Cllr Gerry McMonagle
Donegal County Councillor Gerry Mc Monagle said is delighted with the support he received from his council colleagues for his motion calling on the Minister of Health to relocate the proposed National Children’s Hospital from the Saint James Hospital site in Dublin’s North Inner City to the a new site off the M50.
Cllr Mc Monagle brought forward the motion after being approached by parents who have availed of services at the Children Hospital.
They spoke of their concern of the problems with access they had experienced travelling to an Inner City Hospital with their children for treatment.
Cllr Mc Monagle told the council about the disadvantages of the St James site in Dublin’s Inner City saying that there would be savings straight away of almost €200 million by relocating to the Connolly Hospital site.
These were because of problems with this tight inner city site including excavations, relocation of existing services at St James during construction, Drainage problems and the speed of access to a site like St James would prove very difficult and slow due to traffic congestion not to mention the excavation of soil for the three Storey underground car park.
He said this would be in contrast to the Connolly site which is located on a 145 acre site adjacent to the M50 Motorway with unlimited space for future expansion and easier access with extensive parking and co-location with Connolly Adult Hospital and the New Rotunda Maternity Hospital.
Concluding Cllr Mc Monagle said “At the end of the day all I am trying to do is to get the best service we can provide for our sick children and their families and it makes more sense to build the National Childrens Hospital on a site that is giving maximum care and access to those children and their families. Parents do not need the added stress of traffic congestion and busy narrow inner city roads.
“Approximately 75% of children with serious illness live outside the M50. Additional time with their sick child spent in City Centre traffic is unfair to these families and we all know it can be sometimes risky to travel with a sick child on public transport due to the risk of further infection”
“I am hopeful that the Minister and indeed the incoming Government will heed the growing opposition to the St James site and relocate the National Childrens Hospital to the Connolly Hospital site.”
Cllr Mc Monagle’s motion is outlined below.
“We the Members of Donegal County Council call on the Minister of Health to reverse the decision to locate the National Childrens Hospital at St James Hospital and instead to Relocate the New Chidrens Hospital for all the children of Ireland at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. The Connolly Site offers 145 acres, vast space for expansion, easier access for the children of Donegal and extensive parking. The co-location with Connolly Hospital and the new Rotunda Maternity Hospital will result in better clinical outcomes and it will be cheaper and faster to build than on the St James site.”
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