Speaking at the meeting Sinn Féin Press Officer, David Forde, an employee of Wexford General Hospital warned that "lone voices raised in protest will be easily ignored by the Minister" and said that the public will need to mobilise and mount a broad based campaign across all political lines in order to save services at the Hospital.

David Forde said:

"This issue could not be more serious for Wexford and we must act immediately and in large numbers to save our Hospital and to reject these proposals in no uncertain terms. What is at stake are two of the most vital and immediate services that the Hospital provides. An expectant mother in distress, a pre term baby, a cardiac arrest, a patient suffering trauma, major accident victims, all of these would be expected to bypass Wexford General Hospital and travel instead to Waterford.

"This issue is literally a matter of life or death. It is a scandal that the death of young Bronagh Livingstone in Monaghan did not act as a wake up call for the Ministers agenda of downgrading local acute Hospitals.

" The government cannot treat our Health Services as if they were a business corporation, closing local branches and slimming down in order to produce cost efficiencies or to better suit consultants contracts. There cannot ever be an 'acceptable level of death' in order to reduce costs.

"The public must mobilise to save Wexford General Hospital. The Minister will not protect our Hospital for us, the people will have to demand that it is protected. Lone voices raised in protest will not succeed in this, only a broad based public campaign involving all community groups, associations and every section of society in Wexford across political lines coming together and applying the very maximum pressure on the government.

"This is a government that has so easily ignored Wexford for the entire duration of its reign in office, it cannot be allowed to do so in this case.

"It will not be enough for Dr Twomey to utter words of warning that are easily ignored. It is completely insufficient for John Browne to minimise the very real threats that do exist. It is ludicrous for Tony Dempsey to comment that other services 'including ENT services' will be expanded at WGH, he does not seem to even realise that there are no ENT services in Wexford to expand!

"The stark fact is that if the Hanly proposals are implemented then peoples lives will be put in very real and serious danger as a consequence. The people must act to ensure that the Hanly Report is dumped and that this is never allowed to happen."