Sinn Féin Can Win This Election | Sanctions Urgently Needed Against Israel | Solidarity and Condolences to the Family of Pat Donaghy.

 

SINNFÉIN CAN WIN THIS ELECTION. 

 

Duringthe General Election campaign I have been in several constituencies.In Dublin, in Drogheda, Dundalk, and Donegal and some other places inbetween. People are clearly  fed up with the cost of living, the crisis inpublic services, especially in health and housing, childcare and disabilityservices. 

Butincreasingly after a century of the Tweedledee and Tweedledum politics by thetwo civil war parties, many people are annoyed at the sameness of theirpolitics, their dismal failure to tackle the big issues impacting on people’sdaily lives and the conceited self-serving way they approach election contests.With a sense of entitlement. This is hardly surprising given that they havebeen in power, one way or the other, for a century. However, many people arecatching up on the reality that a vote for Micheál is a vote for Simon and avote for Simon is a vote for Micheál. That is despite the sham Punch andJudy arguments between them.  

Housingprovision in the South is a mess. Rents and childcare costs are through theroof. Education is in a crisis, as is the health system. The Children’sHospital, which Simon Harris vainly tried to wash his hands of during atelevised debate two weeks ago, is now the most expensive hospital ever built -anywhere in the world. It has cost two billion euro of taxpayer’s money. Sofar. 

Theenvironment, rural Ireland and agriculture are under enormous pressure and theFianna Fáil/Fine Gael government – and in particular Simon Harris as HealthMinister – has failed to deliver on his commitment to provide for children withscoliosis. And then to add to this debacle it was revealed at the weekend thatthere is a five billion black hole in Fine Gael’s manifesto financialcommitments.

Noneof this will come as a surprise to anyone who has watched these two parties.Between them after partition they created a conservative and mean spiriteddispensation which was particularly cruel to women, children and the poor. Overmany decades both were responsible for mass emigration when at least amillion people left Ireland for Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia. 

 Undertheir watch there was the horror of the "Reformatory and IndustrialSchools" operated by CatholicChurch orders, which were funded and supervised by the Departmentof Education. It was the stuff of nightmares. The Ryan report laid bare asystem that treated children like prison inmates and slaves. They wereroutinely abused and subject to beatings and rape. 

TheMagdalene Laundries were another long-standing scandal ignored by FineGael and Fianna Fáil.  Women and girls pregnant outside of marriage orsuspected of 'immoral' behaviour were incaserated  in institutions run bynuns. They were unpaid labour.  They were deprived of their liberty andsuffered both physical and emotional abuse.

Andthen there were the Mother and Baby Homes. The final report intothese institutions by a Commission established in 2015 was published inJanuary 2021. It revealed that around 9,000 children, one in seven of thoseborn in the 18 institutions covered by the Commission's terms of reference, haddied in them between 1922 and 1998. This was double the infant mortality ratein the general population.

Rememberalso that the Fianna Fáil party drove the southern economy over the cliff in2008/9 and Fine Gael and Labour then imposed harsh austerity measures thatinflicted huge hurt on the most vulnerable in society. 

In2020 Martin denied that Fianna Fáil would enter a coalition with Fine Gael. Hesaid: “: “… the people want change … they want Fine Gael out of office …they’ve been there too long …” He described any u-turn on a coalitionwith Fine Gael as “Jekyll and Hyde behaviour.” Martin then did au-turn. He misled the voters. 

Buteven this experience of the last two decades only scratches the surface.

Inaddition, members of both parties have been linked over many years to planningcorruption that saw elected politicians receive money in return for favours.

Republicansalso know that neither party is serious on the issue of Irish Unity. Fine Gaeland Fianna Fáil pay lip service to it but refuse to take the practical stepsneeded to plan for an end of the union. For decades they ignored partition andits impact on the economy of the island and on the families living along withborder corridor. They disregarded the decades of discrimination and inequalityin the North and backed British government policy, even when that policy wasreliant on collusion and torture. They have spent 100 years bolsteringpartition. 

TheGood Friday Agreement has a process to end all this if that is what the peoplewant. Over twenty-five years after the Agreement neither Fianna Fail or FineGael have made any real effort to plan for this. In its manifesto Sinn Féin hasset out the steps that a Sinn Féin led Government will take if it wins amandate in this election.  Sinn Féin has A Plan for Unity. A plan whichwill usher in constitutional, legislative and political change. 

SinnFein also has 71 candidates in the field. One hundred and seventy four TDs willbe elected so Sinn Féin will not be able to form a majority government even ifall its candidates are elected. But neither will Fine Gael or Fianna Fail. Noparty will form a government on its own. 

However,if Mary Lou receives a mandate to lead a government she will then be able reachout to other progressives to form a government without Fianna Fáil or FineGael. That is do able. 

So,there is a historic opportunity in this general election to opt for fundamentalchange – to push aside the failed and self-serving politics of Fine Gael andFianna Fáil. 

It’sall in the hands of the voters. They have the opportunity to elect a strongprogressive and sustainable government. led by Sinn Fein. Without Fianna Failand Fine Gael. It is all to play for. Sinn Fein can win this election. 100years of FFFG is too long. So is 100 years of partition. Next Friday will tellthe tale. 

 

Sanctionsurgently needed against Israel

LastWednesday was World Children’s Day. It was first established in 1954 asUniversal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promoteinternational togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improvingchildren's welfare. It is also the date in 1959 when the UN General Assemblyadopted the Declarationof the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN GeneralAssembly adopted the Conventionon the Rights of the Child.

Thefollowing day the world’s top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants forIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Minister for DefenceYoav Gallant. They stand accused of crimesagainst humanity in connection Israel’s genocidal war on the people ofthe Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Thewarrants acknowledge that it is believed that both Israeli political leadersare using “starvation as a method of warfare.” They are doing this bydeliberately blocking humanitarian aid entering Gaza and they haveintentionally targeted civilians. The current underestimate is that over 44,000people have been killed in Gaza. Over half of these are women and children. Asthe world marks Children’s Day the Israeli military, using weapons provided bythe USA, Britain, Germany and others are killing Palestinian Children in theirthousands.

TheIrish government has been negligent in taking meaningful action against Israel.The next government must step up to the plate. It must introduce sanctionsagainst Israel, pass into law the Occupied Territories Bill and join acoalition of states determined to stand up to Israel and its allies.

 

Solidarityand Condolences to the family of Pat Donaghy

AsI finish this column I got the sad news that Pat Donaghy has died. Originallyfrom Tremoge near Carrickmore in County Tyrone Pat emigrated to the UnitedStates in the 1950s. Like many others he went looking for work because work wassparse for northern nationalists in unionism’s apartheid northern state. He wasin his late teens. His older sister Nora sponsored him. Pat was the sixth offifteen children. Phyllis, Peggy and Bella along with Nora had alreadyemigrated. Other siblings born after Pat and the older sisters alsoemigrated.

Igot to know Pat through his work for Ireland, his loyalty to the Irish causeand his native county of Tyrone, and his commitment to the Friends of SinnFéin. Pat by dint of hard work did well in the USA.  He founded StructureTone with Lewis R Marino in 1971. It is now one of the biggest constructioncompanies in the USA.

PatDonaghy threw his considerable influence and good will into the peace processand behind Sinn Féin’s peace strategy. He became one of The Friends of SinnFein’s main supporters when that important group was established in 1995 andwas part of the small group of like-minded patriots who inaugurated the annualFriends of Sinn Féin Dinner in New York in 1995.

Ialways found Pat to be a warm friendly and unassuming patriot. Despite his hugesuccess in the construction industry he was grounded in the traditions andgenerous core values of his parents and his native place. I am honoured to havebeen his friend and to have enjoyed his company.

Iwant to extend my solidarity and condolences to the entire Donaghy family inthe USA and Tyrone, especially his wife Mary, his children Brian, Jimmy, John,Ray, Maureen and Eileen. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam díli