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Brendan Gleeson does not regret calling Micheál Martin a 'moron' over the health service
BRENDAN GLEESON HAS said he had a reason to call Micheál Martin a 'moron' almost 20 years ago, but added he now prefers a more constructive approach.
The Irish actor said it was the way he 'really felt at the time' after witnessing 'unacceptable' treatment at a hospital.
Gleeson, who is now supporting a major fundraising effort for a hospice in north Dublin, said profit incentives in care for older people are 'counterproductive'.
During an appearance on the Late Late Show in 2006, he criticised the state of the health service and, in particular, his experiences with loved ones at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
Martin, who was the Minister for Health from 2000 to 2004, had opened a unit at the hospital.
Brendan Gleeson's healthcare rant on the Late Late is nearly 17 years old, has anything changed?
(17th March 2006)
— KM2 archive (@KillianM2)
December 19, 2022
During the interview, Gleeson said: 'There were people trying to fight for life and cling on to hope beside people who were dead and this moron's name was on a plaque saying the oncology suite was opened by Micheál Martin, when he screwed the place from the time he went in until the time he left.'
Asked about the comments today, Gleeson said it was the way he 'really felt at the time' and that he was 'raging' with Martin.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: 'In fairness to Micheál Martin, I was raging with him because his name was on a plaque in a new unit and they were running coffins down the bottom of my mother-in-law's bed where she was dying – the systems were catastrophic.'
The Oscar-nominated Banshees Of Inisherin star said he was 'glad' he highlighted the problems, but now thinks a constructive and compassionate approach is more appropriate.
'The vociferous nature of it was fine, but I did find afterwards it became a thing then where everybody is screaming, shouting and enraged and all this kind of stuff,' he said.
'I feel I had reason – and it was my younger self and I'm glad I did it – I think it needed to be drawn attention to, but how many times does it need to be drawn attention to and how constructive is that 19 years on?'
Gleeson says he now has a glass-half-full approach, describing 'reactionary outragers' as 'boring'.
Hospice campaign
A source of that optimistic outlook is found at St Francis Hospice in Raheny, Dublin, where the actor says staff and volunteers treat people with compassion.
Gleeson is supporting a major fundraising effort for the building of a 24 single-bed in-patient unit at the centre, where both his parents received care.
The 70-year-old said the single-bed units at the hospice will be beneficial for families as he recalled it sometimes being difficult to speak to his father when he was passing away in the four-bed units.
Brendan Gleeson is supporting St Francis Hospice's new 'buy a brick' campaign.
Conor McCabe / MediaConsult
Conor McCabe / MediaConsult / MediaConsult
Reflecting on the tone of public debate, he said it is very difficult for people to maintain positivity in the world now because they are 'bombarded' with relentless bad news.
'The despair is beginning to become pervasive,' he said, adding: 'But here, there's a chance to show gratitude, compassion and build – brick by brick – something that is extraordinarily positive in the face of grief and bereavement.'
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Gleeson said that over the years, Martin had 'learned from mistakes' and taken stances which he considered to be 'quite brave'.
He said certain things have improved in the intervening 19 years but remained critical of the 'ideological issue' of running aspects of care through the private sector.
He said: 'We're spending a fortune in this country on healthcare – but the systems are terrible.'
Gleeson said he did not necessarily agree with an entirely state-run service either as it can lead to a lack of dynamism.
He said: 'But I don't think that driving things for profit solves problems of compassion.'
'Proper discussion'
He added: 'Let's have a proper discussion, not outage. We know what's wrong, let's have constructive ways – literally – of finding a way forward.
'I've had it with moaning about it and absolutely screaming about things.'
Recently, RTÉ broadcast undercover reporting from two privately-run nursing homes which showed vulnerable people being left unsupervised, large amounts of residents congregated together being supervised by one member of staff, and requests for the use of toilets being unanswered for lengthy periods of time.
In contrast with that footage, Gleeson said: 'The difference between what we saw in that documentary and what happens here is all you need to know.
'This costs a lot of money, fundraising, volunteer and local effort – but this is a happy place even with all the sadness that is involved in it.
'A nursing home is a place of diminishing horizons at its best – it feels like that going in.
'If you go into the right environment, it becomes a new chapter and there's a possibility where older people – and I'm not that far off it myself – where you can go and actually find kindred spirits.'
Gleeson said he disagrees with the 'care for profit' approach: 'The two are counterproductive in my opinion.'
While acknowledging that he did not have the answers for the challenge of running nursing homes, he said the approach should be about compassion, understanding, and appropriate availability of staff.
Backing the €20 million 'buy a brick' campaign for the hospice, he said: 'I know how much of a game changer this new facility will be for the entire community of North Dublin.'
The new unit will enable staff to care for an extra 3,000 patients over the next 25 years – and the fundraiser invites people to contribute to the build by buying a brick for between €25 and €250 and leaving their name or message on a virtual community support wall.
He said the new unit would be a 'beacon of hope' and a 'centre of excellence', adding that the approach of the hospice is one of the best standards rather than cost-cutting.
Last year, St Francis Hospice cared for 2,313 patients at its two facilities in Blanchardstown and Raheny – almost double that of a decade earlier.
Construction at the new site is due to begin next year and will also include an underground car park and clinical support facilities, with a pedestrian bridge linking it to the existing building.
Those who wish to contribute can visit St Francis Hospice's
website
.
