If the current government runs full term as Enda Kenny has declared it will, we are potentially eight months away from the next the general election, but listening to the commentary emanating from some members of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour; the public would be forgiven for thinking the election is imminent.
Commenting on some of the remarks being made, Sinn Fein candidate for Wicklow in the upcoming election Councillor John Brady said;
“The traditional parties of government have tied themselves into knots devising imaginary coalitions with chaotic commentary and contradictory positions. The missing element in all of the gossip and conjecture of course is the electorate. After decades of swapping power between themselves, they seem to have forgotten an inconvenient fact; the people are the final arbiters, they will decide who will form the next government, not self -obsessed politicians”.
Councillor Brady also referred to the level of confusion and poor communication clearly affecting the other major parties; ”Labour TD Alex White suggested that an electoral pact between Fine Gael and Labour could offer the best chance the coalition would have of returning to government. However, Mr White failed to share his views in advance with his party colleagues who quickly distanced themselves from the idea, suggesting a transfer arrangement or a statement of aims prior to the election might do the trick”.
Councillor Brady continued; “On the other side of the house Fianna Fail are in a shambles. Front benchers such as Eamonn O Cuiv and others have stated they might be prepared to do a deal that saw Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein share power, yet their party leader has ruled out such a scenario. In fact Michael Martin has already ruled out coalition with both Fine Gael and Sinn Fein, but now he suggests his party could support a minority Fine Gael led government on a case by case basis – so much for stable government. However, Fianna Fail TD Michael McGrath has recently stated that he envisages Fianna Fail could form a coalition as a junior partner but he does not come out and say exactly who with. TD Niall Collins on the other hand says Fianna Fail could not share power with Sinn Fein as we would ‘destroy the economy’. It is odd that he fails to see the Irony in this statement given his party were almost wiped out in the last election for doing just that – destroying the economy”.
Councillor Brady also responded directly to comments made by Fine Gael Wicklow TD Simon Harris; “According to Simon Harris, Sinn Fein in power would be a disaster for the country and has somehow managed to conjure up the notion that a vote for Fianna Fail is actually a vote for Sinn Fein. In this TD’s fantasy coalition arrangement apparently Sinn Fein will waste the benefits of the so-called hard won economic recovery. Many people might ask if Fine Gael’s policy of throwing away hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s money on the discredited Irish Water aberration constitutes waste, or is this failed entity a model of frugal responsibility”.
In respect to Simon Harris’ most recent comments on Gerry Adams, Councillor Brady points out what some might see as arch hypocrisy; “Simon Harris has been recently reported as saying the country is not ready for ‘terrorist Gerry Adams in cabinet’, this sort of comment is typical of Fine Gael desperate tactics as they try to cope with the fallout from an electorate anxious to punish them at the polls. What is most striking is how Harris fails to see the hypocrisy of his claims when set against the backdrop of his own ‘enjoyment’ in the commemoration of O’Donovan Rossa recently at the Pearse Museum in Rathfarnham. Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa was the architect of the first ever bombing campaign on English cities launched by Irish Republicans”.
Councillor Brady continued; “Central to Simon Harris’ argument is that Sinn Fein should not be let next or near the levers of power. This in itself is peculiar given statements by former Green party leaders Trevor Sargent and John Gormley who disclosed that Fine Gael had approached them to ‘sound out’ if Sinn Fein would support a Fine Gael led coalition after the 2007 General Election”.
Regardless of the comments, Councillor Brady is very clear as to what is driving such comments;
“The reality in all of this is pretty simple. Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour are so used to bouncing power around between themselves, they are willing to say anything to try and fool the electorate. Their confusing statements and abject failure to communicate within their respective internal party structures suggests an air of desperation has gripped the traditional parties of power”.
Councillor Brady finishes with a clear message to Simon Harris and Fine Gael; “The Irish people deserve better and have little time to be listening to self- interested politicians fumble around in the dark of their own incompetence. Simon Harris and his government should expend their energies on serving an electorate who are more concerned with back to school expenses, over- crowded hospitals, housing shortages, water bills, property taxes and rural decimation. If Simon Harris put as much effort into reviving the fortunes of his Wicklow constituents as he does attacking Sinn Fein (and fantasising about coalition scenarios) we would see an end to the rural decline occurring in his own back yard. We would see boarded up business premises in towns re-open, we would see a concerted effort to tackle the housing crisis, we would see improved transport links, we might even see a return of some of the half a million young people his party forced to emigrate in desperation over the last few years. Harris and his colleagues can fantasize all they like about future coalition possibilities but the suffering on the ground amongst the people who have borne the brunt of Fine Gael and Labour’s austerity catastrophe is real and debilitating. All parties will stand before the electorate next year and it is the people who will decide the formation of the next government. If they give Sinn Fein a mandate to form a government; that’s exactly what we will do; in-line with our policy objectives and election manifesto we will deliver a fair recovery to the benefit of all. There will be no U-turns and no broken promises. Simon Harris needs to wake up and take stock of the damage his government have done is his own constituency rather than engaging in self- obsessed and useless meanderings on where he might be after the next election and who he fantasises might be a good terrorist or a bad terrorist. The people will decide his fate, the sooner he realises this the better”. Ends
