LACKING AMBITION

The kerfuffle over the National Maternity Hospital reveals an interesting insight into government thinking (or lack thereof ). A lease of 299 years of the hospital - or about three/four generations at the current lifespan - is ‘far in excess of the useful, functional life of the hospital’.

So, now, with the most advanced building materials and engineering expertise at our fingertips, 299 years is far-fetched. Do they know that Christ Church in Fermoy was built in 1802 and is still standing strong 220 years later? Castlehyde dates to 1790 - not bad looking for a bicentennial-plus.

This short-sightedness is why the Dunkettle interchange is not fit-for-purpose a mere 30 years after it was opened. Why can’t they think with ambition?

The public do not expect that a maternity hospital nearly 300 years from now will look the same, but we thought we could reasonably assume it would still at least, you know, be there. What is the lifespan of a building now? Why don’t they just make it of cardboard if this is the expectation they have of it?