Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to use my time under the Order of Business this morning to celebrate progress and success in Dublin's north inner city. I am very proud to come from Dublin Central. I am very proud of what the communities and people of Dublin Central are achieving, particularly in the north inner city.

I have before me a copy of the north-east inner city communities' annual report, which was launched this week by our Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. I thank the Taoiseach for coming to the north inner city and supporting the communities there. I believe the north inner city is the jewel in the crown of our country, although it attracts far too much negative media coverage. This document shows what is being achieved and the reality on the ground, however, and the efforts that are being made by local people and schools that participate including O'Connell Secondary School, which is one of the most famous and oldest schools in our country, Larkin Community College, Rosmini Community School, Mount Carmel Secondary School and St. Joseph's in Marino. We have many activities taking place in terms of culture and sports. We have everything going on in the north inner city from cricket, soccer, rugby, water sports and athletics to yoga, wellness and well-being activities and cultural events. We have a gospel choir, and the gospel festival was hosted in Mountjoy Square this summer. There is integration of communities and diversity is being celebrated in all its forms in the north inner city.

I particularly commend the Hill Street Family Resource Centre, which hosted the launch earlier this week and did a great job, as always. It is down to organisations like this, the city council, the gardaí, local residents, local businesses and schools. It is every community group. It is the people who go out on a Saturday and Sunday and pick up rubbish and take pride in our area.

I commend the people of the north inner city. I thank the Government for the €7.2 million it invested this year alone in the north inner city. I want to celebrate the fact that not only do we have a vibrant, live, engaged and diverse community in the north inner city, but that we are also getting the investment now in terms of the infrastructure. Fitzgibbon Street Garda station is the first community-focused Garda station in the whole country. It has been renovated and reopened to the highest standard. The Magdalen laundry on Seán McDermott Street, which was for so many people a symbol of such a dark past, is becoming a beacon for the future. We have so much to celebrate. We have much more to do. In life, however, we all get to choose whether we exploit difficult situations for other reasons or whether we actually put our shoulders to the wheel and work together to make success for ourselves and our communities. That is what the people in the north inner city are doing. I want to celebrate them. I want this House to celebrate them. I thank Members for giving me time to do so.