Scairbh
Na
gCaorach
EMYVALE
Double Speak Again.
The struggle to maintain and restore services to Monaghan General Hospital is a very frustrating one. It is very difficult to keep going when one is dealing with a hidden enemy. It seems as times as if we are fighting a guerrilla war where the enemy is ducking and diving in and out and spreading false propaganda. Then another story comes to us of what could be described as a needless death and we just cannot stay quiet and go away.
However we continue the campaign and try to get answers and try to get our opinion heard and try to get a change of policy. In the Irish Times this week there was an excellent article by a Consultant Cardiologist showing that the policy of Government is based on false evidence. We have continually made this claim and accused vested interests of pushing this agenda for their own benefits but no one would listen as the ‘spindoctors’ were hired to convince the media and the public that we did not know what we were talking about. (You can read the Consultant’s article HERE)
Throughout the campaign we have been fed ‘valium tablets’ where we are told what they think will keep us quiet for a while at least. Mary Harney would never meet us and now Minister Reilly will not meet us – indeed he refuses to engage with us in any way other than to get his secretary to send us an email to say that our query is being dealt with and using the same exact language and the same secretary as Mary Harney. Nothing has changed other than the promises he made to the people of Monaghan.
Regarding the content of his reply to others campaigning for Monaghan – again it is the same as that given to us ad nauseum by Mary Harney and her team – the HSE is responsible and he cannot interfere. Of course we know that he is the Minister and that the ultimate responsibility and control stops with him but he is just using the HSE as a defensive wall. However lets look at the double speak – in response to a question from Caoimhghin O’Caolain regarding overcrowding in A & E’s Minister Reilly stated – ‘The special delivery unit has indicated to me that considerable improvements can be made at Limerick hospital within existing budgets and I have requested the HSE to implement these changes’. (I have added the emphasis) Now why can he request the HSE to do something in one case but not in another. This is an example of the double-speak where he changes the tune to fit the occasion.