Make A Stand – There is a Better Way

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty and Gerry Adams at Leinster House for the debate and vote on the Finance Bill

I DON’T NEED to tell An Phoblacht readers that these are dramatic times we are living in.
Politics is a rough trade. I’m sure Brian Cowen’s family are feeling sore and on a personal level I empathise with them and him - and with the hundreds of thousands of other families who have been impoverished and traumatised by this bad government.
The Fianna Fáil/Green Party Government has been a disaster for the Irish people.
And however much they may now try to distance themselves, each and every Fianna Fáil minister and TD went along with what Fianna Fáil did in government.
The general election could begin the process to change the face of Irish society for people across the island of Ireland - North, South, East and West.
And this election must be seen by republicans in conjunction with the Assembly and local elections in the Six Counties in May as a vital part of the all-Ireland project.
When the votes are counted after the election, Sinn Féin could be in a strengthened and pivotal position on both sides of the border.
A critical mass of Sinn Féin TDs would complement our strength in the Six Counties and advance the all-Ireland project immeasurably.
But that can only be achieved if every one of us - every Sinn Féin member, activist and supporter - gets out there and makes it happen.
Unlike the Establishment parties, we have never taken election results or voters for granted. Today, though, families who are being economically squeezed by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to bail out the bankers and the speculators are becoming more wary of political parties.
That is why republicans have to try all that much harder to make sure the message is taken into every city, town, village and housing estate - into every home - that Sinn Féin is different.
Sinn Féin has no intention of putting either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael back into power.
No other party that claims to be different to the failed conservative policies of the past should think of putting Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael back into power. The leaders of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael may or may not change but their ideologies and political directions have not.
The many decent Fianna Fáil and Labour activists and supporters should keep that in mind when they choose who to give their votes to. A vote for Labour is a vote for Fine Gael.
Sinn Féin TDs will make the bankers and speculators pay for their own greedy mistakes and failures.
Sinn Féin will defend and strive to improve the public services - hospitals, housing, schools, environment and transport - that people depend on for a decent quality of living.
Sinn Féin stands against the ‘Consensus for Cuts’ signed up to by Fine Gael and the leaders of Labour.
Sinn Féin has a tangible alternative to the IMF sell-out.
Sinn Féin’s pre-Budget programme giving a costed, thought-out alternative to the failures of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has been critically acclaimed by progressive economists and demonstrates there is a better way.
All of us have to ‘Make a Stand’.
There is a better way - republicans need to get out there and make it happen.

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