Time to take care of nurses

It is thinking about dumping its nuclear waste there, burying it deep into the local granite rock.

What planet is the Radioactive Waste Management, the company behind this hair-brained idea, actually on?

The UK government-owned firm is considering Newry and the surrounding area as a potential site for radioactive waste. It is looking at five sites in the North.

It’s like something from an episode of The Simpsons – pick a renowned beauty spot and turn into a nuclear dump.

The people of Northern Ireland do not want this monstrous blot on the landscape and neither do we.

Sinn Fein MP for South Down Chris Hazzard is right to say Britain cannot be allowed to use the North “as a dumping ground” for its hazardous and toxic waste.

We have enough radiation sweeping across the Irish Sea from Sellafield without having a huge radioative bunker on our doorstep.

The only good news is RWM cannot go ahead with its plan while the Stormont Assembly remains suspended.

So, every cloud has a silver lining. We just don’t want the ones lined with radiation. IT is time for the Government to bite the bullet over the nurses strike and sit down for talks.

It must listen properly to their demands for a decent wage and more staff to carry the workload.

Our nurses are underpaid, overworked and have been treated poorly for years.

They never wanted to go on strike, but they were left with no option.

They were faced with burnout, empty bank accounts and a plane to Australia or Canada.

Do the right thing now, Minister Harris, and sort this mess out. It’s hurting patients and nurses alike.