Tag Archives: Sisters of Charity

Last night/this morning.

Anyone?

Caritas?

Above from left: Green Party Dublin City Council Councillor Hazel Chu; Sinn Fein Cllr Larry O’Toole; Social Democrats Cllr Catherine Stocker; and Green Party Cllr Janet Horner

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

The signatories of a letter calling on Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to reconsider plans to locate the new National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent’s Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4 gather outside Leinster House. The Sisters of Charity intend to hand over their interest in the land, and in the running the hospital, to a company called St. Vincent’s Holdings, which is obliged to “uphold the values and visions of [Mother of the Religious Sisters of Charity] Mother Mary Aikenhead (who founded St Vincent’s Hospital).”

Previously: 73% in favour of buying land for new National Maternity Hospital, poll

RollingNews

F

This afternoon.

The National Maternity Hospital may be built on State-owned lands following a decision of the Vatican to hand the lands at the St Vincent’s site over to St Vincents Holdings CLG.

Via The Sisters of Charity:

“Today, marks the final movement towards completion of all legal, financial and regulatory matters involved in the transfer of the Sisters’ 186-year involvement in the hospital.

In line with Canon Law, formal approval for the decision to complete the transfer of ownership was requested and was received. “

This, however, does not constitute public ownership of the site.

Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortallsaid today’s development should be seen as the ‘first stage’ in a process where SVH CLG transfer ownership of the site to the State.

Ms Shorthall said:

“The new National Maternity Hospital is badly needed and it is regrettable that it is taking so long to get to a situation where this much needed project can proceed. Today’s announcement can only be seen as stage one of a process where the State can legally own this site and stage two must entail the ownership of the site transferring to State.

We also need assurances that the governance structure of the new Maternity Hospital will be fully independent and separate to the corporate structure of St Vincent’s Holdings CLG. The governance structure proposed in the Mulvey report does not provide that independence.

“It has always been patently clear that there could not be full public ownership of a hospital that was on privately owned grounds – whether religious or otherwise – and that such ownership would have significant implications for both the ethos of the hospital and the protection of the public purse.

It would be a serious error for the Government to contemplate the handing over this valuable asset and would repeat the mistakes of the past where taxpayer funded health and education infrastructure is gifted to private interests.”

Meanwhile, could  savings be passed on to the victims of the Sisters of Charity?

Sisters of Charity ‘gift’ St Vincent’s to State (RTÉ)

Rollingnews

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Just now.

A 25-page report on the terms of agreement between the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street and St Vincent’s Hospital Group – as written by mediator Kieran Mulvey – have been published by Health Minister Simon Harris.

It comes a week after the Irish Times reported that the Religious Sisters of Charity would be sole owners  of the new hospital.

Read the report on the terms of agreement in full here

More to follow.

Magdalene

Further to the Religious Sisters of Charity getting ‘sole ownership’ of the new National Maternity Hospital.

And the online petition, against the move, that has gained more than 75,000 names…

And the Sisters of Charity basing their decision not to pay redress to the Magdalene survivors based on the findings of the McAleese Report…

Readers may wish to recall the following reported by Conor Ryan and Clare O”Sullivan, in the Irish Examiner, back in February 2013…

The Sisters of Charity made €63m in sell-offs during the boom of which €45m came from the 2001 deal for land around its former laundry in Donnybrook, Dublin.

Last year, the Religious Sisters of Charity, who amassed a €233m property portfolio, said they could not afford to release €3m it promised to put into a trust fund for the victims of institutional child abuse.

The order blamed the decision to reduce its cash offer by 60% on the poor property market.

In 2009, when they supplied details of their assets to the Government, it had financial interests of €33m and sold €63m of property in 10 years. The order said it needed to set aside €38.6m to care for its 264 sisters.

Substantial assets, but no more cash for redress (Irish Examiner, February 2013)

Pic: Gloucester Street Magdalenes via Limerick Museum

petition

A petition set up on Tuesday night by Denise Kieran on Uplift against the Sisters of Charity gaining ‘sole ownership’ of the new National Maternity Hospital has just passed the 75,000-signature target.

Make it 100,000.

Sign here.

Block Sisters of Charity Ad Sole Owners Of National Maternity Hospital (Uplift)

Yesterday Nun As Blind

Meanwhile, At The Department Of Health

68.613 And Counting

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1665 National Maternity Hospital_90509317
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This lunchtime.

Hawkins House, Dublin 2.

A protest against the Sisters of Charity gaining ‘sole ownership’ of the new National Maternity Hospital.

It follows an online petition, against the Sisters of Charity getting sole ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital, gaining almost 60,000 signatures.

Earlier: 51,645 And Counting

Thanks Graeme Kelly

Rollingnews

Top pic via Nicola McCafferty,

Meanwhile…

Social Democrat co-leader Róisín Shortall  has called for an immediate halt to the hand-over of the new National Maternity Hospital to the Sisters of Charity

Deputy Shortall said:

“The decision about the ownership and governance of the new National Maternity Hospital was made in secrecy and lacks any transparency and public accountability.

There are too many unanswered questions from the Minister and we need to see an immediate halt to the current process so that these questions about the ownership and the issue of ethos can be addressed. The Five questions I have are:

What is the justification for gifting a €300 million hospital, paid for with public money, to a private interest?

Why not just lease the site from the Religious Sisters of Charity?

Will the Minister publish the details of the agreement that was reached over the governance and ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital?

What assurances will women have that a Catholic ethos will not determine the range of medical interests available to them in the new hospital?

What will the exact composition of the new corporate entity be and why does the St Vincent’s Healthcare group have any place in that structure?

Anyone?

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Denise Kieran has set up a petition (above) on Uplift against the Sisters of Charity gaining ‘sole ownership’ of the new National Maternity Hospital.

It already has just under 70,000 signatures.

Denise writes:

The Sisters of Charity is one of 18 residential institutions that is highlighted by the Ryan report 2009 to have been responsible for child abuse.

They still owe €3 million to the redress scheme for its survivors. The Sisters of Charity, along with three other religious congregations, were responsible for the management of Magdalene Laundries.

In 2013 they stated they would not be making ANY contributions to the State redress scheme to the women who had been subject abuse in the Magdalene Laundries.

The Department of Health now want to give ‘sole’ ownership of the new €300 million State-funded National Maternity Hospital.

Deny them ‘sole’ ownership. Demand they formally apologise and pay redress.

Those who wish can sign the petition here

Previously: ‘Reserved Powers’

‘In The Interest Of Patient Safety’

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Model of the new National Maternity Hospital

Patsy McGarry, in The Irish Times, reports:

A religious congregation which has failed to date to provide its share of funds to a redress scheme for institutional abuse victims, is to be given ownership of the new €300 million State-funded National Maternity Hospital.

The Sisters of Charity are the shareholders of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group which the Department of Health said will be the “sole owner of the new hospital” which is to be built on a site at Elm Park in south Dublin.

The relocation of the hospital from Holles Street to the St Vincent’s hospital campus involves the largest single investment ever made in maternity services in the State.

…A department spokesman said the “autonomy of the national maternity hospital board will be underpinned by reserved powers to ensure clinical and operational independence, and the Minister for Health will hold the power to protect those reserved powers”.

Sisters of Charity to be given new National Maternity Hospital (Irish Times)

Previously: ‘In The Interests Of Patient Safety’

Puzzling

Pic: Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

keyes

Thanks Garthicus