Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin
OPENING OF HAEMATOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY DAY UNIT
OPENING OF HAEMATOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY DAY UNIT
Speaking Notes of
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland
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Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland
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OLCHC, 14th January 2008
Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, was the dream of one of my predecessors, Archbishop Edward Byrne who was Archbishop of Dublin from 1920 to 1940.
Before becoming Archbishop he was Curate seventeen years in the Pro-Cathedral Parish, where he daily encountered the extreme poverty which marked the inner city of the times. He was a remarkable, if forgotten figure. One of the earliest letters that I have found from him to the new Free-State government was an appeal to assist unwed mothers in the inner city, whom he identified as needing urgent assistance.
The idea of this hospital also came from his knowledge of and concern for the poorest children in the city where standards of health and hygiene were disastrously low.
It took many years to bring this dream to fulfilment and Archbishop Byrne was long dead, (he suffered harsh sickness for many years), before the hospital could open. Wouldn’t he be proud to be here today to see how his simple insight into the needs of the poor has blossomed into this centre of medical excellence, of care and of specialization?
Today we have assisted at the inauguration here at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital of yet another unit which we can describe proudly and without any fear of contradiction as “world class”.
As Chairman of the Board of this hospital I am proud of its great work. I am proud of its staff, at every level. I am proud of the affection and respect that this hospital has gained in the wider community in Dublin and around all Ireland.
This hospital has been in the forefront in reflecting on and identifying the needs of health care for children for the future. I know that the entire hospital community will continue in that challenge, bringing the invaluable contribution of its experience to shaping the best future for paediatric care.
An institution of such prestige and experience also has the right to make its critical voice heard if it feels that plans for the future do not seem to promise the best possible for the children of Ireland, North and South. It is easy for some to categorise such criticism as simply defending self-interest. All of us here today, however, know that what this hospital is proud of is not primarily its own prestige and interests. This hospital is proud of what it has done for children and their families in the past, what it is doing for children and their families today and what it dreams to be able to do in the future.
President McAleese, our pride today is well based; our hope is soundly based and we thank you for honouring us with your presence and for the warmth of your words on this occasion.
