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Irish Post
a day ago
- Health
- Irish Post
Irish healthcare workers march through Dublin in show of solidarity with colleagues in Gaza
THOUSANDS of Irish healthcare workers marched through Dublin on Saturday in a show of solidarity with their colleagues in Gaza. The event, which was organised by the group Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine, saw demonstrators set off in a loop from outside the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) on York Street. Participants marched in silence are they made their way along Grafton Street and Drury Street. In a speech back outside the RCSI, Dr George Little described healthcare workers in Palestine as 'the most amazing people on the planet'. "The genocide continues, estimates are in the hundreds of thousands of people — 250,000, maybe 300,000 people killed — it's far worse than any of us can imagine," said the emergency doctor. Speeches were held outside the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Image: Sasko Lazarov / "We have to stand up as healthcare workers, that's our vocation — our vocation is to help, to heal. "Our vocation is also to gather like this and stand in solidarity against genocidal racism and that's what we're dealing with at the moment. "We've gathered here today in a show of solidarity for our colleagues in Gaza and the West Bank who are being hammered, bombed, shot, burned, starved. "They work for no money, they work 22 hours a day, then they go home to their plastic tent. They have to find food for their own children and families. "The nurses, the doctors, the physios, the OTs (occupational therapists), the speech and language [therapists], everybody, all the allied health professionals, my God, they're the most amazing people on the planet at the moment." Marchers hold flags and banners as well as placards depicting Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, who died last June while in the custody of Israeli authorities (Image: Sasko Lazarov / Last month, the United Nations Human Rights office in Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said it condemned the killing of medical professionals in Gaza 'in multiple attacks by the Israeli military'. It issued a statement following the death of nurse Majed Salah and his three young daughters in their tent following a strike in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. "These medical professionals and their families must be presumed to be civilians, and the UN Human Rights office has not received any indication that they or their families were in any way directly participating in hostilities, raising serious concerns regarding possible wilful killings or attacks directed at civilians, which would amount to war crimes," read a statement. It added that according to the Ministry of Health of the State of Palestine, at least 1,581 health workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023. See More: Dublin, Palestine
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Healthcare workers hold march for Gaza in Dublin city
Thousands of healthcare workers have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a march through Dublin city centre in solidarity with their colleagues in the enclave. The doctors, nurses and allied healthcare workers marched from the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) on Stephen's Green on a loop which included Grafton Street and Drury Street. They carried placards showing photos of healthcare workers killed in Gaza as they walked silently to a single drumbeat. Speaking to the marchers back at the RCSI, Dr Angela Skuce of Healthcare Workers for Gaza said: "Our Government doesn't need us to tell them what to do. "The time for rhetoric is over. The healthcare workers of Ireland and the people of Ireland want action to protect our colleagues, to protect the people of Palestine." Her colleague, Dr George Little, an Emergency Medicine specialist said: "The Palestinian people, the doctors, the nurses, the allied health workers in Gaza and the West Bank, they can see us today, because of modern technology, they can see that we're here. "Look at you all beautiful people with beautiful hearts, and they can see it, and that's giving them courage and strength. That's what they need. They have no food. They have no water. "All they have is Spirit, and we've got to lend them a little bit of ours, just a little bit to get them over the line."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Covid Inquiry: Woman who lost parents gives evidence to inquiry
A woman who lost both her parents to Covid-19 believes they caught the virus through her mother's carers who were not routinely Gray has been giving evidence at the Covid Inquiry on behalf of Northern Ireland Bereaved Families for parents, Violet and George Little, died a month and a day apart in December 2020 and January inquiry is looking at the approach of the UK government and devolved nations to testing, tracing, and isolation adopted during the pandemic. 'Lack of common sense' "The carers coming to my mother were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers, and to me it seemed to be a total lack of common sense that this was nine months into the pandemic, not two weeks or two months," said Ms Gray."This was nine months later, and these people were actually spreading a virus, and nothing was being done to counteract that."Ms Gray's mother had a care package four times a day as she had been in a wheelchair for 18 father, Mr Little, had been the main carer for his wife before the Mr Little tested positive, Ms Gray said she "knew that it wasn't me that had passed the virus to them" as her test had been mother also tested positive before she caught the virus too."I'm fairly confident that I didn't bring the virus to them and nobody else would have been in the house other than the carers," she Ms Gray told the inquiry that it was the "shocking realisation" that carers were not being tested, which prompted her to send a text message to the then Health Minister, Robin Swann, who she had known for several inquiry heard aspects of the text sent on 7 December 2020."On getting my dad's result on Saturday morning, I asked my mum's carers when they were last tested and they said they're never tested," Ms Gray said."I rang their manager and I've been informed it's not policy for carers in the community to be tested at all on a regular basis."I feel this has been the most likely cause of the transmission as my dad rarely leaves the house and I'm so confused as to how those looking after the most vulnerable are not being routinely screened." 'Not being there for your parents last breaths' Counsel to the inquiry, Sophie Cartwright, listed a few of the concerns from the NI bereaved families for justice including failures in contact tracing, discharge from hospital to care homes following a positive test or no test, and the absence of a robust system to test, trace, and isolate the virus and the detrimental impact of isolation of vulnerable groups and asked that some consideration be given around the use of isolation in any future pandemic when making said when she was isolating and wanted to be with her parents she was left with a "strong feeling that it must be a human right to have someone with you when you pass away where this is possible"."If it had been an animal, a vet would encourage the animal owner to be there with them until the very end."I twice didn't get that opportunity and so many people have had that similar experience."The trauma of not being there for your parents last breaths will stay with me forever," she concluding her evidence, Ms Gray described the "horrendous" experience her parents dying "prematurely" had "for me, for them, for the whole country"."We must have positive changes that people never have to experience this type of trauma over a virus again."Prevention is better than cure and measures must be put in place now because this could happen again at any time," she added.
