It Occurs To Me:  The Creeslough pain continues    

Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, the legal firm representing the Creeslough families, put it succinctly: “It is difficult to comprehend a more insensitive and morally bankrupt decision in recent times”. 

He added that Donegal County Council has placed commercial and business interests above the interests of the bereaved families and their “fierce and unrelenting pleas”.

Hopefully An Bord Pleanála will reverse the decision, but council have dissipated a good portion of whatever credibility they might have accumulated over the years

Placing commercial and business interests above the interests of the bereaved! Why is that a surprise? Since Trump and Musk started bullying the US and the world, there are certain individuals worldwide who feel that they have free gratis to follow suit. 

Donegal County Council’s actions last week, their “morally bankrupt decision” regarding Creeslough, smacks of the type of insensitivity that we usually associate with The White House. What the hell has happened to common decency in Lifford? 

Since I presented radio programmes in Derry and Omagh at the time of the horrific bomb in 1998, and subsequently paid a number of visits to the local Trauma Centre, I have paid particular attention to  the Omagh Inquiry. 

The pain for families has never gone away, and relevant as the inquiry has been, it has dredged up painful memories for many. The same applies to the Creeslough families…the council’s decision has only exacerbated their grief and the powers-that-be in Lifford must rethink this. Hopefully An Bord Pleanála will reverse the decision, but council have dissipated a good portion of whatever credibility they might have accumulated over the years. 

As to the Garda inquiry, what is the delay? All it is doing is adding to the conspiracy theories, a number of which are quite simply ridiculous. 

Surely our elected councillors can see en masse the error of the council’s ways, and make a united stand? 

                                          Bam Bam! Deja vu again

I don’t have to regurgitate the controversy surrounding the Children’s Hospital in Dublin which began with a budget of some €650 million. Construction on the first phase of the project, by BAM Contractors, began in 2016. 

Now, it appears that the budget may top €2.5 billion, and rivals some of the most expensive buildings in history, far surpassing hospitals built in wealthier nations like the US and Germany. Also, it looks like the end date of June 2025 might be a tad optimistic. 

Despite all this, Bam has been awarded the contract for a new £671 million hospital in Belfast. 

The first and deputy first ministers, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, along with the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, made the announcement last week that work would begin within days. People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the appointment of Bam “should set alarm bells ringing”.

“Families of sick and seriously ill children will welcome the news that the new hospital has been greenlit,” he said. 

“They have waited for far too long for the high-quality facilities and infrastructure they deserve. Unacceptable delays and project mismanagement are at least partially responsible for the eye-watering increase in costs in the intervening years.”

He added that “the involvement of Bam in the new hospital should set alarm bells ringing.”

“The finance and health ministers can’t allow this fiasco to be repeated in the north. They must urgently tell the public what checks and safeguards are in place to ensure the new children’s hospital in Belfast will be delivered on time and on budget.”

It’s ironic that Sinn Féin is on board in the north considering that last year, Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell, who chairs the Republic’s Public Health Committee, said it was “set to be the most expensive children’s hospital in the history of the world” and a decision to grant BAM further construction contracts “showed the government just do not learn”.

The Belfast Children's Hospital is expected to take five years to complete…watch this space. 

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As usual, the response from Government and the Graham-Bam Healthcare Partnership (GBHP) followed a PR line that we have heard ad nauseam down here for almost a decade. 

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “The contractor has been appointed following pre-qualification and tender processes in line with procurement policy. The process includes due diligence to verify the contractor’s capacity and capability to deliver a project of this scale and complexity.”

Jonathan Hall, managing director at Graham, said: “This project is a major step forward for healthcare in Northern Ireland, and we are honoured to be delivering such a critical facility for future generations. The new hospital will provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, ensuring the best possible care for children and their families.” All of the aforementioned reads very well but former Health Minister Stephen Donnelly must be writing their scripts since losing his Dáil seat in Wicklow! 

                           The Donegal Education Centre row

I’ve written here before of the traffic nightmare in Letterkenny, particularly from The Dry Arch to the town centre, meaning buses from Galway to Derry are sometimes more than 90 minutes late. Having made the car journey to Highland Radio for many years, I know how that extra few miles from Ballyraine would have seriously impacted on travel for those who might have to drive from Donegal Town to the said Mountain Top. 

I was delighted to see the huge turnout in Donegal Town a few weeks ago, and Pearse Doherty summed up the feelings of many:

“The massive turnout at last night’s public meeting leaves the Director of the Donegal Education Centre and the Minister for Education with no option but to reverse the decision they made to move the Donegal Education Centre from Donegal Town to Letterkenny.

“This decision makes no sense to me especially given that 95% of the courses are online and it has been forced upon the staff at the centre. Some of whom have worked at the location in Donegal Town for 17 years.

“Now, they are being asked to commute a lengthy distance everyday to the Mountain Top in Letterkenny. It simply isn’t fair.”

Wouldn’t it be great to see people power and common sense winning against bureaucracy in an era when the decision makers seem to call all the shots with impunity?

                            New Donegal Association formed

Back in the 1990s, the Donegal Association in Mullingar was a vibrant one, with people such as Cathal Dunlevy, Eamonn McGowan and Fionn Gallagher on board. Anthony Molloy and other players brought Sam down after ‘92 and so it is appropriate that, in a year when Jim McGuinness is giving us hope again, a new Association is being formed, and some 100 are expected to turn up in The Greville Arms on Friday night, March 7th, for an informal get together, with food and music on the menu. 

If you have a relative or friend in Westmeath who may not be aware of it as yet, contact Mark Breslin on the WhatsApp group on 086 373 5214 or join their Facebook page. The local football connections are very strong, with Mark McHugh now on the Westmeath GAA backroom team, former manager Jack Cooney is married to Elaine O’Byrne from Doonin, Kilcar, the aforementioned Mark Breslin and Donegal Town’s Michael Murphy’s families are St Loman’s players, and Joan Crawford, originally from Castlefinn, is married to Mullingar Shamrocks and Westmeath stalwart, Tom Ormsby. 

Their sons are also CBS and Shamrocks players. 

Cathal (an ex Garda), Eamonn (The Lake County Hotel) and Fionn (former St Loman’s and Donegal great) are still involved, so all in all, there will be a great mix of old and new blood on the 7th, all flying the flag for the Hills.     

                                     Gone with the wind?

I see where Donegal won the toss in Galway but elected to play against the wind! 

Frankly, my dear, did Jim give a damn? On RTÉ’s The Sunday Game, pundit Enda McGinley said it was all part of a McGuinness ‘plan’ to avoid a League Final, which is too close to the Derry championship match? Let’s get the League game in Ballyshannon against Derry on March 2nd out of the way first!

                                    Corny or what?

I see where Trump’s envoy to Ukraine is called Kellogg…Thankfully, he’s not half as ‘flaky’ as his boss!