THE INDEPENDENT Roscommon TD Luke “Ming” Flanagan has refused to apologise for telling a senior HSE official that if he were in his position he “would get a rope and hang myself”.
Mr Flanagan’s made the comments to Dr Philip Crowley, the HSE’s national director of risk and quality care at a meeting with the HSE and Department of Health last Friday. The meeting, attended by TDs and Senators from Roscommon, was arranged to discuss the withdrawal of emergency services from Roscommon County Hospital.
Yesterday, Mr Flanagan insisted that he had not told Dr Crowley to hang himself and claimed he told him that if he (Mr Flanagan) was in his position he would hang himself because he could not stand over the health services.
However, Labour Senator John Kelly, who is from Roscommon, yesterday condemned Mr Flanagan’s comments in the Seanad.
“He called for the senior official to go and get a rope and commit suicide,” he told the chamber.
He said Mr Flanagan had arrived late, “got into a rant in regard to the running of the health service” and suggested to the official to commit suicide.
Mr Flanagan denied that he had said directly to the official to hang himself.
He said he was angry at what he had heard. “We listened to him saying that we have a good health service when your mother dies in a kip of a hospital.
“I said if that was on my conscience I could not live with an AE service that left people screaming in agony. I would not be able to live with myself if I was responsible for that. I would get out a rope and hang myself.”
He accepted that he could have phrased his argument more carefully but said he had no intention of apologising for what he had said.
“There are times when emotions run [high]. When are talking about a situation that is close to you and they are being put through hell. To be quite honest I could not see how people could criticise me for it,” he said.
Mr Flanagan also rejected the criticism from Mr Kelly saying it would be better for him to campaign against mental health services in Roscommon being cut back. “Because of that people will kill themselves. If they care tuppence about suicide instead of breaking into a sweat about the use of words . . . what’s the bigger issue?” he said.