Bill to name children’s hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn passes first stage unanimously – Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South Central, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, has welcomed the unanimous passage of his Children’s Health (Ospidéal Náisiúnta Kathleen Lynn do Leanaí) (Amendment) Bill 2025 by the Dáil yesterday at first stage.

The Bill, which is co-sponsored by Sinn Féin TDs Máire Devine, Rose Conway-Walsh, and David Cullinane, will now await a full debate in the Dáil at second stage.

Teachta Ó Snodaigh said:

“This marks another landmark for a campaign which has amassed almost 6,000 signatures and counts among its supporters leading historians, medics, trade unions and relatives of republican heroes. It is a fitting homage to Dr. Lynn and her fellow 1916 heroines as we return from the Easter recess.

“The decision by the Dáil also builds on two unanimous votes by the Seanad to support the naming of the new children’s hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn, as discussed in a letter by Independent Senator Victor Boyhan in the Irish Times last week. Sinn Féin Senator Fintan Warfield introduced a similar Bill in that chamber last year.

“Naming the hospital after the 1916 hero and pioneering medic, a cause for which I have been campaigning for over decade, should not require legislation, however.

“The government could act on this without delay, without a change in the law. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has already described Dr. Lynn as ‘a very worthy choice’, and his Fianna Fáil colleagues tabled one of the Seanad motions on the matter. Health Minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill said there was “nothing not to like” about the “extraordinary woman”.

“For years now, ever since Simon Harris was forced to withdraw the proposed name of “Phoenix Children’s Hospital” after legal threats from an Arizona hospital with the same name, successive Ministers for Health have shirked responsibility and insisted that the Board of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) decide on a name.

“With the reputation of CHI in tatters, both for allowing the world-record costs of the new children’s hospital to spiral beyond €2 billion, and for overseeing unnecessary hip surgeries on potentially hundreds of our children – itself the subject of two Dáil debates yesterday – this Bill provides an opportunity for elected members of the Dáil to which Dr. Lynn was elected in 1923 to honour her legacy 70 years after her death.

“There are many reasons Dr. Kathleen Lynn’s name has such grassroots and cross-party support.

“The Mayo-born Church of Ireland woman, not content with setting up Ireland’s first children’s hospital which went on to lead efforts to eradicate TB, introduce the BCG vaccine, and pioneer Montessori education, took part in the 1913 Lockout, was both Chief Medical Officer of the Irish Citizen Army and Vice President of Sinn Féin, and came through time incarcerated by the British.

“Lynn became the most senior ranking woman in the 1916 Rising when she assumed command of republicans at Dublin City Hall.

“I hope that An Taoiseach and the Minister for Health support this Bill as it progresses through the Houses of the Oireachtas, or better still, render it unnecessary by naming the hospital after Dr. Lynn without delay.”