Readers might wish to read this  letter

Dated 22 June 2016, The Connolly for Kids Hospital

60,000   say-Better, faster, cheaper at Connolly

Dear Taoiseach,

OVER  SIXTY THOUSAND  people from every county in Ireland, North and South, have signed our petition since its launch in February 2016.

Petition

 “Connolly for Kids Hospital is asking Enda Kenny to build the new Children’s Hospital at Connolly Hospital beside the M50 instead of at St. James’s Hospital in Dublin City Centre.

 Advantages of Connolly are: 145 acres-Expansion space, Easier Access for all Ireland, Extensive Parking, Co-location with Adult Hospital and the new Rotunda Maternity Hospital leading to Better Clinical Outcomes for children AND – it will be Cheaper and Faster to build.”

This is not just a lobby group speaking, this is the people of Ireland speaking. Democracy requires to be heard and acted on.

We refer to our nearest neighbour- the parliament of the United Kingdom,“Petitions which reach 100,000 signatures are almost always debated [population of UK is 64 million]. ..MPs might consider your petition for a debate before it reaches 100,000 signatures.We may contact you about the issue covered by your petition. For example, we sometimes invite people who create petitions to take part in a discussion with MPs or government ministers, or to give evidence to a select committee.”

In Switzerland a motion with 100,000  signatures automatically triggers a Referendum in a country with a population of eight million.

In Ireland we now have over 60,000 signatories in a population of 4.5 million (one 16th of the UK population)calling on you as Taoiseach of our country to change the site to Connolly.  Surely that entitles the families of Ireland to at least a Public Hearing at the Oireachtas Committee on Health?

What the people are saying is that the government presented the wrong hospital to an Bord Pleanála. Too much has happened behind closed doors .

We are requesting that you as Taoiseach pause the National Paediatric Hospital project at St. James’s and initiate its urgent review by Government.

Let the “New Politics”begin

Yours sincerely,

The Connolly for Kids Hospital Group