Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The violent scenes in the North over recent weeks were a worrying reminder of how the institutionalisation of sectarianism can lead to these sectarian outbursts. If we are to challenge that and achieve the unity of this island and the end of partition, and undermine the conscious stirring-up of sectarianism by forces such as the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, we have to offer a better alternative, not just joining together two somewhat dysfunctional states. We cannot hope to convince people in the North to become part of a united Ireland unless we have a state-of-the-art national health service.

Our national health service is failing in many regards. It is a two-tier system. The majority of our student nurses and midwives want to leave the country because they are not paid enough, are treated badly and have to work in intolerable conditions. Over recent weeks, I have raised issues affecting young psychologists. I am overwhelmed by the response I have got from them. They are living in poverty while trying to train to get into psychology to deal with the mental health crisis and they say it is an absolute nightmare. Those are just two examples. We need a single-tier quality national health service. If we do not have that, why would people of a unionist tradition in the North want to be part of our country?

We also have to separate church and state. It is unbelievable that the national maternity hospital is to be controlled by a Catholic religious order. How could people in the North want any part of a health service like that?

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