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Cllr Peter Kavanagh Mayor of South Dublin and Cllr Kieran Mahon present a framed letter to James Dunne at the unveiling of the plaque in memory of Dr. Noel Browne (former Minister for Health) and all those who fought for the eradication of tuberculosis. Laura Kennedy

South Dublin County Council honours former Health Minister Dr Noel Browne

Browne helped to rid Ireland of tuberculosis.

THE MAYOR OF South Dublin, Councillor Peter Kavanagh, today unveiled a commemorative stone dedicated to the memory of former Health Minister Dr. Noël Browne.

The memorial was unveiled outside Peamount Hospital in the capital and is also dedicated to the women and men who fought to eradicate tuberculosis in Ireland.

Kavanagh said it is fitting “that we mark this occasion as we emerge from a national health emergency that forced the country to come together for the greater good. It calls to mind the tremendous effort Dr. Browne and his colleagues made in eradicating tuberculosis”.

Also speaking at the event were Councillor Kieran Mahon, SOL/PBP, who proposed the motion to honour Dr. Browne; James Dunne, the local resident who first approached Councillor Mahon; and Dr. Browne’s daughter Ruth.

Kavanagh added: “It is also appropriate that this event should happen during Pride Month as Dr Browne was the first parliamentarian to call for the decriminalisation of homosexuality and was one of the few politicians to attend the opening of the Hirschfeld Centre in Dublin.

“In an era where being liberal was seen as dangerously radical, Noël Browne was a genuine progressive, and his legacy is a blueprint for Irish society to continue the work he started.”

Browne, who was born in Waterford in 1915, studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin and worked on the treatment and eradication of TB before being elected to the Dáil in 1948 as a member of Clann na Poblachta.

He was appointed Health Minister in an inter-party Government led by Fine Gael Taoiseach John A Costello and resigned in April 1951 over the Mother & Child scheme.

The scheme, which was first drawn up in 1946, proposed free medical care for mothers and children up to the age of 16 without a means test. But it drew immediate opposition from the Catholic church and medical practitioners, who feared the scheme would reduce the number of private patients.

Browne died in 1997. 

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    Mute Anne Busher Collins
    Favourite Anne Busher Collins
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    Jun 17th 2022, 6:02 PM

    Great man, lambasted by Church and Conservatives. We need politicians to stand up for the people now, and show courage like Dr Noel Brown did.

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    Mute Shelly Levine
    Favourite Shelly Levine
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    Jun 17th 2022, 5:31 PM

    There was a time we had some politicians in Government who actually put the needs of the people they were elected to serve ahead of lining their own pockets and those of their cronies.

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    Mute Mick Murp
    Favourite Mick Murp
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    Jun 17th 2022, 7:05 PM

    A man before his time,

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    Mute ÓDuibhír Abú
    Favourite ÓDuibhír Abú
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    Jun 17th 2022, 8:59 PM

    @Mick Murp: About time, long over due, a Statue should be erected in his honour.

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    Mute Linda Hegarty
    Favourite Linda Hegarty
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    Jun 17th 2022, 6:04 PM

    My mother spent her nursing life, in Peamount Hospital on a TB Ward, she loved her job.

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    Mute Muiris
    Favourite Muiris
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    Jun 17th 2022, 11:05 PM

    A.great man, I’m reading his autobiography at the moment. The next F.F government brought in a watered down version of the Mother & Infant (M&I) scheme with free ante natal care, & children to 6 weeks only, which is still the case for today’s M&I scheme, 70 years later.

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    Mute Patrick Lynch
    Favourite Patrick Lynch
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    Jun 19th 2022, 8:51 AM

    Long overdue.

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