Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish also to be associated with the expressions of sympathy to the family of Mark Killilea. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

I condemn in the strongest terms on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group the car bombing at Bishop Street in Derry at the weekend. It shows how delicate and fragile the situation in the North is at the moment and that we cannot take for granted the Good Friday Agreement and peace on this island. What we have in the Good Friday Agreement must be nourished continuously and we cannot take our eyes off it at any stage. It was confirmed today by the Commission that a no-deal Brexit will result in a hard border, which is something we all knew. Unfortunately, the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the imminent threat of a hard border has added fuel to the fire of some dissident groups and provided them with a raison d'être. As a result, we are seeing some sort of resurgence. I acknowledge the work of the Government and civil servants and note that we very much stand by that work in navigating Brexit. However, we must be cognisant of the fragility of peace on our island and ensure the Good Friday Agreement is sustainable. As such, I ask the Leader what will happen and what plans the Government has to maintain and sustain the Good Friday Agreement in the wake of a crash-out Brexit?

I raise also the issue of the lack of green spaces and amenities in our inner cities. I do not apologise for supporting a campaign on Cork Street, namely the Weaver Square community garden allotments campaign. This is a small site in the inner city consisting of 27 allotments. On this small plot, a community garden has been created which has been boxing far above its weight and providing a huge community gain. Obviously, there is a major housing crisis, which I have raised weekly in the House since elected, but there are many alternative sites in Dublin 8, including the St. Michael's Estate site, St. Theresa's Gardens and the Player Wills factory. These are huge tracts of land which could, with a bit of imagination and proper planning, provide a great deal of housing and the proper amenities. The local authority has served an eviction notice on the allotment owners which was to have been executed on Monday in order to facilitate the construction of rapid-build homes. It is a real shame the community is losing the community garden. It is a small patch of land but it provided a great deal in community gain. There are many other large tracts of land which could have been used instead.

I refer finally to the 500 psychiatric nurses who have gone on strike today on foot of a refusal by the HSE to recognise NASRA, the ambulance branch of the Psychiatric Nurses Association. Ultimately, it means 500 healthcare workers are not working today. We cannot afford to lose 500 workers from a system which is already under strain. The Government must act quickly and cannot allow further strikes to take place in the health sector. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Association has, as we know, scheduled six 24 hour strikes by its 37,000 members to take place on 30 January and 5, 7, 12, 13 and 14 February, respectively, if its members' pay and conditions are not addressed. While the nurses will provide for emergency responses, the full service these nurses, most of whom are women, carry out will not be provided. To lose 37,000 members of our health service on any of these days would be shameful and the Government must act to ensure the strikes do not go ahead.