Sinn Fein
The Week in Review
27 March – 02 April 2014

Haass can be delivered before elections – Adams
Speaking on 31 March Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD said that British government failure to support the Haass proposals and its decision to unilaterally breach its Weston Park commitments on the issue of On the Runs has `damaged public confidence and undermined the political structures of the GFA’.
In a speech at a constituency meeting he rejected suggestions that there could be no movement on the Haass proposals until after the May elections.
Gerry Adams said: `Political unionism has either rejected the Haass proposals or prevaricated. The negative approach of the British government has facilitated this. The British have broken their commitments and this is having the effect of emboldening intransigent unionism.
`In the short term people from working-class communities, mostly young people are paying the price for the stupidity of the flags protests and the violence which accompanied those protests. It is they who are receiving prison sentences not the leaders who encouraged them or those who failed to actively discourage such negative, sectarian and illegal behavior.
`It is said that there can be no change in this situation until after the May local government and European elections. I do not accept this. I believe that an agreement on the Haass proposals in advance of the elections would send out a powerful and positive message of hope. That will be Sinn Féin’s objective in the week ahead.
`However, to achieve this will require the British government taking up a clear position in support of the Haass proposals. The Irish government has already agreed that Haass represents the best way forward and the US administration has endorsed this in recent weeks.
`The political process faces its greatest challenges in recent years. Citizens do not want the process slipping back. This requires genuine power sharing and partnership. It also requires the focus of the two governments but especially the British government and a change in direction by the unionist leadership.
`UUP leader Mike Nesbitt’s posturing with the NO men on the extremes of unionism is short sighted and without any merit whatsoever. Middle unionism must feel badly let down by the clear effort on the part of political unionism to roll back on the progress that has been made since the Good Friday Agreement was achieved 16 years ago.
`None of the difficulties the political process faces are insurmountable. With political will it is possible to resolve all of the outstanding and toxic issues.’

British Irish Parliamentary Assembly identifies key failures in implementation of Good Friday Agreement
On 1 April, after a meeting of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) , Sinn Fein TD Sean Crowe commented on a report by the Assembly which highlighted the continued failure to implement key elements of the Good Friday and St. Andrews Agreements. The report also called on the governments to monitor and make public the implementation reports on these international agreements that were endorsed by the people of Ireland.
Speaking after the meeting Sean Crowe said that the report `recognises that the agreements, which are over 15 years old have yet to be fully implemented and the potential of these agreements to deliver long lasting change has not been fully realised’.
He said: `Many of the recent manufactured crises and reaction of unionism was dealt with on Good Friday and endorsed by the vast majority of people north and south. This includes the issue of parity of esteem for identities and cultures.
`It is time that the two governments lived up to their responsibilities and promoted and achieved the full implementation of what the people agreed.
`The Good Friday and subsequent agreements laid out a way to deal with political difference and constitutional change. The agreements placed equality and power sharing at the centre of the political institutions and the political process.
`Sinn Féin believes that an agreement made must be an agreement implemented if the political process is not to be undermined. Sinn Féin has lived up to all of our responsibilities and commitments and continue to work for the full implementation of the agreements.
`There is a clear responsibility on the two governments and all parties to deal with the outstanding issues such as the Bill of Rights, Irish Language Act, Civic Forum and all Ireland consultative forum.
`No party or section of the community has a veto on the democratic will of the people. The governments need to make it clear as to how they intend to see the full implementation of the agreements’.

Pat Doherty MP leads Sinn Féin delegation to meet PSNI
Pat Doherty MP will lead a Sinn Féin delegation to meet with a senior PSNI team this Friday.
The meeting has been requested by Sinn Féin following growing concerns about the level of complaints about the PSNI in Omagh District, particularly from young people.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Pat Doherty MP said: `There has been a number of high profile cases recently where the judge has dismissed evidence given by police.
He added `Public confidence in policing in Omagh is at an all-time low. This is the fourth time in 12 months that police have been in the dock. More and more young people are being brought before the courts on charges that could affect their futures.
He said `My party colleagues have raised this at PCSP level and our Policing Board members have been alerted to these other issues. We want a police service, not a police force and we won’t be shy in confronting and exposing examples of bad policing. It is well below the service the public expects. We’re not just content with criticising policing when they get it wrong but challenging and changing it for the better. ‘
He concluded `Sinn Féin has sought the meeting with senior PSNI officers to raise our concerns and to demand they take action.’

Putting Ireland First – largest ever gathering of Sinn Fein candidates
The largest gathering of Sinn Féin candidates in the history of the party took place in Drogheda last Saturday, with some 350 local council election candidates contesting seats across all 42 councils in the 32 counties of Ireland and Sinn Féin’s 4 EU election candidates meeting for a final strategic planning day with the party leadership. The meeting took place to prepare the campaign for the local council and EU elections on 22 May in the 6 Counties and the 23rd May in the 26 Counties.
Watch a report of the meeting here.

All parties should stand together against British government cuts.
On 1 April Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey said that DUP Finance Minister Simon Hamilton should `stand up to the British government and oppose welfare cuts’.
The South Belfast MLA said that the minister was `scaremongering’ on the potential losses to the local economy if Tory cuts are not implemented.
Alex Maskey said `The DUP is accepting everything the British government throws at them. They refuse to challenge them on the real impact cuts will have on the people of the North. The British government has already accepted that the situation is different here than it is in Britain and the DUP has admitted that there are aspects of the cuts that they do not like.
He added: `Why then are they accepting what is presented to them without question. This is too serious an issue for people to be just bandying about figures in an effort to scare the public into accepting cuts without a fight. Sinn Féin is opposing cuts throughout Ireland because it is the right thing to do. The DUP need to be mature about this, face up to the consequences of the cuts on the people we represent and challenge the British government on their cuts agenda. These cuts in income for the poorest and most vulnerable in society North and South have come on the back of an economic collapse created by the greed of bankers, financiers and fat cats.’
He concluded: `This is a time when all parties should stand together and tell the British government that we will not accept taking money from those least able to afford it and driving even more people into poverty.’

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