Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has called on Taoiseach Simon Harris, and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to ensure that the deaths of patients from St Brigid’s Nursing Home in Crooksling, who died following their transfer to Tymon North Nursing Home are included in the Covid Inquiry which will run before the next general election.
Brady said:
“Having repeatedly called for a public inquiry, I welcome the recent announcement by the Taoiseach that an inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic will take place before the next general election.
I have written to both the Taoiseach Simon Harris, who was then the Minister for Health, and the current Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, asking that the deaths of former residents of the Nursing home in Crooksling be included in the inquiry.
At the time Stephen Donnelly stated that ‘nursing homes in Wicklow were screaming out for help, they didn’t get it.’
The families of the twelve former residents of St. Brigid’s Nursing Home in Crooksling, who died of Covid-19 deserve to know the details of the events surrounding their deaths.
I believe that it is in the public interest that the inquiry be extended to include these deaths.
What happened to the former residents of St Brigid’s Nursing Home in Crooksling needs to be specifically looked at as part of an inquiry.
Twelve former residents of the Nursing Home died. We need to see answers.
The current Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly speaking during the Covid-19 crisis, was highly critical of how the pandemic was being handled at the time, under the then Minister for Health Simon Harris.
Residents from the Crooksling Nursing Home were diagnosed with Covid in March 2020, despite this, shortly after all patients from Crooksling were transferred to Tymon North.
Which led to Covid spreading like wildfire at the Tallaght Nursing Home. Ultimately contributing to the deaths of patients in Tymon North.
The fact that the current Minister for Health has previously painted such an alarming picture of events at the time, in itself demands the inclusion of the deaths of these individuals in the inquiry.
As the current Minister for Health, he is central to any inquiry. As such he is in a prime position to move to ensure that Crooksling Nursing Home is included in the inquiry.
As is the Taoiseach, who was the Minister for Health at the time that the deaths of the former Crooksling residents took place.
The only way that lessons can be learnt from what happened in nursing homes during the pandemic is through inclusion in a public inquiry.