Dated - October 21, 2014
Dear Colleague,
You may have seen the article in last Saturday’s Irish Times regarding the recent Medical Council visit to Bahrain. Needless to say we were very concerned by the content of the article as the core element of the piece was entirely inaccurate and potentially damaging to RCSI.
The headline “Irish college in Bahrain inspected for abuses” was not only factually incorrect, but the entire article was also inaccurate. The introduction says the inspection is a response to alleged human rights abuses. This could not be further from the truth and has caused considerable concern amongst our staff and students both in Bahrain and Ireland, as well as our alumni, fellows and key external stakeholders.
Let us be very clear. The visit to RCSI Bahrain of the Medical Council was at our invitation. In 2010 we invited the Medical Council to visit RCSI Bahrain, and have pushed for some years for this to happen. The Medical Council had planned to visit the Bahrain campus in 2011 to assess the programme, but postponed this because of the unrest. They finally visited last week, and have also visited our facilities in Malaysia.
Following engagement with the Irish Times the below correction was published in today’s paper and they have apologised for the error.
IRISH TIMES CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS – 21st October 2014
An article in last Saturday’s edition said in error that a Medical Council delegation to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) campus in Bahrain last week was connected to concerns about allegations of human rights abuses in Bahrain’s medical facilities. In fact, the visit only concerned educational accreditation standards established by the World Health Organisation and the delegation visited Bahrain at the invitation of the RCSI. The RCSI has pointed out that no human rights concerns have ever been expressed in relation to the RCSI facility. We apologise for the error.
In addition, the Irish Times promptly took down the article from their website. They very rarely remove an article entirely and this shows how clear their retraction is.
I hope this response goes some way to address any concerns you may have had.
With best wishes
Cathal Kelly
Chief Executive/Registrar