Border residents invited to conversation on all-island healthcare
A PANEL discussion on the future of cross-border healthcare in a “New Ireland” is planned for next week.
Anyone from Cavan and Monaghan who is interested in a conversation about the healthcare needs of border and rural communities is welcome to come along to the event in Enniskillen on Wednesday, November 26.
Organised by Fermanagh – South Tyrone MP Pat Cullen, the panel will be made up of Fr Brian D’Arcy; Chief Executive of the Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network, Paula Leonard; and author and former newspaper editor Denzil McDaniel.
The guest speaker on the night will be Leader of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald.
Cavan-Monaghan TD Cathy Bennett said she welcomes a conversation on how healthcare would look in the future for the people of Ireland.
“The healthcare systems on both sides of the border are broken,” Deputy Bennett said, “so we need to look at what we have to do on a human, technical, medical and logistics level to make healthcare accessible to all.
“I welcome this conversation as a way for local people living on the border to get involved. This type of discussion can only be a good thing,” she added.
One of the panel team is Paula Leonard whose work with the Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network is rooted in community and collaboration across all sectors of society.
Throughout his career, Fermanagh priest Fr Brian D’Arcy has used his voice both within and beyond the Church to speak truth to power, champion justice, and defend the most vulnerable in society.
Denzil McDaniel served as editor of The Impartial Reporter for 27 years before retiring in 2013. Denzil continues to make regular contributions on the themes of border, identity, reconciliation, education and the future for people on this island.
Mary Lou McDonald said she was looking forward to visiting Enniskillen again for the ‘Delivering Rural Health and Care in a New Ireland’ event in the Westville Hotel.
Asking people to join the growing number from all walks of life participating in the “exciting” conversation on Ireland’s future on November 26, Deputy McDonald said: “Irish Unity offers a real opportunity to reimagine a health and care system that meets the needs of patients unburdened by the bureaucracy and flaws of two health systems and the barriers created by partition.
Pat Cullen MP is a former nurse and General Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). She said the response to the Enniskillen event has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
“We are at crisis-point because successive Irish and British Governments failed to plan services according to need, to educate and retain health and social care professionals, or to modernise health and care provision for the 21st century,” the MP said. To be part of the conversation register to attend for free via Eventbrite: Search ‘Delivering Rural Health & Care in a New Ireland’.