A selection of letters sent to national papers that didn’t make it into print (to my knowledge).
On judging professionals… (2015)
It was a populist decision in 2008 by Mary Harney to have a majority of lay people on the Medical Council. It may well be contributing to the lengthy enquiry process Charlie Marks writes about in The Irish Times (Fitness-to-practise inquiry process is too long and costly The Irish Times 18 June 2015). Reserving a number of positions on the council, for doctors from other countries to offer external expertise, might have been a smarter move.
The law courts are there to investigate any accusations of negligence, abuse, theft, recklessness etc. by a professional person such as an accountant, banker, medical doctor, solicitor or teacher. If a doctor (or other professional) has been found guilty of negligence or malpractice in court, then, and only then, should the relevant regulatory body be in a position to judge their fitness to practice and their right to belong to the professional body.
No doctor wishes a bad outcome for his or her patient. French surgeon René Leriche (1879 –1956) expressed it more eloquently: “Every surgeon carries about him a little cemetery, in which from time to time he goes to pray, a cemetery of bitterness and regret, of which he seeks the reason for certain of his failures.”
On 50 shades…. (2015)
The lead characters in Mills & Boon novels frequently have names that can be reversed, for example Bernard Ash and Kimberley Jordan. If Fifty Shades of Grey is a ramped up Mills & Boon jaunt (declaration: I haven’t read it, or seen it, and thus rely on reviews such as Appalling script, dire acting, troubling message, Jennifer O'Connell, The Irish Times 14th Feb 2015) then I look forward to Fifty Shades of Grey Part II with the intriguing characters Steele Ana (a dominatrix) and Grey Christian (a submissive).
On 1916…. (2015)
(i)
What a refreshing piece by Anne Dolan (“Modern agendas in conflict with integrity of the past”, Irish Times 2 Jan 1915 ) articulating the complex balance of history and politics, past and present.
It reminded me of the 2011 RTE presidential debate hosted by Pat Kenny when a young woman in the audience challenged Martin McGuinness as to the legitimacy of his candidacy. She said that Northern Ireland was a different country, meant nothing to her, and that he had no right to run for the presidency. In response to this, an unlikely alliance emerged between Dana Rosemary-Scallon and Martin McGuinness which had a strange vulnerability to it. They expressed their experience of growing up in Northern Ireland and how they, and their families, looked ‘south’ with feelings of attachment, hope and a desire to belong - the sub text being that they had experienced feelings of abandonment (by us down south) over the years.
A thought experiment: if you had been a catholic living in the six counties in 1921, do you think you would you have been pro-treaty or anti-treaty?
(ii)
Eamonn McCann (“Rage not reverence should mark the first World War” 30 Apr 2015 Irish Times) writes that he is content that “it was far better to die ‘neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sedd el Bahr.” To argue that the leaders of the Rising had a “better” death than the soldiers who gave their lives at Gallipoli, the Somme and Passchendaele comes across as the judgment of the armchair critic. When is any one death better or worse than another? The end moment is the same for us all – ceasing to breathe. You could argue that the leaders of the Rising had the bigger egos, choosing to start a fight that could end in their death; whereas the foot soldiers in WW1 were following their commanding officers’ instructions to climb up from the safety of the trenches, venture into no man’s land, and face an almost certain death.
On Scotland and the union…. (2015)
How about the Democratic Union of S.W.I.N.E.? (Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England).
On Irish hospitals…. (2014)
The headline used in an article in today’s Irish Times (20 June 2014) is as follows: EU survey shows Irish think hospitals are dangerous. The last sentence of the article reads: The 25 per cent of Irish people who said they or a family member had experienced an “adverse event” is broadly in line with the average for the EU, which is 27 per cent. So, it would seem, the survey result in this aspect actually reflects well on Ireland – the headline could have been ‘Survey shows Irish experience of adverse events in hospitals is below EU average’. My own view is that the question that threw up this statistic was flawed. If you asked me whether I (or a member of my family) had ever experienced an adverse event in a hospital, at work, on holiday, on public transport etc – I would probably say yes. Stating that the Irish think hospitals are dangerous is at best unhelpful at worst scaremongering. It makes the job of those hospital workers - whose mission is to improve the quality of patients’ lives, and sometimes to save their lives - infinitely more difficult.
On children, adoption and the constitution…. (2012)
Perhaps Dana could adopt John Waters in order to put him (and the rest of us) out of his misery.
On naming the bridge over the river Liffey…. (2012)
How about using the Oscar Wilde as a name for the new Liffey bridge? “Let’s take a walk on the Wilde” could become the new “meet you at the GPO”.
On placing a punt on the president…. (2011)
Boylesports has paid out €125,000 to all punters who bet on Michael D Higgins up until 21st Oct (Some happy punters cash in on Michael D 22nd Oct 2011). Is this not an advertisement for Higgins’s campaign at a cost of €125,000 to the company? Will all punters who bet on Michael D Higgins now give him their number one vote on 27th and if they do could this be defined as being paid for your vote? Will floating voters now think it is a foregone conclusion and decide to vote for Higgins along with the herd?
Perhaps legislation should be introduced to block early pay-outs for bets on election candidates, on the basis that it may influence voting on the day.
On chasing surgeons…. (2011)
To clip, or not to clip (during a blister bleed aneurysm), that is the question. If we knew the answer to that then, sure, wouldn't we all be surgeons? What a shame for the media pack (who chased consultant neurosurgeon Charlie Marks as he left the coroner’s court) that he was heading for a bicycle, and didn't climb into a Jaguar. Now that would have been a good news story.
On judging professionals… (2015)
It was a populist decision in 2008 by Mary Harney to have a majority of lay people on the Medical Council. It may well be contributing to the lengthy enquiry process Charlie Marks writes about in The Irish Times (Fitness-to-practise inquiry process is too long and costly The Irish Times 18 June 2015). Reserving a number of positions on the council, for doctors from other countries to offer external expertise, might have been a smarter move.
The law courts are there to investigate any accusations of negligence, abuse, theft, recklessness etc. by a professional person such as an accountant, banker, medical doctor, solicitor or teacher. If a doctor (or other professional) has been found guilty of negligence or malpractice in court, then, and only then, should the relevant regulatory body be in a position to judge their fitness to practice and their right to belong to the professional body.
No doctor wishes a bad outcome for his or her patient. French surgeon René Leriche (1879 –1956) expressed it more eloquently: “Every surgeon carries about him a little cemetery, in which from time to time he goes to pray, a cemetery of bitterness and regret, of which he seeks the reason for certain of his failures.”
On 50 shades…. (2015)
The lead characters in Mills & Boon novels frequently have names that can be reversed, for example Bernard Ash and Kimberley Jordan. If Fifty Shades of Grey is a ramped up Mills & Boon jaunt (declaration: I haven’t read it, or seen it, and thus rely on reviews such as Appalling script, dire acting, troubling message, Jennifer O'Connell, The Irish Times 14th Feb 2015) then I look forward to Fifty Shades of Grey Part II with the intriguing characters Steele Ana (a dominatrix) and Grey Christian (a submissive).
On 1916…. (2015)
(i)
What a refreshing piece by Anne Dolan (“Modern agendas in conflict with integrity of the past”, Irish Times 2 Jan 1915 ) articulating the complex balance of history and politics, past and present.
It reminded me of the 2011 RTE presidential debate hosted by Pat Kenny when a young woman in the audience challenged Martin McGuinness as to the legitimacy of his candidacy. She said that Northern Ireland was a different country, meant nothing to her, and that he had no right to run for the presidency. In response to this, an unlikely alliance emerged between Dana Rosemary-Scallon and Martin McGuinness which had a strange vulnerability to it. They expressed their experience of growing up in Northern Ireland and how they, and their families, looked ‘south’ with feelings of attachment, hope and a desire to belong - the sub text being that they had experienced feelings of abandonment (by us down south) over the years.
A thought experiment: if you had been a catholic living in the six counties in 1921, do you think you would you have been pro-treaty or anti-treaty?
(ii)
Eamonn McCann (“Rage not reverence should mark the first World War” 30 Apr 2015 Irish Times) writes that he is content that “it was far better to die ‘neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sedd el Bahr.” To argue that the leaders of the Rising had a “better” death than the soldiers who gave their lives at Gallipoli, the Somme and Passchendaele comes across as the judgment of the armchair critic. When is any one death better or worse than another? The end moment is the same for us all – ceasing to breathe. You could argue that the leaders of the Rising had the bigger egos, choosing to start a fight that could end in their death; whereas the foot soldiers in WW1 were following their commanding officers’ instructions to climb up from the safety of the trenches, venture into no man’s land, and face an almost certain death.
On Scotland and the union…. (2015)
How about the Democratic Union of S.W.I.N.E.? (Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England).
On Irish hospitals…. (2014)
The headline used in an article in today’s Irish Times (20 June 2014) is as follows: EU survey shows Irish think hospitals are dangerous. The last sentence of the article reads: The 25 per cent of Irish people who said they or a family member had experienced an “adverse event” is broadly in line with the average for the EU, which is 27 per cent. So, it would seem, the survey result in this aspect actually reflects well on Ireland – the headline could have been ‘Survey shows Irish experience of adverse events in hospitals is below EU average’. My own view is that the question that threw up this statistic was flawed. If you asked me whether I (or a member of my family) had ever experienced an adverse event in a hospital, at work, on holiday, on public transport etc – I would probably say yes. Stating that the Irish think hospitals are dangerous is at best unhelpful at worst scaremongering. It makes the job of those hospital workers - whose mission is to improve the quality of patients’ lives, and sometimes to save their lives - infinitely more difficult.
On children, adoption and the constitution…. (2012)
Perhaps Dana could adopt John Waters in order to put him (and the rest of us) out of his misery.
On naming the bridge over the river Liffey…. (2012)
How about using the Oscar Wilde as a name for the new Liffey bridge? “Let’s take a walk on the Wilde” could become the new “meet you at the GPO”.
On placing a punt on the president…. (2011)
Boylesports has paid out €125,000 to all punters who bet on Michael D Higgins up until 21st Oct (Some happy punters cash in on Michael D 22nd Oct 2011). Is this not an advertisement for Higgins’s campaign at a cost of €125,000 to the company? Will all punters who bet on Michael D Higgins now give him their number one vote on 27th and if they do could this be defined as being paid for your vote? Will floating voters now think it is a foregone conclusion and decide to vote for Higgins along with the herd?
Perhaps legislation should be introduced to block early pay-outs for bets on election candidates, on the basis that it may influence voting on the day.
On chasing surgeons…. (2011)
To clip, or not to clip (during a blister bleed aneurysm), that is the question. If we knew the answer to that then, sure, wouldn't we all be surgeons? What a shame for the media pack (who chased consultant neurosurgeon Charlie Marks as he left the coroner’s court) that he was heading for a bicycle, and didn't climb into a Jaguar. Now that would have been a good news story.