Mr. Hamilton Goulding:

I have just said so - we resigned because we were pushed. That is how we saw it. Mr. Nugent, the then chairman, was called to HSE headquarters. I met him as he came out of the meeting with three officers of the HSE. He was told bluntly that if the whole board did not go, HSE funding would cease. Whether this threat could have been carried out I do not know, but it would have been irresponsible of us to challenge it. I saw the look on his face and he told me it was over, that the board had to go or the funding would be pulled. The popular perception appears to be that we ran away after making a right mess of the place. That is not the case.