If this proposal is implemented patients requiring immediate treatment for heart attacks, and breathing difficulties, would no longer be able to attend the Mater. The same would apply to those suffering from diabetes or from gynaecological problems requiring a stay in hospital.
Here is an outline of the valuable services that would be lost::-
* The Accident and Emergency Service (Casualty)
* Intensive Care and High Dependency
* Inpatient General Medicine
* Inpatient Cardiology and Coronary Care Unit
* Inpatient Diabetic Services
* Inpatient Respiratory Medicine
* Inpatient General Surgery
* Inpatient Urology Services
* The Regional Hepatobiliary Service
* Cardiac Investigations
* Inpatient Gynaecology
* Laboratory Services
* Inpatient Anaesthetics
The Mater Hospital is the largest employer in North Belfast, an area of high unemployment.
Seán Mac Eochaidh
Ceannaire
Pobal na h-Éireann
November 2002
For whatever reasons, the pro-Nice electors surrendered their right and their power to play a key role in the future of the EU.
The situation in Ireland is profoundly changed. The status of the Dublin parliament has been greatly reduced, making it no more than a glorified county council, implementing decisions made elsewhere by foreigners.
It has been suggested that it is time to reduce the number of TDs, and to lower their salaries, to reflect the new reality. It is clearly obvious that who sits in the Dublin parliament is now much less important than it was before so much power was surrounded to Brussels.Looking ahead, enlargement, radical structural changes, an aging population, and the approaching economic winter make the future of the EU much less stable than it was in recent decades.
The recent proposal by the EU to allow Spanish fishermen access to Irish fishing waters, a block extending 50 miles from the west coast on the Irish mainland into the Atlantic, has resulted in protests by Irish fishermen who blockaded some Irish fishing ports. The question can be fairly asked, 'How many of these fishermen voted for the Nice Treaty? However, they deserve full support with their protest.
It is more important now than ever that the Irish People develop our cultural and religious identity. This is the strongest point at which we can resist the EU brigade who have sold our National Identity for a mess of pottage.
If we wish to make a genuine contribution to Europe, let us defend human dignity, proclaim Christian hope, resist moral relativism, and foster peace based on Justice and Irish National Self-Determination.
(Published November 2002
This oath was issued by Pope St. Pius X on September 1, 1910 and required of all priests and philosophy and theology professors. I fail to understand why it was abolished in 1967.
"I, Seán Mac Eochaidh, Founder, Pobal na h-Éireann, firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.
"And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (cf. Rom. 1:20), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, His existence can also be demonstrated.
"Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of Revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion, and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.
"Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when He lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.
"Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of Faith was handed down to us from the Apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously.
"I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine Deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosphical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.
"Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and assested to by a personal God, our Creator and Lord.
"Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the Faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcible with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian Religion.
"I also condemn and reject the opinions of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality - that of a believer, and at the same time of an historian to hold things that contradict the Faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the Tradition of the Church, the analogy of Faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the Rationalists, and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm.
"Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on an historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic Tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that he should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgement that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.
"Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the Modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred Tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact - one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history - the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill and talent have continued subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and His Apostles.
"I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth which certainly is, was and always will be in the succession of the Episcopacy from the Apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogmas may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the Apostles from the beginning many never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.
"I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely and sincerely and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus, I promise, thus I swear, so help me God."
Sean Mac Eochaidh, Founder, Pobal na h-Eireann - 9 April 2002
To me, they appear lacking in patriotism, national self-respect and backbone.
As an Irishman, I look upon the Euro as a foreign import that the Irish people could do well without.
Seán Mac Eochaidh
Pobal na h-Éireann
9 Feb 2002
Too many motor cyclist's wifes have been left widows, too many children have been left orphans as a result of motor cycle races.
I hope that responsible and mature voices will join me in calling for the
North West 200 to be closed down.
Seán Mac Eochaidh, Founder, Pobal na h-Éireann. Issued 5 Feb 2002