The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said he was 'upset' at last week's decision by the board of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin to withdraw co-operation from plans to build the National Children's Hospital on the site of the Mater Hospital.
Dr Martin, who is the Chairman of the Board in the Hospital, called for talks between Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and the HSE over the move.
He said he was absent from the meeting at which the decision was made.
"I can understand the frustration of the people in Crumlin Hospital," but he said he believed the hospital must go forward with negotiations," he said in an interview with RTÉ radio.
Archbishop Martin said: "my views are that we should have one single tertiary Children's Hospital. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have other children's hospitals," he added.
The Board of Our Lady's Hospital released a statement last week in which it said the withdrawal was taken against a background of "very significant concerns" about the "inadequacy of the site at the Mater Hospital, access to the site and the process set up to progress the project."
Last month, the HSE rejected a call by Our Lady's for a review of the decision to locate the children's hospital at the Mater hospital.
The Executive said one of the fundamental criticisms contained in a report commissioned by the Board of Our Lady's was based on the "incorrect assumption" that the site size for the new children's hospital was 1.45 hectares.
The HSE says the size of the proposed hospital is in fact 6.15 hectares.
