Labour leader Ivana Bacik visits Louth

A highlight of Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD’s visit to Louth and East Meath yesterday, Monday was her trip to DkIT where her father was a lecturer.

The Labour leader said: “My father retired from DkIT after many years working there as a physics lecturer so he would be well known to many in the North East and we met many people in our visit to DkIT that remember him very fondly.”

The visit also gave the Labour leader a chance to be briefed on the institute’s campaign to achieve Technological University status and pledge her support for that ambition.

DkIT said they were delighted to welcome Deputy Bacik and local Labour TD Ged Nash to the campus.

They were welcomed by DkIT President Dr Diarmuid O’Callaghan along with Dr Sheila Flanagan, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Registrar.

The party continued the visit with a meet and greet with members of DkIT’s Student Union.

A packed schedule of events ended with a well-attended public meeting at the D Hotel in Drogheda where Deputy Bacik outlined the Labour Party’s vision for an “Ireland for all”.

On her whistle-stop tour of Louth and East Meath the Labour leader also visited the Red Door Project in Drogheda where Cllr Pio Smith introduced her to the team that deliver vital addiction support services to local people at the centre.

There was also a visit to the Tredagh Lodge day care centre on the agenda for the Labour Leader who visited the Drogheda Alzheimer’s Society-run facility which delivers care to those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Earlier in the day, the Labour leader was hosted by Cllr Elaine McGinty at the Sonairte ecology centre.

The visit to the region ended with a key-note speech and Town Hall meeting at the D Hotel in Drogheda.

In her key-note speech, the Labour leader, Ivana Bacik slammed the government’s performance and said they had failed to deliver in all the areas that really matter to people.

She said: “The test of any government is delivery but across all measures, this government has failed.

“Homelessness is up, health care waiting lists are up, carbon emissions are up, too many children do not have homes and too many children with autism lack appropriate school places or lack any school place, in many cases.

“Too many parents are unable to find suitable childcare or early years education places and too many workers remain on low pay or insecure pay and are often stuck in traffic jams - which is a huge issue right here in Drogheda - without access to decent public transport options.”

Deputy Bacik added: “The failure on delivery by government on all these promises is a wake-up call to all of us to provide for a constructive left-wing alternative.”

Proposing an alternative way forward, the Labour Leader said: “On economic policy, our fully costed Budget and cost of living measures would have put this country on a pathway to delivering a truly equal society.

“That is the sort of Ireland, we in the Labour Party want to see; an Ireland that works for all.”