A DEMONSTRATION will be held in Tralee this Friday evening by Sinn Féin in Kerry, to protest at the government’s response to the current situation in the health service, which this week has seen nurses vote for strike action in emergency departments throughout the country.

The demonstration is part of a Sinn Féin statewide campaign, which will see similar protests taking place across 26 counties.

The demonstration will commence outside Kerry General Hospital at 5.30pm and Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris is urging all those concerned about the health service to attend the protest.

“Our health service is on the brink. The system has become characterised by persistent overcrowding, bulging waiting lists and appalling conditions for patients and frontline staff alike,” said deputy Ferris.

“This government came to power stating that it would end the scandal of patients lying on trolleys. It has only gone bad to worse over the five years that Fine Gael and the Labour Party have been in office. A bright spotlight has been shone on the chaos within our health service by the decision of A&E nurses to vote in favour of embarking on industrial action in the lead-up to Christmas,” he said.

“According to the INMO, staff levels have been decimated. The nurses are telling the government that it is impossible to provide a safe level of care to patients. These are not the words of Sinn Féin – they are the words of the professionals.”

“We are told that staff are close to burnout. Their workloads are impossible. They have been highlighting serious concern with management for some time. But nurse levels continue to fall – the situation continues to deteriorate.

“Having abandoned their plan for universal health, and having pursued a policy of underfunding and under-resourcing, it is clear that perpetual crisis is the only vision that this government has for our health service.

“The ordinary people of this state no longer have confidence in Health Minister Leo Varadkar. Given the scale of the crisis, Sinn Féin will be mobilising across the 26 counties this weekend to demand real action from government.”

“I am inviting everyone to join with us on Friday evening in demanding a healthy policy centred on investment and a commitment to high quality public services”