This article is from page 14 of the 2007-08-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE west is awake and the people of Clare are in protest mode.
Just days before the campaign march to save the Aer Lingus flights from Heathrow to Shannon Airport, more than 600 people met in the Au- burn Lodge Hotel in Ennis to organ- ise a campaign to save acute services at Ennis General Hospital and de- mand proper medical services for the county.
Organised by the Ennis General Hospital Committee and its sub- eroup Clare Cancer Concern, the meeting saw a number of medical experts, leaders in the community and members of the public raise con- cerns about the failures of the coun- ty’s health service.
A march, similar to that organised shortly after the Hanley report was published, is being organised with all present vowing to support it.
Leaks from the Review of Acute
Services in the mid-west (leam- work Report) has pointed to the re- placement of the 24-hour accident and emergency department at Ennis General Hospital with a nurse-led minor injuries department open for 12 hours a day.
The protest group is demanding the retention of 24-hour accident and emergency services and the reopen- ing of the mammography unit at the hospital, paid for by the people of OE
Adding the support of the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, and the priests of the diocese, Fr Hogan said that Ennis General Hospital had a sense of community and the services were patient centred.
“It (the hospital) is ours, we need the best. We demand the best.”
Tom Brooks from the Clare IFA was assuring the campaign the sup- port of the county’s farmers.
“If it comes to the crunch we will be there again in support,’ he told the meeting.
The ICA, Irish Kidney Association, the mayor of Clare Patricia McCa- rthy and Shannon town mayor Sean McLaughlin also spoke in support of the hospital retaining its services, and in some cases improving them.
Nuala Slattery from Clare Cancer Concern said that the group had al- ready collected 5,000 signatures in support of the campaign to return mammography service to the hospital.
“Don’t lose momentum now. We will succeed. We can and we will. This 1s our hospital,’ she said.
As well as the enthusiasm for the campaign, there was an element of anger among the crowd, particularly in relation to slippage of medical services in the county.
“We can march all we want but what we need to do 1s get our two F1- anna Fail TDs to stand down,” John Lernehan from the Irish Drivers As- sociation said.
“It is a simple solution. We put them in we can take them out.”