Video – FG/Labour has ‘utterly failed’ Irish people, Pearse Doherty tells Wolfe Tone Commemoration

» John Hedges

An Phoblacht Editor

‘In the Ireland of 2013, the message of Tone is more relevant than ever. Now, more than ever, this country needs republican politics’

THE Fine Gael/Labour Government has “utterly failed the Irish people” on record emigration, escalating unemployment, the banks, mortgage distress, and the problems facing small businesses, Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty told the annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration at Bodenstown, County Kildare, on Sunday.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfe Tone, the 18th century Dublin-born Protestant revolutionary regarded as the founder of Irish republicanism.

Pearse Doherty, the Donegal deputy and Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson, said:

“Michael Noonan has failed to negotiate a debt write-down on the Promissory Note.

“James Reilly has failed our health services. Cronyism and shambolic management are the hallmarks of his disastrous tenure. Among other scandals in health we have watched as people with disabilities are targeted through the removal of the mobility allowance.

“Ruairí Quinn has failed on education, presiding over a shambles on third-level grants, stripping resources from our schools and making cuts in special needs assistance

“Alan Shatter – the most arrogant Justice Minister since Michael McDowell – has failed spectacularly, closing down rural Garda stations and losing the confidence of both gardai and the general public

“Brendan Howlin has completely failed to tackle excessive pay in the public sector and instead has targeted frontline workers on low and average pay.

“Enda Kenny has failed to deliver his much vaunted ‘democratic revolution’.

“And Eamon Gilmore has abjectly failed the cause of labour and all of those who had placed their hope in the Labour Party.

“People are losing their jobs; more see the only future in emigration. Those left behind fear for their future and what tomorrow holds for their children.

“Bondholders, bank executives and financiers still live affluent lifestyles, receiving huge salaries and bonuses while others – who had no hand, act or part in the financial catastrophe – pay for their recklessness, speculation and greed.

“In the Ireland of 2013, the message of Tone is more relevant than ever. Now, more than ever, this country needs republican politics.”

❑ WOLFE TONE led the 1798 Rebellion that aimed to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent and democratic Irish Republic.

WolfeTone

Tone was forced into exile in America 1795. Before his departure he met with Thomas Russell, Henry Joy McCracken and others on Cave Hill in Belfast and they pledged “never to desist until we had subverted the authority of England over our country and asserted our independence”.

From America, Tone went to France, where he persuaded the revolutionary government to aid the Irish struggle for freedom. In 1796, he sailed for Ireland with a French fleet, reaching as far as Bantry Bay before being forced by storms to return to France.

Tone continued to lobby for French forces and, on 16 September 1798, he sailed with a small fleet to Lough Swilly. He was captured and taken prisoner to Dublin where he died in British custody on 19 November 1798.