30,000 sign petition to block nuns from maternity hospital ownership

A petition to block the decision to give the Sisters of Charity ownership of the €300 million State-funded maternity hospital has gathered almost 30,000 signatures, writes Orlaith Condon.

The Sisters of Charity are currently shareholders in the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group, which the Department of Health said earlier this week would be the “sole owner of the new hospital”. The news sparked controversy online, with a petition to stop the move circulating online within hours. Just over 24 hours later, that petition has almost reached its set target. Minister for Health Simon Harris shared his thoughts on the decision yesterday, saying: “A new governance structure was agreed upon late last year, which provides for a new company being established called; ‘The National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park DAC’. “The identity and ethos of the current NMH will be retained. The new company will have clinical and operational independence in the provision of maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services, without religious, ethnic or other distinction, as well as financial and budgetary independence.” The issue has sparked a major debate online, with the topic trending nationally on Twitter.

When it comes to our maternity services, I take the views of those responsible for the delivery of infants & the clinical care of women pic.twitter.com/2IBSg6MhmZ

— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) April 18, 2017

Speaking of the huge response to the online petition, Emily Duffy of Uplift, who published the petition, told The Journal: “This is an issue that people in Ireland are clearly outraged about. “It’s rare we see a petition go viral so rapidly, and it shows that people are deeply troubled by the State’s utter disregard for the many victims of abuse which took place in the institutions run by orders such as the Sisters of Charity.” The news comes as another blow to Magdalene Laundry victims who are still waiting to receive their sum of the €3 million compensation from the Sisters of Charity.