Rector's Letters
Please find below an archive of the Rector's Letters from this and previous months.
« Return to previous page.- 17/07/10 18:38
JULY
Dear Friends,
It is a tale of two health projects: one a state of the art pharmaceutical plant, the other a national hospital, awaiting much needed replacement, both adjacent on Pottery Road in Kill Parish. In May of this year Pfizer who operate the pharmaceutical plant announced its closure by 2014, if a new buyer is not found. Up to 210 jobs will go if the plant is closed. Pfizer made the announcement as part of a restructuring of its operations in Ireland, following a merger with another multinational giant Wyeth. Since 2005 Pfizer have invested €240 million in the Pottery Road factory and now it will probably close.
The National Rehabilitation Hospital, established in 1961 is the only one of its kind in Ireland. The hospital is housed in a series of buildings, some dating back to the 19th Century. It is an exceptional place of caring, despite the inadequate buildings. Earlier this decade the government committed itself to a new state-of-the-art hospital on the same site. In 2008 planning permission was granted for the €200 million development which would double bed capacity. The “green light” is now an amber one and despite all the commitments and consultations it would seem that the new hospital is but a pipedream.
A tale of two health projects on the same road. One which cost €240 million to build is destined to close in less than ten years. The other, requiring €200 million to proceed, is now in the long grass. The tale raises many questions of ethics, priorities, policies and politics, much of which are straightforward. This is our back yard, although we are impotent when it comes to changing things. Or are we? Awareness, prayer and actions, however small, are part of God’s economy. As Jesus said, we ought to be “beacons of light” and “salt cellars” where we live and move and have our being.
Yours sincerely,
FERRAN