Aontú representative Roisín Mulgrew has called for an all-island, clinically led review of healthcare provision, arguing that services for the Newry area must be planned without regard to the political border. She made the remarks after a rally in Newry to defend maternity services at Daisy Hill Hospital.

Her call comes as the Southern Health Trust prepares to temporarily transfer inpatient maternity services from Daisy Hill to Craigavon Area Hospital from 23 November, because it has been unable to recruit enough consultant obstetricians to safely staff both units.

Mulgrew said recent events show that a decade of health transformation under Stormont has not served border communities. She said any serious reform must begin with patient needs and geography, not existing political boundaries, and that Newry's position between Belfast and Dublin makes it a natural cross-border hub.

She said the immediate priority was for the Health Minister and Southern Trust to exhaust every option to recruit and retain the staff needed to protect maternity services at Daisy Hill, and to work towards restoring emergency general surgery, which was withdrawn from the hospital in 2024.

Natasha Daryaie, who was rushed 40 miles to the Ulster Hospital while in premature labour after midwives at Daisy Hill could not transfer her to Craigavon due to lack of capacity, said the journey was frightening. Her son Odin was later born at Daisy Hill at full term. She questioned how Craigavon would accommodate an estimated 1,400 additional births per year.

Mark Annett, whose wife Naomi had a rapid labour and an obstetric bleed, said the extra hour travelling to Craigavon from their home in Kilkeel could be critical and that geography matters in healthcare.

Dale Spence, director of the Royal College of Midwives in Northern Ireland, said more midwives are required to provide the care women deserve and that current staffing levels leave midwives feeling overburdened.

The trust employs 15 consultant obstetricians but says sickness, reduced working arrangements, and maternity leave mean not all are available for the on-call rota. It also says 16 newly appointed midwives are due to start between November 2026 and January 2027. Births at Daisy Hill rose from 1,713 in 2025, while Craigavon had 2,768 births that year.