Former Ministers for Health Micheál Martin and Brian Cowen in 2000
From ‘Without Consent ‘ by Sheila O’Connor (Poolbeg)
Mags writes:
Before we get too excited by Micheál Martin ‘s tough stance on the CervicalCheck scandal this (above) is just some of the lengths the victims of Dr [Michael] Neary and patient activist Dr Tony O’Sullivan went to get a hearing from him…
…Martin eventually met the women, promised a lot, delivered only disappointment and moved on to his next ministerial portfolio. Dr Neary’s victims would finally left with a whitewash of a report….
Without Consent by Sheila O’Connor (Poolbeg)
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Thanks for that post, the info in it should be known to all
In one of Ronit Lentin’s books, she recalls talking to Michael Martin just before the mics were turned on for a radio interview (I think) re the 2004 citizenship referendum. Lentin reports that Martin told her he’d heard of a case ‘where a woman from Nigeria pregnant with twins had one twin born in Nigeria, then got on a plane to Ireland to make sure the second twin was born in Ireland’.
So apparently in 2004, Michael Martin was not only as bigoted, but also as plank-thick, to believe this kind of thing. He might be the most malevolent FF leader ever, and that’s saying a lot. At least Haughey had charisma.
Martin wasn’t known as the Minister for Reports for nothing. After seeing his predecessors, Noonan in particular, get a hammering as Ministers for Health, he was determined to do as little as possible before moving on. By and large he was successful – all the general public remember is the introduction of the smoking ban while the health service crumbled.
Martin’s modus operandi is always to feign concern, grandstand, throw out a few platitudes and then to do SFA. He’s perfected this with many years of practice.
Don’t be fooled.