign it off, and there is no executive in place to do so.

 

"Parties representing the north-west, the area with the highest scores on almost any index of socioeconomic deprivation you care to mention, are being paid to defend red lines around social issues on which there is little consensus, and on which they have sought no mandate.

 

"Civil servants like the permanent secretary of the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, are bean counters, accountants who do not factor in the wider historical systematic discrimination against Derry, and the resultant economic and social meltdown here.

 

. "That’s why we elect politicians. They are tasked with delivering for their communities. But politicians from establishment parties are hellbent on putting culture wars over the material needs of real people. They are preoccupied with windowdressing and branding. That's easier for them than working hard to improve the quailty of life and prospects of citizens."

 

By Aontú Press | 5 September, 2019



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The Irish political system is radically broken



In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.



Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.



Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.




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