Community activists in Carrick-on-Suir say they won’t give in until they get concrete answers on St Brigid’s Hospital.
Another protest is to take place from 3 o’clock today to highlight the ongoing uncertainty around when exactly respite and hospice services will resume at the hospital.
It’s still being reserved as a Covid-19 stepdown facility, despite demand having fallen greatly.
Speaking to Tipp FM News, one of the protest organisers, Eddie Reade says people need answers:
“At the moment, we have no clarification on dates and we still have no respite or hospice service in this town so, until we get clarification and until we get at least written notification of those services reopening, the protests will be going ahead.
“We can’t seem to get clarification on anything.”
It’s estimated more than 100 people could attend this afternoon’s protest but Eddie says social distancing will be strictly adhered to.
They’re leaving the Town Hall carpark at 3pm, making their way over to the hospital carpark.
“We started [the demonstrations] originally,” Eddie says, “just as a silent protest outside the hospital and then we stepped it up to a protest along the N24, from the old agricultural mart. Now we’ve stepped it up to this.
“We’re going basically with what the community feels they want to do. If the community feels that this is getting stale, we’ll look at it again.
“We’ve gotten support from everywhere. The support is starting to come in now from the villages around – the likes of Portlaw, Kilsheelan, Faugheen and other places that have utilised the services in the hospital in the past.”
