They can’t quit each other.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny on Health Minister James Reilly  to RTÉ’s Fran McNulty on RTÉ Radio One’s This Week yesterday.

Fran McNulty: “The main question I’m asking is: Do you think James Reilly is doing a good job?

Enda Kenny: “Yes, I do.”

McNulty: “You do? Yet, despite, you still feel the need to work with him more closely which, in your own words, means you want to make sure he achieves standards.”

Kenny: “Minister Reilly has an enormous work to do. And it’s not just about Minister Reilly. He’s operating on behalf of Government but with Ministers of State (Kathleen) Lynch and (Alex) White, and that trio are leading the structural changes that need to be made in the area of health together now, with the implementation of the Health Service Executive plan. What I can say about Minister Reilly is this, that he has always had a genuine, personal concern for putting patients first.
“And we set out, in this programme for Government, to introduce universal health insurance at the end of our programme. This is a long and challenging road but remember it is about providing the very best service and attention for people who need it, based on their medical requirements, as distinct from what they’ve got in their pocket. So, of all of the hills to be climbed here, health is one that remains challenging. And it’s one that I’m going to help the minister and his team, and all of those involved in the health area, to implement. To see that we can actually achieve what we want to achieve.”

Listen here

The Health Minister Was On Committee Whose Chief Signed Off On IMO Chief’s Multi-Million Retirement Package (But Now Members Are Disputing Whether They Even Knew Of The Lavish Deal (Mail Online)

(Laura Hutton/{Photocall Ireland)

So Niamh Uí Bhriain’s appearance on Fox News last month went largely unnoticed.

She repeatedly addresses the host Mike Huckabee as “Governor” even though his term as Governor of Arkansas ended in 2007.

Here are some of Niamh’s best quotes:

“Ireland without abortion is one of the safest places in the world to have a baby”
“The United Nations recently said we were the most safe place in the world for a mother to have a baby” – not so say a lot of people, including Sara Burke.

“But what was lost in the hysteria that arose was that the tragic death of Savita was actually nothing to do with abortion at all”

“The facts are starting to emerge and the facts tell us a totally different story”

“It’s important that people know this and they know that the hospital records show that Savita never asked for a termination.”

“What’s happening in Ireland is that this huge global hysteria that was manufactured by abortion campaigners they’re putting enormous pressure on the government to legalise abortion.”

“The reason why Ireland matters so much for global abortion campaigners like Planned Parenthood is because Ireland is like the proof, the scientific evidence that you can ban abortion and keep mothers absolutely safe.”

“And in Ireland, the people decided thirty years ago that we can offer better answers to women than abortion and that we can protect our mothers and our babies and that’s made Ireland like a ‘safe haven’ for mothers and babies.”

It  is estimated that about 30 abortions per year are carried out in the country’s maternity hospitals (according to Professor John Crown last Thursday to the Oireachtas committeee).

Broadsheet.ie