Unionist electioneering jeopardising political institutions, Desmond Greaves School hears

ELECTIONEERING by unionist parties is threatening the future of the political institutions and relationships between the parties, Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney told the Desmond Greaves School in Dublin on Friday night.

Speaking at the opening session titled The Disunited United Kingdom: Dilemmas for British and Irish Politics, alongside speakers from the Scottish Left Project and the Radical Independence Campaign (also from Scotland), Declan Kearney said:

“The leaders of political unionism are now playing fast and loose with the future of the political institutions at Stormont.

“Both the UUP and DUP in efforts to politically outmanoeuvre each other now risk collapsing the political institutions in an effort to score a victory over each other despite the enormous impact this would have on society in the North.

“This disgraceful opportunism jeopardises the future of the institutions and also the relationships that have been built up in recent years.

“There is also anger at the partisan and hostile attitude of representatives from both the British and Irish governments about the building crisis while posturing as neutral referees.

“The fact is that the primacy of the democratic political institutions and democratic civic policing are being seriously undermined.

“A dead-hand agenda is currently destabilising the political process and pushing it into a worsening crisis.

“The bogus excuses, sham fights and duplicity must stop.

“We need to see genuine leadership from all parties and both governments and a willingness to engage positively and meaningfully to build a better, prosperous and reconciled society for all of our citizens.”