A vote for Sinn Féin

A vote for Sinn Féin is a declaration that the current coalition government have failed, and that there needs to be a Leinster House election. It is a vote for representatives driven by the commitments of the 1916 Proclamation and the 1919 Democratic Programme of the First Dáil.

It is a vote for effective representation on the ground in your community, for engaged councillors who will be the frontline in the fight to turn around the failed polices of 13 years of Fine Gael in government and four years of a coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Green Party that has seriously worsened the range of problems facing Irish society.

It is a vote for MEPs who represent Irish interests fairly and equitably in a rapidly changing Europe. It is a vote against EU militarisation. It is a vote for representatives who will stand up for Irish farmers and fisheries and work for a just transition on the policies that need to be implemented to tackle the climate emergency.

It is a vote for representatives who will not repeat the failures of government that have led to the delays in justice for the Stardust families or the families of the victims of the Dublin Monaghan bombings.

This edition of An Phoblacht faces forward into the coming EU and local elections, while also tracking back to key moments in the last 50 years, including the death of Volunteer Michael McGaughan on hunger strike in 1974 and the already mentioned Dublin Monaghan bombings of the same year. It also celebrates the decades of political struggle by retiring MP Francie Molloy.

With hindsight, 1974 was a key year in the decades of republican struggle. The Fine Gael/Labour coalition response to the Dublin Monaghan bombings was one aspect of this. The prison regime that ordered the force feeding of Michael McGaughan that caused his death is another. What links them is the failure of a political establishment in London and Dublin to accept the need for systemic reform and respect for all in society.

It was the same thinking that led to the Sunningdale Agreement and the Assembly it created that collapsed in May 1974. Sunningdale masqueraded as a step to peace on the island, but in fact endorsed the continuation of interment, closed border roads, and the proscription of Sinn Féin. There would also be no reform of the RUC and British troops would remain on Irish streets.

A vote for Sinn Féin is a recognition of the learning from these past failures and the need now for a politics that is inclusive and rooted in a commitment to social justice and equality. 

Vote Sinn Féin on 7 June.