Just arrived back home from a half-day trip to the West. In the morning I thought I wouldn’t be able to drive because I was hardly able to walk. Which is when I decided to try it with pain killers and anti-inflammatories. They did the trick.

I managed to do a few things this afternoon and evening, all in one go.

The best of them all was my visit to Shane in Tuam and his father Joe. Joe and I had met at Croagh Patrick last year and then Joe joined us when we met with Minister Simon Harris. But I had never met Shane.

Meeting Shane was so good. I had read about his journey, his father had spoken to me about him, we had seen him on the telly – but meeting him was one of those moments in my life I will not forget. Ever. And a moment that re-enforced, if that was necessary, that we can never give up on what we started last year with the help of friends, the media, and politicians. Ever.

January is almost over and I still have not heard about a meeting date with the HSE to implement their mandate to establish the day centre An Saol proposed to them.

This needs to happen. This will happen. If it takes another campaign in February to bring home to them their obligation to do so – so it will. Although, it would be so, so infinitely better if we could celebrate a success rather than pointing our fingers to yet another failure.

Let’s put an end to failures. Let’s not tolerate ignorance, bias, sloppiness and alternative truths anymore. It’s up to us. Let’s make the health system great again. Let’s put the sick, the injured, and the most vulnerable people in our society first. Let’s return the power to the patients and their families, and take it away from dysfunctional, disjoint ‘systems’.

Can we do this? – Yes we can!