1. This is the back yard of a hospital I was in on Friday. First time I’ve ever had health insurance, it’s both astonishing and terrifying the difference it makes. My mother doesn’t have health insurance. A few years ago her appendix suddenly became inflamed and she was rushed to hospital. She spent 24 hours sitting on a wooden chair at an emergency ward in agony because they didn’t have a bed for her. The thought crossed my mind that she could have died on that chair. The Irish healthcare system is badly managed and underfunded. Last week Ireland’s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern gave himself a hefty pay increase, putting his salary higher than both President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This made me very, very fucking angry.

    This is the back yard of a hospital I was in on Friday. First time I’ve ever had health insurance, it’s both astonishing and terrifying the difference it makes.

    My mother doesn’t have health insurance. A few years ago her appendix suddenly became inflamed and she was rushed to hospital. She spent 24 hours sitting on a wooden chair at an emergency ward in agony because they didn’t have a bed for her. The thought crossed my mind that she could have died on that chair.

    The Irish healthcare system is badly managed and underfunded.
    Last week Ireland’s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern gave himself a hefty pay increase, putting his salary higher than both President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
    This made me very, very fucking angry.

    October 28, 2007