OPINION (AN COLÚN): Marching with thousands against the loss of another vital service in rural Ireland

ON Saturday afternoon I attended the Protest March against the downgrading of the maternity unit in Portiuncula Hospital. I was there in a professional capacity, to report the speeches and the general atmosphere, but I was also there in a personal capacity; because I was born in Portiuncula, as were my two brothers and indeed many people from Offaly.
Among my earliest memories is being driven over to Portiuncula to see my newly born brother in 1976 and I remember distinctly the general sense of excitement in the family that this occasioned.
Portiuncula was also the place where my grandfather passed away in December 1989. I remember staying up all night by his hospital bed and praying. I believed he was destined for Heaven and I was praying to God to lessen his physical suffering during his remaining hours on Earth.
These are strong memories, they are an essential part of my identity as a human being. They represent a crucial part of the emotional fabric of my life. Many other marchers present on Saturday no doubt felt the same. Cllr Evelyn Parsons said as much when she pointed out the Hospital wasn't just bricks and mortar, it was about the emotional experiences and memories of families and communities. Many people now fear that this important emotional wellpool is being sidelined and overlooked by people who want to ensure that the balances on their financial ledgers achieve the figures they desire. This is one of the great, if not the greatest, moral issues of our time where finance takes precedence over humanity.
John Hanniffy of Portlaoise Hospital Action Group pointed out that balances on financial ledgers can be a red herring, a smokescreen to distract us from the truth. He pointed out that Portlaoise Hospital was told in 2017 that its financial prognosis was negative and a major reform was needed. They fought back against this negative assessment and now they have been proved right. As he put it himself, Portlaoise Hospital is “flying it.” In other words, we frequently treat financial assessments as being written in stone, when in fact they can sometimes be misleading.
John Hanniffy also warned about “mealy-mouthed” commentary. I suppose a mealy-mouthed statement could be something like, “You are overreacting. This is only a diversion of high risk maternity cases. It's only a minor part of the hospital and the hospital will otherwise continue functioning as usual.” Such a mealy-mouthed statement is possibly true of course. But it also flies in the face of so much of human experience, where an initial cut is followed by another, and then another; until it ends where? A drastic reduction in services, or even, God forbid, a complete shutdown of the hospital?
I remember distinctly 2010 and reporting on the decision to close the A&E service in Nenagh Hospital. We were told that our fears were misplaced and the transferral of A&E to University Hospital Limerick was a step in the right direction, it was “progress” (a dreaded word which is imbued with sanctity and cuts off any arguments to the contrary). We felt a little patronised and perhaps were even being placed in that over-used box labelled “Luddites”. UHL was going to be a centre of excellence, the powers that be stated. Look how that worked out.
Therefore, people in Ballinasloe on Saturday were concerned that removing high risk maternity cases elsewhere was just the thin end of the wedge; a forerunner of much worse to come. They could be wrong; but we would be foolish to dismiss the fear.
There's also a strong sense that rural Ireland has been poorly treated for many years, that those making decisions within the Pale do not have due regard for Ireland's rural citizens. Look at the evidence: Look at the closure of essential services like post offices, garda stations, pubs, and schools in rural areas over the years, thereby reducing the quality of life and making people stay away. Look at the concentration of jobs, educational opportunities, and amenities in larger towns and cities drawing people away from rural communities. Rural Irish towns have been suffering from neglect, witnessing a lack of investment, and the hollowing out of community services. In rural Ireland, whether in its countryside, villages or towns, there are higher rates of part-time employment and lower incomes. The Housing Crisis has also been a millstone around the neck. The suspicion is that for the powerful decision makers on large income payslips these problems barely register, if at all.
For those of us who love rural Ireland and want to see it prosper, there was a glimmer of hope on Saturday, because it felt as if apathy and indifference had been cut adrift and the Voice of the Country had decided to push back.

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