Sinn Féin has addressed the idea that it was “pulling its punches” on immigration policy, according to party leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Following last year’s local and European elections, Ms McDonald said senior figures within Sinn Féin were “disappointed” with how she had engaged with the party’s base and felt she needed to provide greater clarity on policy positions, including immigration, reports Breaking News.
Speaking to the Press Association this week, she said Sinn Féin had re-engaged with its supporters and delivered a critique of Government immigration policy “that has been much more clear”.
She said: “I think there was a sense amongst a section of our base, they felt that we had pulled our punches, that we hadn’t named the failings of Government. I think we’ve corrected that”, reports Breaking News.
Ms McDonald said people in the private sector earning “huge level of profits” from the International Protection Accommodation Service had left a “sour taste in people’s mouths”.
“Nobody appreciates people profiting on the misery of others. I think there has been a real sense that the Government was not clear in resourcing the system, having a clear book of fair, transparent rules, and then applying them. There was an annoyance and I think we’ve critiqued that very effectively, reports Breaking News.
“And at the same time, being extremely clear that racism is repulsive, that this is a friendly and a decent and an incredible place to live, and that we treat every single human being with respect and with dignity”, reports Breaking News.
Referring to Cabinet changes since last year, Ms McDonald said Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan “wishes to give the impression of being busier” and “more on top of things”.
“Although they have never accepted it explicitly, I think there has to be some level of implicit acceptance by government that they made an absolute mess of this and to up to and including really straining social cohesion in certain communities – and I think Jim O’Callaghan has said that out loud”, reports Breaking News.
Ms McDonald said discussion around immigration needed to be “respectful” and “democratic”.
“To my ear, Jim O’Callaghan still sounds very much like a third-party commentator – which cracks me up. I mean, these guys are in Government. This is their job to run this – but he has, at a minimum, acknowledged issues around public confidence and social cohesion”, reports Breaking News.
Ms McDonald’s office overlooks Government Buildings, where Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s leadership was questioned following Fianna Fáil’s flawed presidential election campaign.
Asked whether her own time in Fianna Fáil offered insight into Mr Martin’s leadership prospects, Ms McDonald said she had “not a sausage” what might happen within the party, reports Breaking News.
“It’s a matter for themselves. What I do know is that I have spent the last months now trying to get some level of response, some level of recognition, acknowledgement of the fact that working people and people on fixed incomes have been left literally high and dry – and to no avail. I might as well be talking to the wall, reports Breaking News.
“He doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t seem to care. It’s just to me, remarkable, and I can’t fathom how anybody in the office of An Taoiseach, anybody in Government, would not have an ear to a genuine appeal just for fairness”, reports Breaking News.
She accused the Government of “misleading” voters with talk of a “full cupboard” before the election, adding: “Now there’s no election, so nobody’s getting anything.”
“I think that’s lousy. I think that is a lousy way to treat people”, reports Breaking News.
Ms McDonald said the high cost of living had forced households to “carry out mini-miracles just to keep the show on the road” in the lead-up to Christmas.
“Micheál Martin doesn’t want to hear that, he literally doesn’t want to know. I find that shocking”, reports Breaking News.
Looking back on the past year, Ms McDonald praised co-operation among left-wing opposition parties, saying many voters were “disheartened” that a change of Government had not followed the last general election.
She said the election of President Catherine Connolly demonstrated unity among left-wing parties, reports Breaking News.
During the campaign, Ms McDonald described Sinn Féin’s decision to support the candidate as a “game changer” and said Ms Connolly required the party’s backing.
Asked if hindsight suggested Sinn Féin could have won with its own candidate, Ms McDonald said: “But we did have our candidate: Our candidate was Catherine Connolly, reports Breaking News.
“And we took care. We actually did our work thoughtfully and carefully and methodically. Everybody had their say, everybody had a view, some people had a view and then changed their view – and our objective was always to get the right person into Aras, which we achieved”, reports Breaking News.
When pressed on whether this reflected a Sinn Féin-led left rather than a united left, she said: “Catherine led the campaign.”
She added: “The participation of everybody else was also influential and was also decisive. So this isn’t about jockeying for position”, reports Breaking News.
Ms McDonald said she respected the differences between parties and that the aim was to identify areas of “common cause”.
She said the next challenge for left-wing unity would be the by-elections in Dublin Central and Galway West, adding that success would mean “ideally winning both”, reports Breaking News.
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