The Sisters of Charity will no longer be involved in the running of the new National Maternity Hospital.
What does this mean for the future of religious-owned hospitals in Ireland?
We were joined by Dr. Peter Boylan, Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute.
Peter Boylan was opposed to the proposed ownership of the hospital by the nuns. "I don't think it was reasonable to ask the nuns to run a hospital."
"People should have known better than to put the nuns in this impossible position, where they were asked to own a hospital that is going to be doing work which is fundamentally at odds with their religious ethos. There were a lot of things wrong with the whole agreement that was worked out."
On the issue of faith-based hospitals, Peter said, "People's religious beliefs have to be respected, but if a particular religious order wants to have its own ethos then I think they need to fund the hospital."
David Quinn described the nuns' decision to walk away from the hospital as "very disappointing."
He voiced his concerns about how hospitals should be run in the future, saying, "We need to consider what should be the governing ethos of hospitals. The pro-choice ethos very much violates what, to me, is good medical ethics."
