Mary Lou McDonald

No place for Le Pen in Ireland’s EU Reform Treaty campaign

FAR-RIGHT French National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen’s offer to come to Ireland to support the ‘No’ vote on the EU Reform Treaty has been firmly rejected by Sinn Féin Dublin MEP and National Chairperson Mary Lou McDonald.
The Dublin MEP said:
“Let there be no confusion on this issue. Sinn Féin is resolute that the politics of Le Pen, the National Front and the far-right alliances of the European Parliament should have no place in the Irish ‘No’ campaign.”
She said that Sinn Féin will encourage and engage in a robust and mature debate during the campaign “but we will not align ourselves with the politics and policies of the far-right”.
Le Pen, the National Front and the likes of the British National Party will only serve to damage the ‘Vote No’ campaign by tainting it with their racist and inequitable agenda, she said.
“The Left in Ireland’s vision for Europe is a world apart from what Le Pen and his people advocate. We want nothing to do with him or his politics.”