Everyone, young and old, has an opinion on the scaling down of acute services at Monaghan General Hospital. The fact that one-fifth of the county's population turned out to protest at the opening of the Monaghan town bypass last week stands testament to that.

All local vintners closed their doors and even bank managers in the town got permission from their head offices to close up for the demonstration.

The protest will long be remembered for the vitriol vented at local TD and Ceann Comhairle Dr Rory O'Hanlon.

Pictures of Tydavnet man Owen McKenna confronting him to call him a "blackguard" dominated TV coverage.

Speaking to theSunday Tribune this weekend, McKenna . . .

who stayed in Monaghan Hospital as he awaited a heart bypass operation in Dublin's Mater Hospital in 2003 . . .

explained what fuelled his outburst. "Dr O'Hanlon was Minister for Health on two occasions and he did nothing for Monaghan Hospital, " he said. "And now a lot of people say he cannot interfere because he is Ceann Comhairle but I am sure he could have a word in somebody's ear. He didn't support his people then and that is why we were so angry to see him turn up for Monday's photo opportunity."

O'Hanlon did not attend the most recent public meeting about the future of Monaghan Hospital, which drew a crowd of over 2,000 people. A letter sent from him to be read out at the meeting was met with boos and hisses and this is believed locally to be the reason behind the public show of anger at his unexpected arrival at last week's road opening.

Public anger Phone lines at the local radio station, Shannonside/Northern Sound, were jammed all week with angry callers talking about the aftermath of the protest and the wider hospital issue.

Martin Shannon, broadcaster with the station said:

"Our brief is to support the majority of the people and we make no apologies for supporting the hospital campaign.

It was very unwise for Dr Rory O'Hanlon to attend the protest after his letter was greeted with great disdain by the huge volume of people who attended the recent public meeting.

"But it is very hurtful to the majority of people, who protested in a civilised manner, that there was so much focus on the small number of people who verbally abused the Ceann Comhairle. The situation that developed was not orchestrated in any way. It was a reaction to the fact that Rory O'Hanlon turned up. It is also important for people to realise that Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher was treated with respect and courtesy by the people of Monaghan."

The skirmishes surrounding O'Hanlon dominated media coverage early in the week, while photos of a protesting Tommy McMahon . . . who served 19 years for the murder of Lord Mountbatten before being released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement . . . subsequently prompted allegations that the protest had been 'hijacked' by republican activists.

However, there is little doubt that public anger on this issue is coming from across the board locally. One of the most poignant images of the protest was the sight of hundreds of workers walking in groups to the new bypass at the edge of Monaghan town.

Shopping complex owner Gordon Fleming, Monaghan's biggest retailer, rang the local radio station in the days beforehand to propose that all businesses in the town close their doors for the duration of the protest. "After I rang the station to say that we were closing our business to let our 150 staff attend the protest, it snowballed from there and most businesses followed suit, " he said this wekeend. "We are part of the community and it is only right that we support that community. If I thought we could help save the hospital, we will close our business again and again for future protests."

Churches back campaign Multinational retailers in the town who did not close for the protest have come in for sharp criticism on local radio during the week. Local councillor, Malachy Toal, said:

"Multinational supermarkets were given tax incentives to come into Monaghan and it is a disgrace that they failed to let their staff off to protest over the hospital issue."

All of the churches in Monaghan have also given their backing to the campaign. Presbyterian Rev David Nesbitt explained: "I have backed the campaign to save the hospital since the 1980s and I will continue to encourage my congregation to support any future protests."

Monaghan's largest employer, Kingspan Century Homes, also ceased manufacturing for the duration of the protest and streams of the company's foreign national workers joined Monday's protest in support of the community of which they have become a part.

Aside from the workplace, the biggest issue in the border county now creeps into all walks of life. All GAA fixtures were cancelled on the night of the last public meeting and announcements were made at all fixtures the previous weekend encouraging all GAA fans to support the campaign.

While people in Monaghan have been campaigning since the 1980s for the retention of certain services at the hospital, public anger has grown since elderly farmer Pat Joe Walsh bled to death in the hospital one year ago.

The Walsh report, published in early September, recommended all acute inpatient services "be suspended as soon as is practically possible" from Monaghan hospital. However, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has denied subsequent speculation that the treatment room at the hospital is to close.

Chris Lyons, hospital and network manager with the HSE, said any suggestion that the hospital was being closed down could not be further from the truth. In early September, he said: "While there is a natural desire for communities to want to have geographically convenient services, we believe it would be a disservice to put convenience of access ahead of quality and we must seek to strike the appropriate balance."

As the HSE argues that Monaghan hospital will not close, campaigners are currently planning another public protest in Monaghan when John O'Donoghue, the Minister for Sport and Tourism, arrives to open a new swimming pool later this month.

Peadar McMahon, chairman of the Monaghan Hospital Alliance, believes that getting "feet on the streets" will spur the HSE and the government to act on the wishes of the people in Monaghan.

Among the actions planned in the coming weeks is a cavalcade protest from Cavan to Dublin's M50. It remains to be seen whether other areas where local hospitals face downgrading in favour of 'centres of excellence' choose to mobilise on the same scale.