A consultant oncologist has said he wants peope on the fuel protest to understand the stress they are causing cancer patients who are missing or delaying medical appointments.
With much of the country’s road network gripped by protestors, Professor John Crown said many patients were ringing in to delay appointments or even cancel them altogether.
On The Claire Byrne Show, Professor Crown said many of his patients feel extremely upset.
“Without commenting on the rights and wrongs of the big picture situation with respect to the fuel crisis, a lot of patients were wondering, ‘What did I do to deserve this? Why should my treatment be cancelled? Why should I be spending an extra three hours in an already stressful situation of dealing with cancer?’” he explained.
“I'm kind of sympathetic to that point of view.”
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The consultant oncologist recalled that when he posted about this on Twitter he received an “extraordinary amount of very personal abuse”, much of which failed to address his point.
“Nearly none of the abusers were commenting on the fuel crisis,” he said.
“They were saying, ‘Aren't you the guy who made us take that poisonous COVID job five years ago? Aren't you the one who recommended closing down our society?’”
Professor Crown added that cancer treatment is stressful enough as it is and the protests are only adding to patients’ miserable experiences.
“It's bad enough having to get up at six in the morning to come for treatment, but if you have to get up at three in the morning to come for treatment, it's even more distressing,” he said.
“And people were talking about spending hours in cars and, in some cases, turning back.
“I just think it's important that the people who are doing it do understand all the implications of what they're doing.”
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To those out protesting, Professor Crown, who previously served as a Senator in Seanad Éireann, suggested they consider forming a political party.
“I think there are mechanisms in society for making your opinions known, I think there are mechanisms for influencing public policy,” he said.
“Taken to its most simple, people feel that strongly about it, somebody should form a political party which is devoted to not having tax on fuel or having reduced tax on fuel and see what support they get for that position.”
Main image: The fuel protest in Cork. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie.
