In defence of Ruth Morrissey
Having listened to the Tánaiste's @LeoVaradkar attempt (below) at excusing the way that Ruth Morrissey was treated on the @TodayRadioRTE with the brilliant @SarahAMcInerney, I have the following to say:

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Paul Morrissey, Ruth's widow, issued a damning statement following her death on Sunday stating that neither the State nor the @HSELive apologised to Ruth. This is correct. The State Apology that was delivered in October 2019 could NOT have included Ruth Morrissey...

Ruth never accepted the State apology. At the time of the apology, Ruth's legal team were in court dealing with issues concerning the Supreme Court appeal. It was insensitive of the Tánaiste to issue a statement sending his condolences but also refuting the family's statement

Following the unanimous decision of the SC in March, when Ruth was vindicated, THAT was the time for a meaningful apology, while Ruth was still alive to hear it. Apologies this week from our Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD and the @HSELive are meaningless in the wake of her death

When questioned about whether Ruth should have been dragged through the courts until her dying days, the Tánaiste asked us to bear in mind that these decisions about dragging terminally-ill women through the courts is made by the SCA, and not politicians. That is a load of bs

The SCA is not some rogue agency that Government has no control over. I can speak about my case with authority. A briefing note (below) was sent by the @roinnslainte to the Minister for Health. The DoH had been FULLY briefed on my case by the SCA https://cutt.ly/ysto3Y8 

The SCA may ultimately be the ones making decisions but it is inconceivable to think that a similar Memo was not sent to the Min for Health in the case of Ruth Morrissey, at a time when the CervicalCheck scandal was in the news on a daily basis. What is wrong here, though, is

We have a system whereby wrongs committed by the State againsts its own citizens appears to be insulated from any accountability to Government.

Why is the SCA not answerable to Government or some independent body?

Why are we allowing this treatment of our citizens to continue?

We will have more Brigid McColes and Emma Mhic Mhathunas and Ruth Morrisseys if we, as citizens, do not demand change. It all comes back to accountability

I have a piece in this week's Sunday @Independent_ie tackling some of the issues above and paying tribute to my friend, Ruth

Working link to briefing note below Apologies but I was writing in a rage! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZoKMW347N7B_riyRmekXrDHX5i_1ryTp/view?usp=drivesdk

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