A MARCH in Drogheda in support of retaining Health Service Executive services for elderly long-stay patients culminated in an apparent assault on a Fine Gael TD and two other Government deputies being refused the microphone to address the 700-strong crowd.
The three deputies in question – Fine Gael’s Peter Fitzpatrick and Fergus O’Dowd and Labour’s Gerald Nash – had declined to sign a pledge which would have involved them agreeing to vote, if necessary, against the Government on the issue.
The rally in Drogheda, Co Louth, was organised by the Save Drogheda Cottage Hospital and last night it was expected that two Labour councillors would resign from the group.
The secretary of the committee is Imelda Munster, a Sinn Féin councillor, and the MC for the rally was Frank Godfrey, a non-party councillor.
Mr Godfrey said he believed in free speech but “the action group had a cast iron agreement that if they didn’t sign the pledge they could not speak. Over our dead bodies will we allow the Government to close the hospital.”
The future of 33 long-term beds and 19 respite beds between the Cottage Hospital in Drogheda and St Joseph’s in Ardee is under examination by the Minister for Health, who suggested a trust be considered to run the Cottage Hospital.
The HSE is looking at having all such long-term and respite care for the elderly at another site in Drogheda, but this is dependent on a feasibility study and funding.
Speaking after he was met by booing and was then directed off the stage, Minister of State for the NewEra Project. Fergus O’Dowd said: “What happened today in my own town is where a bunch of fascist thugs prevented us from speaking as TDs for this town . . . and the people of Drogheda won’t wear this.”
He compared what happened to “a Nuremberg rally where you are dictated to by a small number of people.
“I was abused going up by a man who threatened he’d pull me off.”
Imelda Munster, secretary of the hospital committee and is also Sinn Fein councillor on Drogheda Borough Council said: “I am calling on him to withdrawn that remark. It is ill-founded, unwarranted and insulting. All he was asked to do was sign a pledge to support the people of Drogheda and retaining the hospital.”
Another Fine Gael deputy Peter Fitzpatrick, who is also the manager of the Louth football team, appeared to be slapped on the face by a woman after he too was booed off the stage.
Speaking afterwards he said the committee “wanted me to vote against the Government but Séamus Kirk would not vote against Fianna Fáil and Gerry Adams would not vote against Sinn Féin”.
Labour deputy Gerald Nash said: “Some of the people who decided to take this approach today were the very same people for whom we repealed section 31 of the Broadcasting Act in the early 1990s to allow people to make up their own minds on terrorists and their actions.”
The other two TDs for the constituency – Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and Séamus Kirk (FF) – each spoke to the crowd and signed the pledge.
The crowd was told by committee member Joe Reid that “we have not organised this rally to give a platform to people who have already let you down”.
It had been agreed that any TD who failed to sign the pledge “would not be using this platform to talk to you today”, he added.