SERIES: Political hopes and ambitions for 2023 - Louth's Ruairí Ó Murchú TD

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, Sinn Féin's Ruairí Ó Murchú TD shares his thoughts on 2023

Permacrisis was the Collins’ Dictionary word of the year for 2022. It reflects the state of the world and the state of the 26 counties for the last 12 months where, as we exited Covid 19 in early February this year, the invasion of Ukraine replaced one terrible crisis for another.

It seemed that for much of 2022 we were in ‘permacrisis’ – the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine, which seemed far away at the beginning, have had real-world effects in this State.

The cost of living shot through the roof, driven by the spike in international gas prices, edging people, particularly those who are financially vulnerable, closer to the edge. Rents, and the cost of buying a house, continued to spiral upwards, putting huge pressure on workers and families who desperately want a place to call home.

And the healthcare system struggled to free itself from the restrictions of the pandemic, leaving record-long waiting lists for operations and queues in Emergency Departments that are terrifying. Those seeking a GP appointment will know the difficulties facing the health service, while those who have children with disabilities know all too well the dearth of services in Louth for those who need them.

The government has failed to tackle the issues that people need them to and squandered opportunities in the budget to drive forward a social, affordable and affordable rent house-building programme.

They have utterly failed in the healthcare realm by not focusing the resources where they need to be – in primary, acute, disability and mental health care.

But there are opportunities to be found in the midst of the permacrisis.

The war in Ukraine has made the government here, and in other European jurisdictions, finally realise that we cannot rely on fossil fuels. We need to break the dependence on it and the solutions are green – they have to be. We are beginning to realise that we can be a renewable super-power and the right policies to make this happen need to be conceived and birthed in 2023.

The government is short on time and short on ideas. They are already halfway through their five-year term and can cleary see their policies in these key areas of housing, healthcare and disability services are failing, with no sign of improvement.

With all the difficulties that communities are dealing with, they are hopeful, resilient and committed to change.

Following the incredible year for the conversation on Irish unity that we have had in 2022, which culminated in the Ireland’s Future event at a packed 3 Arena, the momentum for unity is now such that the government has no choice but to start planning for what it would look like.

There will be a major event in Louth in the first quarter of 2023 to continue the conversation and give people here an opportunity to think about what reunification.

Looking forward provides an opportunity to pause and reflect. As I write, the family, friends and comrades of Private Sean Rooney are preparing to say their final farewells to a young Defence Forces member tragically killed in the line of duty.

His death, and the danger that Irish peacekeepers put themselves in to make the world better, to make the permacrisis a little easier for people around the world, is to the forefront of everyone’s mind as we close the door on 2022.