THERE was nothing brave or particularly principled about what Jimmy Devins and Eamon Scanlon did last week in resigning from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

Being brave and principled involves making a stand that goes against the crowd, not with it. What would have been brave and principled is if one or both of the men had stood up and said that, although they understood the genuine fears and concerns of their constituents, they did not agree with the campaign that opposes the removal of breast-cancer services from Sligo General Hospital. And that all international research shows that survival rates for women with breast cancer are 20% higher when patients are looked after by specialist units manned by multidisciplinary teams treating a minimum volume of patients.

And, notwithstanding the undoubted high skills of the staff there, because of the area's population, Sligo hospital cannot hope to attain that minimum volume of cases.

One or both of the Fianna Fáil TDs could have cited figures from the National Cancer Registry covering the period 1994 to 2001, which showed that survival rates for women with breast cancer are up to 25% higher in Dublin and the east than in regions such as the west, north-west and midlands.

They could have quoted Catherine Sear, the Canadian woman who was interviewed on last year's excellent Prime Time programme on cancer care in British Columbia in Canada – the world leader in cancer care and home up until last year of our cancer chief Tom Keane. Sear had been misdiagnosed by her local hospital, an hour north of Vancouver, before the intervention of an expert at the Vancouver Cancer Centre. The moral of her story, Sear said, was to "go to the cancer agency" and not to "waste your time at the local hospitals". Sometimes, she added, it was necessary to travel to do that. "I tell you, one hour is nothing when it's your life."

To be fair to Devins and Scanlon, it is probably unrealistic to expect them to have taken such a stand. There probably isn't a TD in the country who would have done so. It would be the political equivalent of committing hari kari.

But it was surprising that in so many of the interviews with the two men in the media in last few days, they weren't questioned as to why they were advocating a position that ran contrary to best international practice to ensure the safety of patients.

Of course, the politics of their decision to resign the Fianna Fáil whip was important. But surely the care of women with breast cancer is considerably more important. Sadly, the reality is that we in the media are much more concerned about the 'sexy story', to use that dreadful term, about the potential crisis in the government. Time and time again, those advocating the maintenance of various local hospital services (who often have a vested interest in doing so) are given a free ride by the media. The facts, drawn from international experience, about the benefits of centralised care are ignored because it is less important than the story that such-and-such a campaign is going to cause major headaches for the government and a particular local TD.

And then we wonder how what happened in Portlaoise Hospital could possibly have been allowed to happen. If we in the media aren't going to focus on the bigger picture, then we shouldn't expect our TDs to do so.

That said, the opposition parties' stance on Sligo hospital smacks of blatant political opportunism. Fine Gael health spokesman James Reilly indicated on Thursday that he would be advocating to his party's front bench the putting forward of some form of private members' motion when the Dáil resumes on the retention of cancer services in Sligo.

Such a move would of course embarrass the government and probably force Devins and Scanlon to vote with the opposition. What a great story that would be.

But we are back to the basic question: which is more important – scoring a hit against the government or the health of the women of the country?

In an ideal world, if Fine Gael put down such a motion, it would be excoriated for attempting to play politics with such a hugely important issue. They would be put through the ringer on international statistics that show the benefit of centralised services. But this is a far-from-ideal world and we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for any move to bring forward a private members' motion to deservedly backfire.

It is only fair to point out that if Fianna Fáil was in opposition, it would be doing exactly what Reilly and Fine Gael is considering doing right now. That's the political system we have in this country. Our PR-STV electoral system leaves political parties terrified of alienating even the smallest group of people, regardless of the rights or wrongs of their argument, for fear that it will result in a lost seat and lost power.

The result is that the greater good is frequently sacrificed and that, in the main, politicians simply follow public opinion rather than lead it. Is it any wonder that the country is in such a mess?

scoleman@tribune.ie