SERIES: Political hopes and ambitions for 2024 - Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú

The Dundalk Democrat asked local TDs, councillors and senators from north and mid Louth to share their hopes, ambitions and predictions for the year ahead. In this article, Louth Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú shares his thoughts on 2024.

There is a scent in the air, as we move from 2023 into 2024, as untellable as the aroma created by a rain shower. You know what it is when you smell it but it’s almost impossible to put into words.

Political redolence has a name and it’s change, and, as the days grow imperceptibly brighter, the smell of change grows stronger.

In June 2024, the people of Louth will have their chance to have their say when the local and European elections take place.
Sinn Féin means to change the politics of this State and island and we need to start this at local level. To that end, we are fielding a record number of local election candidates in this constituency.

We are challenging ourselves to be ambitious and we are challenging voters in Louth to be ambitious to break the 100-year cycle of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil dominance in politics in this State.

In the North, there needs to be movement from Unionists on going back into the Executive, but the only real solution to the current and future impasses is Irish unity.

By voting for Sinn Féin in the local elections, it is the first step of a two-step ask from voters, the second of which will be a vote for our party in the general election, which could take place before the end of 2024. Before that, we need to get as many councillors elected as possible in Louth.

Just before Christmas last year, we were preparing for the funeral of Private Sean Rooney. In December 2023, we gathered again with his family for his first anniversary and while remembering him and his sacrifice, thoughts inevitably turned to his comrades in Lebanon who are now peacekeeping in a part of the world that has been devastated by Israeli aggression.

Nearby, in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll from ten weeks of Israeli onslaught is close of 19,000, with over 8,000 of those children. Ireland needs to put greater pressure on the international community which is losing all credibility.

There needs to be a durable ceasefire and Israel needs to be held to account and we need to work with others on the issue of sanctions. Palestinian statehood is the only long-term, peaceful solution for both Palestine and Israel.

As we turn into 2024, we remember that in March of this year, it will be four years since Covid 19 was found in Ireland and the world locked down. It will also be four years since 23 people died during a Covid 19 outbreak in Dealgan House Nursing Home in Dundalk.

Despite a couple of false starts, it is believed that the long-awaited inquiry will be announced early in 2024 and hopefully a mechanism will be given to the Dealgan families to get the answers they need.

In addition, work continues on a long-term, sustainable solution to the community heating system in Carlinn Hall. After a long process in 2023, the reports have been done and the work begins this year to finally solve this problem.

Health and housing will continue to dominate this year, with a chronic shortage of GPs, mental healthcare specialists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and dentists making life extremely difficult for many families.

I am glad to be a member of the cross-party Oireachtas group on autism and I will continue to advocate for those with disabilities and those who need better access to healthcare.

Meanwhile accommodation crisis impacts on all other issues. It may seem like it’s raining at the moment, it may even seem like it’s raining problems, but even the rain has a scent and it smells like change.