HEALTH MINISTER JENNIFER Carroll MacNeill has defended the name of the country’s new children’s hospital. 

The hospital is to be officially called the National Children’s Hospital of Ireland, however the name has been described as “unimaginative” by those in Sinn Féin. 

Over the years, there have been campaigns for the hospital to be named after a historical figure, such as Dr Kathleen Lynn. 

Lynn was a suffragette and doctor who co-founded Saint Ultan’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin in 1919 with her partner Madeleine ffrench-Mullen. 

Lynn, who was from Mayo, was also the chief medical officer for the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising.

Speaking to reporters today, the minister acknowledged the criticisms of the name, but said the reason the name was picked is it “was very simple”.

She explained that there was a process of engagement with youth advisory groups, with parents and with patients, stating: “That is the name that they chose”.

“And I think it’s a good name,” said the minister, who added that people will likely just call it the ‘Children’s Hospital’.

“But what I’m really most concerned about is stressed out parents coming into Heuston station, getting in a taxi, and maybe that parent doesn’t speak English as their first language, or maybe they just need to get their children to the Children’s Hospital,” she said, adding that the “simplest possible name” is best. 

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The minister said she believes it is important to reflect on the different conversations that have been had around Kathleen Lynn, calling her an extraordinary woman, medic and patriot.

“She was a ferocious, very brave, very fantastic woman, and I would love to see her commemorated in different ways. So I’m going to speak to the youth advisory committee in the National Children’s Hospital Ireland. I would like to name something within the hospital after her,” said the minister, who said perhaps a wing or auditorium within the hospital could be named after her.

“I would like to find a way to acknowledge and commemorate her extraordinary work. But in respect of the overall name of the hospital, I just had to go with A, what was chosen by the young people themselves, and B, what I thought would be just the simplest thing for a stressed out parent,” she concluded.