Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, just happened to decide that last weekend would the perfect time to “come out”. Call me a cynic, but I find it just a little bit coincidental that Varadkar decides to find it in his heart to make this announcment in a week where there’s over 600 people on stretchers in casualty units around the country.
There’s nothing short of an absolute crisis in almost every A&E in the country. There is a critical shortage of stretchers, beds and most importantly staff.
The HSE has 3,700 nursing applications on its desks, which it claims they’re trying to get through, but the main problem here is that nurses will start to flock abroad. Who would want to work under such pressure? People screaming, people shouting, people complaining – and that’s when things are going well.
Our Lady Of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda has yet again been the worst in the country, with a staggering 80 people either on or waiting for a stretcher.
All that to one side, Fine Gael are pushing hard for a Yes vote in the upcoming Gay Marriage referendum. Again, call me cynical, but why didn’t Varadkar wait until after it to announce he was gay? Why did he feel the need to do it this past weekend? Is it fair that he has given an extra push to the governments Yes vote?
One thing is for sure, coincidental or not, people don’t care what sexual orientation the Minister for Health is. They’re not looking to date or marry the Minister for Health – all they want and deserve and indeed are entitled to is a health service that works.