Former Omagh surgeon laments ‘hate-fuelled thuggery’ of rioters

AN Indian surgeon who helped save dozens of lives following the Omagh bombing in 1998 has urged people to remember that the NHS would ‘collapse overnight’ were it not for the work of their overseas staff.

Mr Dominic Pinto, OBE, who for decades served as chief surgeon in the Tyrone County Hospital, was commenting on the far-right riots that have raged over the last week both in Belfast and in cities and towns across England.

In an interview with this newspaper on Thursday, Dr Pinto also discussed the value of our immigrant population, the confusing and illogical motives of the rioters, and his profound trust in the decency of local people.

“In all my years living in Omagh, I have had no trouble,” he said.

“People are respectful. Of course, there have always been some Protestants and Catholics who hate each other, but another generation should get rid of that.”

Mr Pinto said that he never witnessed anybody from abroad being treated differently during his time in Omagh Hospital.

“We worked with lots of people from other places – Indian doctors, Filipino nurses, colleagues from all across Europe – and I never met any who had any problems with racism or discrimination,” said Mr Pinto.

According to the House of Commons Library, there are 265,000 NHS staff that reported a non-British nationality in June 2023.

That means one-in-five doctors and nurses working in our hospitals and health centres are immigrants.

However, these figures do not account for people who came from foreign nations, and now identify as British.

Neither does it capture the number of staff who have migrant parents.

“Migrants are part of the spine of the NHS. They do a superb job, and the health care system could not function without them. It is things like this that make is so hard to understand the rioters,” said Mr Pinto.

“What they are doing has something to do with the Middle East. They hate Muslims, but at the same time they are antisemetic. Whatever is happening, it is illogical. It is about hate-fuelled thuggery.

“I respect people’s right to protest,” he continued. “I am a defender of anybody’s right to express their point of view. But that is not what has been happening in Belfast and other towns and cities across the UK.”

However, despite admitting to being ‘made sad’ by what he has witnessed relayed on the nightly news over the last week-and-a-half, Mr Pinto ended on a note of relative hope.

“I don’t think what we have seen in the cities will spread to Omagh and other Tyrone towns. Belfast is different because of the persisting paramilitary presence; those people specialise in hate. Here is different.

“I think I know the people of Omagh, and I do not think they fall for the same stuff that people in other places have been tricked into.”