People took to the streets in a way that we have not seen before. People left their homes, their families and their livelihoods to stand up for themselves and for their communities, demanding a better Ireland, and how dare the Government ignore the people again here today. The Government talks about Sinn Féin but it does not talk about the people. It was the people who went out and said enough was enough. It was the people who had to take to the streets to demand action and it was the people who said they have no confidence in the Government.

Sentiment score: 0.05

Not one of the Ministers here spoke to the people today. Instead, they spoke to and about themselves. The Government has in no way heard the message that came from the people of Ireland, a message that they could not have given to the Government any louder or any clearer. Coming in here today, I had thought that maybe a little bit of humble pie had been eaten after the arrogance of last week but, no, I was completely mistaken. Nothing has changed. All of this, of course, happened because the Government refused to talk, refused to engage, refused to listen and refused to act. The Government refused to represent people like they demanded it represent them. When I thought about the Government’s disastrous response last week, I thought it could not get any worse. The fact that it locked Galway representatives out of a meeting is absolutely shameful. Does the Government even realise how disrespectful that was? Does it understand the blind arrogance that it showed? It was like something out of a schoolyard. The Government was saying it would talk to some people but not to them. It was absolutely and utterly unbelievable. I spoke to people in Galway, to people who were at the protest and to other Galwegians who were not at the protests but who were vehemently supportive of the protesters' demands. All those people said to me that it is time for this Government to go. It is a Government so immune to the realities of its people. Having spent time on these protests in Galway, I had perhaps thought that a sense of clarity might have descended on this Dáil, a sense of clarity that the people had, but obviously this has not happened. The Government has doubled down. It has spent its time during this debate with its chest out and beating the same old drum of how great it is but the people are wise to it. They know exactly what it is at. They heard the words of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for justice last week, words that showed how out of touch they are with the realities of people’s lives and the contempt they show for the realities of people’s lives. They have shown a lack of awareness of the struggles of ordinary working people, these struggles they face daily. I will tell the Government now that the people know whose side it is on and they know it is not on their side.

Sentiment score: -0.09