A charity boss is fuming after being given a speeding ticket after a hospital told him to drive a cancer patient to them as quickly as possible to save her life.
Eamonn McDevitt
Eamonn McDevitt’s Good and New Project has driven hundreds of patients from across Co Donegal by bus to Galway for cancer treatment for the past four years.
Mr McDevitt, a cancer survivor himself, receives no funding for the project which cost €1,000 per week to maintain and survives on donations and profits from a second-hand clothes shop.
In recent weeks Mr McDevitt was told on two occasions to drive as quickly as possible to get to Galway after patients took seriously ill on his bus.
However on the second occasion they came across a speed van and a number of days later received a speeding ticket.
Mr McDevitt gathered all the relevant information from Galway University Hospital staff and also outlined their official charity status.
But the appeal has met a brick wall as they have been told they are not an official emergency vehicle.
“We contacted the Garda section in Tipperary who deal with these issues and sent them all the letters from us as a registered charity doing this work and a letter from Galway hospital outlining all the facts about sick people travelling with us.
“It would appear it has fallen on deaf ears we have received a letter back saying the speeding ticket stands as we are not an emergency vehicle,
“I wish some of these people would travel with us some time they might think differently”.
Mr McDevitt said he would never encourage his drivers to speed.
“Instead of a bit of understanding, we get fined,” he said.
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