While the government and media fret over the continued detention of Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser, 21-yr-old Ibrahim Halawa and pine for his return to Ireland, no such expressions of solidarity are being made for Ava Twomey and her parents from the Taoiseach or members of the government.
Ava Twomey who is afflicted by Dravat Syndrome, a form of epilepsy that can cause multiple, daily seizures has had to be taken to The Netherlands by her mother Vera Twomey, where she can get the treatment she needs in the form of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent in cannabis, which can prevent the seizures that can result in brain damage or death from oxygen deprivation.
Last march Ava’s mother Vera Twomey marched from Cork to Dublin, to raise public awareness of her campaign to make THC available in the quantities needed, receiving a specular outpouring of support from the citizens of the country and culminating with a protest of thousands of people outside the Dáil.
An Irish child’s life is jeopardised and an Irish family is torn apart because of the intransigence and unwillingness of this government to bring in the legislation that would enable this life improving, and indeed saving, treatment to be available to the people of Ireland.
The Taoiseach has said it’s a priority to bring Halawa back to Ireland, the Minister for Health has pledged all the resources of the HSE to him and the Minister for Children Katherine Zappone fawn’s adult Muslim Brotherhood supporter at every opportunity.
Are the government not aware of the massive public support for bringing Ava Twomey and her mother home and making this treatment available here? Conversely, are they ignorant of the public support for keeping Ibrahim Halawa and all his ilk out of this country? The sad and enraging truth is they are almost certainly aware of these realties but evidently this government does not give a good God damn about the will of the people.