Dr Peter Boylan has resigned from the board of the New National Maternity Hospital.

In a letter to the vice-chair of the board this morning he has tendered his resignation with immediate effect, saying he he cannot remain on a board where he is a lone voice of opposition.

"I can't remain a member of a board that is so blind to the consequences of its decision to transfer sole ownership of the hospital to the Sisters of Charity and so deaf to the concerns of the public which it serves."

Boylan has been vocal in his opposition to plans for the Sisters of Charity to run the new hospital, and says it is "naive" to think the Sisters will not have any influence on its operations.

Enda Kenny this lunchtime has said his resignation is "a matter for himself" - and says the government is focused on making sure the legal arrangements behind the hospital are "water tight". 

The health minister Simon Harris says he "notes" the resignation of Dr Boylan, a former master of the current NMH at Holles Street, 

Meanwhile the NMH board's vice-chairman, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, says last night's meeting of the current NMH board was held in a "bullying and intimidatory way".

The hospital is due to move to a new site on the grounds of St Vincent's, which is in turn owned by an order of nuns, by 2021.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports: