Harney's hunt for a cure for what ails us

Doctors and nurses threatening to strike, winter vomiting bugs closing wards, trolley counts in every newspaper and daily outrage in the Dail: for the Irish health system it's a case of deja vu all over again.

It was all supposed to be so different for Minister for Health Mary Harney. Last October she took up residence in Hawkins House with a surge of spin from her people about how she was going to ...