I also express my condolences to the Iranian people following the earthquake. There were heart-wrenching pictures in a newspaper of a mother holding in her arms her baby daughter who had been killed in the earthquake.

The census figures for 2016 which were released last week showed how small towns had been hardest hit by the recession in the past ten years, while Dublin had been the least affected. The data show, too, that the capital has benefited disproportionately from the upturn in the economy, while small rural towns have felt the worst effects of the recession in the years since it ended. I refer, in particular, to the retail sector in rural towns. My local newspaper, the Meath Chronicle, reports that there are 95 vacant units in Navan town which has a population of 30,000 people. The reasons for this pressure on retailers include paid parking, an out-of-town shopping centre and the new show in town, rates revaluations. In other counties the majority of small businesses have seen an increase in rates of 16%. These are the people to whom we should have given a medal for staying open during the recession. In many cases, they did not pay themselves a wage in an effort to keep their businesses going, but they are being submitted to these revaluations. If more small shops are lost in rural locations, we will have no communities. We know what has happened in the United Kingdom, where people have to travel several kilometres to purchase the basics such as milk and sugar. The civil servants in Dublin must be told that we need a plan of action for rural Ireland. Will the Minister for Rural and Community Development come to the House and put forward his ideas for action in that regard? When we see a town like Navan in which there are 95 retail units vacant, we can only wonder what the situation is in smaller towns in more rural areas. The Minister must tell us what plan of action he proposes to implement to assist the retail sector in rural areas.

A major anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement has just passed. A wonderful commemorative event took place last week when marvellous speeches were made by people like Mr. Seamus Mallon, Mr. David Trimble and my neighbour, Mr. Dick Spring. The late Albert Reynolds was, of course, notable by his absence. It was a great and joyous occasion but also an extremely sad one. Most of us thought when the Agreement was signed that we would see a shift in behaviour and politics in the North of Ireland that would bring the two communities closer together and see a dismantling of the walls of bitterness and division between nationalist and unionist, Catholic and Protestant, but the sad news is that we have actually gone into reverse. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. James Brokenshire, is today introducing in the House of Commons a budget for Northern Ireland. There will not be a single Irish nationalist voice taking part in that debate, which is a huge backward step. The proud tradition of nationalist parliamentary involvement in the House of Commons dates back to the time of Daniel O'Connell and includes the great Parnell, Redmond, Dillon and all of the other parliamentarians who engaged in a constant grind to achieve more independence, including Home Rule, for the Irish, but now it has come to a shuddering halt. Is it only a matter of time before we see a Cabinet of British Ministers appointed to administer matters in Northern Ireland? It seems inevitable, unless politicians on all sides in the North - I am pointing the finger at no one - see sense and work together to tear down the so-called peace walls, come out of their ghettos, engage with each other and behave as elective representatives are meant to do to get good deals for the people who voted them into power. The two major parties have huge mandates, but it seems those mandates are not being respected.

All of us here in the Irish nationalist tradition have a lot to be worried about today as we have seen ourselves moving from an ever-constant grinding down of British rule and British authority on this island being dramatically reversed while all the good work of those great people I have mentioned looks like it is turning to ashes. I am from Kerry, which is a long way from the North but I have as much feeling for the North of Ireland as anybody in this country. I appeal from my heart to the politicians in the North to get together and to work out a deal, like Martin McGuinness or Peter Robinson were able to do. It is not beyond them.