"You Can't Afford to Take Their Word for It. the Church Has Tentacles Everywhere"

By Mick Heaney
Irish Times
April 28, 2017

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Down with this sort of thing: Graham Linehan addresses the Parents for Choice protest against the Government decision to hand over the new National Maternity Hospital to the Sisters of Charity religious order. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

As a cursory scan of the airwaves attests, the decision to hand over ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) to the Sisters of Charity is an almost unavoidable topic of conversation, much of it heated. Few ecclesiastical voices are heard on the matter, however, which is strange given that church influence over medical care is the nub of contention. So kudos to Sean Moncrieff (Newstalk, weekdays) for landing an interview with the man behind the most high-profile Irish cleric of recent times.