900+ attend Daisy Hill protest rally

By Iveren McCallion

A crowd of nearly 1,000 locals attended a rally against the temporary closure of Daisy Hill's Emergency Department.

Concerned residents called the protest meeting, inviting a panel of representatives from each main political party, Daisy Hill Action Group and the Southern Trust, which didn't attend.

Last month, plans to reduce the Newry hospital's opening hours were floated by the Trust to address staff shortage problems - the hospital currently has two permanent senior emergency doctors, the Trust says it needs ten to function comfortably.

And last week it confirmed that £1m of contingency funding to prepare Craigavon for Daisy Hill's short-term shutdown had been approved by the Board.

Both developments have led to public outrage prompting last night's protest meeting which was chaired by former councillor Brendan Curran. Click below to listen:

Daisy Hill Action Group spokesperson Francis Gallagher was on the panel:

The Trust's Medical Director Doctor Richard Wright has told Q Radio that if the availability of locum doctors falls, which they expect to happen over the summer months, the safest option for patients is to close the Emergency Department overnight.