Marching Against A Sick System
Days before Bertie Ahern announced his resignation as head of the Twenty-Six County government, thousands of people assembled in Dublin city centre to highlight the appalling state of the health service that he has presided over.
Organised by the trade union movement, last Saturday’s (March 29) march called for the creation of a decent public health service that would treat all citizens equally and provide first class care, regardless of monetary considerations.
One of Bertie Ahern’s greatest failures was the descent of the health system in the Twenty-Six Counties into a class-based service.
Through an ongoing privatisation agenda our health service has transformed into a service that ensures that the health care you receive is directly equated with how much you have to spend, which makes those with more money to spend more worthy of treating and saving than the rest of us.
Ahern’s government has left the legacy of a health system that makes it impossible for ordinary doctors and nurses who do a valiant job in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties, to deliver effectively.
It is a reflection on the business ethos, which seeks to make profit from the sick and dying and the politicians who facilitate their voracious desire for wealth.
Saturday’s march and rally was an indication that citizens have had enough of this profiteering on the back of the needy. Éirígí are prepared to work with all those who care and are prepared to act in the time ahead to continually push for universal first class health care for everyone.