Misgivings over the draft public health bill aired in Carrickmore

MORE than 100 people attended a public meeting in Carrickmore last week to discuss their concerns about the Draft Public Health Bill for Northern Ireland.

Though only announced several days in advance, the event – which organisers claim was designed to allow local people to ask questions, voice concerns and seek clarity on the proposed legislation – attracted a full house.

After the Old Charm Inn had cleared, the TyroneHerald spoke with one of the organisers of the event to find out what talking points dominated the discourse.

“The meeting was set up by a few local people who read over the consultation document and found it unclear, hard to engage with, and potentially dangerous.

“Off the back of that, we called a meeting in Carrickmore’s Old Charm Inn on Wednesday night. It was very well attended by people from the town and the surrounding countryside.”

The spokesperson, who asked not to be named, then went on to detail some of the most concerning parts of the document discussed during the meeting.

“After initially giving some information on how people can access and complete the consultation document, which, by the way, is not straightforward, different attendees spoke about their various concerns.

“Overwhelmingly, people were unhappy with the vague language used within the bill, and the room for interpretation this could create if it were to be enacted and made legislation.

“Those familiar with the contents of the bill were most disturbed by sections found in page 47 of the consultation document,” they said, referring to a part of the paper that lists potential powers the state could activate in the event of an emergency, including: Requiring a person to submit to a medical examination; to be removed to a hospital or other suitable establishment; to be detained in a hospital or other suitable establishment; to keep a person in isolation or quarantine; and, among other things, to require a person to vaccinated or to receive other prophylactic treatment.

“Some of those potential liberty-impinging powers are very concerning to many of us. As well as that, there are words like ‘things’ used, which are so vague that it is hard to understand exactly where the limits of their interpretation might lay.”

Freedoms

The spokesperson then went onto name other human rights and basic freedoms that they worry could be limited by any legislation emerging from the current drafting of the bill.

“There are parts that seem to confer the Public Health Agency the authority to limit our right to protest, right to privacy and freedom of speech.

“There are mentions of ‘power of entry’ and ‘mandatory vaccinations’. But, for a health bill, there are very few references to promoting public health. The people who wrote the document seem to be obsessed by how the state might have to use surveillance and coercion in response to a threat to public health,” they said.

However, while their sentiments seem certain to cause alarm, they claimed the event was not intended to scaremonger.

“We do not want to create fear unnecessarily. We are just worried by the wording – some unclear, some very clear – of some of the provisions of this bill.

“What we need is clarity from our politicians. Until we have that, it is our view that the Draft Public Health Bill for Northern Ireland must be stopped or suspended.”