One of Ireland’s most respected obstetricians has resigned from the board of a maternity hospital over plans to transfer its ownership to a religious order that ran institutions where women were enslaved and children abused for decades.

Secular campaigners have been leading the opposition to the government’s plan – which emerged earlier this month – to move the National maternity hospital in Dublin to the St Vincent’s Elm Park campus, which is owned by the Sisters of Charity.

Dr Peter Boylan’s resignation is the latest flashpoint in a row that has reignited a debate about church-state relations and the influence of Catholic institutions in provision of public services.

Proponents of the move have argued that the Catholic order – which still owes €3m (£2.5m) to a government compensation scheme for victims of institutional abuse – will not have a say in the medical decisions at the new site.

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