Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has called on the Government to seek a mandate for its policies. Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Adams described the Fianna Fáil/Green Party coalition as 'incompetent and inept' and that the people are demanding a change. Speaking to the media outside Leinster House, where he was accompanied by party Vice President Mary Lou McDonald, Dáil group leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD and Finance Spokesperson Arthur Morgan TD, Gerry Adams said: Free article

The Irish tax code is a mess and this week's Commission on Taxation Report does little more than point up the scale of the challenge facing Irish society to find a fair way to levy taxes. In rare moments the report offers startling moments of clarity like the proposal to abolish the ceiling on employee's PRSI or the need to reform inequitable tax relief provisions on pensions, but more often the report is nobbled by the narrow constraints of the terms of reference imposed by Fianna Fáil Finance minister Brian Lenihan in February 2008. Free article

SINN FÉIN President Gerry Adams has accused the British Government of hypocrisy following reports that it is to seek compensation from the Libyan state for victims of IRA actions during the recent conflict in Ireland. In a statement issued on Monday the Sinn Féin president said "I spoke to Downing Street and to Shaun Woodward this morning on this issue. I told them there could be no hierarchy of victims." The west Belfast MP said that Sinn Féin would certainly support compensation for all victims. Some victims were killed directly by British agents, others by their surrogates. Free article

FIRST MINISTER Peter Robinson's call for fundamental change in the way in which the Assembly in the North reaches decisions has been dismissed by Sinn Féin MP Martin McGuinness as "fantasy politics". The First Minister and DUP leader said safeguards ensuring cross-community support for decisions should be replaced but Martin McGuinness countered: "Peter Robinson's comments do not represent the Office of First and deputy First Minister. Free article

SINN FÉIN believes that Ireland's place is at the heart of Europe but Ireland's interests are best served by voting No to the Lisbon Treaty on 2 October, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said at a meeting in Dublin of the party's Ard Chomhairle last Saturday. "Our approach to the EU is to support those proposals that are in Ireland's interests and to oppose and campaign to change those that are not. Free article

RESPONDING to claims made by Eamon Gilmore on RTÉ Radio this week that the Lisbon treaty will protect workers' rights, Sinn Féin Vice-President Mary Lou McDonald has challenged the Labour Party leader to a public debate on the issues. Mary Lou McDonald said: "Eamon Gilmore's claims regarding workers' rights and the Lisbon Treaty are simply false. Free article

DAMIEN FLEMING, the Coleraine man beaten unconscious by the loyalist mob who killed community worker Kevin McDaid in May, has been targeted by loyalists again. Damien was walking home last Wednesday night (2 September) when he was attacked by two loyalists, who arrived by car, at the same spot where his friend died and he was seriously injured. The two men got out of the car and confronted Damien, kicking and punching him before making their escape. Damien, badly shaken by his ordeal, was left with cuts and bruises to his head and face. The attack echoed an incident three months earlier during which Damien was beaten so severely by a loyalist mob of around 40, who also arrived in cars, that he was not expected to survive. Free article