Over 500 people attending public meetings in Mountrath and Abbeyleix on Wednesday evening as the campaign to save Portlaoise Hospital visited towns around the county – but this evening’s meeting in Mountmellick has been postponed because of the recent floods in the town.
“Due to the devastating flooding in the Mountmellick area, tonight’s Portlaoise Hospital Action Committees town hall meeting in Mountmellick will be rescheduled for next week,” said a statement from the group this morning.
“The rescheduled date and time for the Mountmellick meeting will be confirmed asap but in the first instance we want to ensure that the message is heard by people to prevent anyone from travelling unnecessarily.
“People’s safety is our main concern. Our thoughts are with those affected in the Mountmellick area.”
The Hospital Action Committee are planning a protest for Saturday, December 2, in Portlaoise and are appealing for people to come out in large numbers to support.
The meetings in Portarlington and Killeshin will will go ahead this evening, however, with Hospital Action Committee members, GPs, politicians and members of the public all set to be in attendance.
A crowd of close to 300 packed into the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel on Wednesday night while there was a similar attendance in St Fintan’s Hall in Mountrath, including the RTE Prime Time cameras.
There’s a right crowd in the @abbeyleixmanor this evening for the @SaveMRHP meeting pic.twitter.com/xk54Op4nTp
— Laois Today (@LaoisToday) November 22, 2017
And there’s a big crowd in Mountrath this evening too including the @rte Prime Time cameras pic.twitter.com/Hptc4zIdxU
— Laois Today (@LaoisToday) November 22, 2017
The meeting in Abbeyleix was chaired by Michael Scully while Austin Stack chaired the Mountrath meeting. Dr John Madden gave a detailed background of the hospital situation in Abbeyleix with Dr Gerry White doing similar in Mountrath.
This evening Dr Michelle Byrne will attend the meeting in Killeshin Hall which will be chaired by Dominic Dunne with Dr Sean Montague in Portarlington, a meeting which will be chaired by Thomas Timmons, chairperson of the Hospital Action Committee.
Both meetings get underway at 8pm.
SEE ALSO – Protest details announced as Hospital campaign goes up a level
