Key Public Meeting in the Battle to Save Navan Hospital A&E Tomorrow Night

Cathaoirleach of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign Peadar Tóibín TD stated;

“The future of Navan Hospital A&E hangs in the balance. Our A&E is by far the most important health infrastructure in Meath, a county with a population that’s approaching ¼ million people. The lives of thousands of people have been saved and protected in our A&E over the decades”.

“It is incomprehensible that the HSE is looking to close our A&E at a time of record A&E overcrowding, record hospital waiting lists and when GPs are leaving Ireland in their hundreds for work abroad. The HSE are working off a plan that’s over a decade old, that is based on demographics that bear no resemblance to today’s reality. They are ignoring their own report, written at great cost that identified Navan has the logical location in the region for an A&E.

Vitally the HSE has provided no safe alternative pathway for patients to receive emergency treatment. The idea that a GP referral Medical Assessment Unit will work is a nonsense. GP appointments are as rare as hens teeth and take up to a fortnight to get. No one in an emergency is going to wait days for a GP referral to an MAU, they will end up adding to shocking waiting times in Drogheda A&E”.

“We are in the middle of an enormous battle that will determine the future health outcomes of generations of people in Meath. We are determined not to allow the region become another University Hospital Limerick. We urge everyone with a stake hold in this county to attend the Public Meeting in the Newgrange Hotel, Navan tomorrow night at 8pm

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.