Sinn Fein
The Week in Review
18 – 24 June 2015

Martin McGuinness joins 250,000 at London anti austerity march and rally: `Austerity has failed, let’s build a progressive alternative’
On Saturday 20 July, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness joined 250,000 on the streets of London for the ‘End Austerity Now’ demonstration, organised by The People’s Assembly. Addressing the rally, Mr McGuinness sent a clear message to the Conservative government in Westminster – no to austerity. Here, Week in Review reproduces his speech in full:

`I am delighted to be here and I bring solidarity from Ireland and from all of us fighting right wing Thatcherite policies on both sides of the Irish sea.
Sinn Féin is an anti-austerity party. We stood for election on an anti-austerity platform and we are mandated by our electorate to oppose austerity. Sinn Féin is in coalition government in the North of Ireland. I am the deputy First Minister in that government. And in government we blocked the Welfare Bill and the welfare cuts that the Tory led coalition demanded we impose on the most vulnerable. We said no to the coalition government and we are saying an unambiguous, unqualified and uncompromising ‘no’ to this new Tory government.
The Tories have no mandate for austerity in the north of Ireland. They stood in the elections and they were trounced in every constituency. But in Britain the Tories were elected on the lowest share of the vote ever for a Tory government – just 24 per cent of the electorate. 24 per cent is no mandate for austerity.
Sinn Féin will not do Tory austerity. Unlike the Tory millionaires, I live in the heart of the proud working class community of the Bogside in Derry. The people the Tories are targeting are my friends, my neighbours, my family. They are fine, hard-working, proud and decent – just like our people in working class unionist communities. They are not parasites or spongers. It is Cameron’s cabinet of millionaires who are the real spongers given free rein to live out their Thatcherite fantasies at the expense of ordinary, decent communities throughout these islands.
Austerity is devastating these communities. The working poor, public sector workers, the disabled and the vulnerable are the hardest hit by this bankrupt and ideologically driven policy. In the North of Ireland, where we continue to build the peace and a fragile economy, their policies threaten the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday agreement. Those institutions – which have underpinned the peace process for almost two decades – are now on the brink of collapse because of Tory recklessness.
In the south of Ireland we have witnessed at first hand the brutality of austerity. The debts of private business, of banks and developers were passed on to the people. Generations will be paying of the debts of the greed of the few. Austerity has failed. It has failed our young people, our public services and our economy. It is the communities of Dublin, Derry, Dundee, Cardiff and London that are paying the cost of Tory austerity while the wealth of the few continues to increase. Austerity means inequality, poverty and despair.
The alternative is investment and growth, equality and prosperity, the safety net and the helping hand. I am heartened by the huge numbers here today. Because it reminds us all that we are not alone in this fight. We are strong if we unite and act together.And, by continuing to stand together, we can succeed. Defeat is not an option. Austerity is not an option. Today we send a powerful message to the Tories that we will not be cowed, threatened, bullied or bribed. I congratulate you all for taking this stand and I look forward to continuing to stand shoulder to shoulder with you during the days, weeks and months ahead.’

Parties and civic society must work together to oppose austerity
Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy said political parties and wider civic society must use the space created by the passage of the budget bill to work together to oppose Tory austerity.
Speaking during an Assembly debate on the budget bill, Mr Murphy said: `The passage of the budget bill creates space to allow us to find a resolution to the challenges facing the Executive as a result of the austerity agenda of the Tory government in London.’
He added, `We have stood as a bulwark against the worst impact of the Tory plans. Their welfare polices have not had the same devastating impact here as in Britain. Civic society recognises the need to oppose austerity and want us to continue that fight. We all need to join together and work collectively to continue to oppose the Tory cuts agenda.
He concluded: `Austerity policies damage economic recovery and business, and punishes the working poor, public sector workers, people with disabilities and the vulnerable. We must now work together and use the space created by the passage of the budget to oppose Tory austerity and secure workable and sustainable finances for the Executive.’

Molloy joins disability protest at Westminster against Tory cuts
Sinn Féin MP Francie Molloy has said there is a `growing momentum’ of opposition against the British government’s austerity policies.
Speaking after joining disability rights campaigners at a protest against cuts to Disability Living Fund in Westminster on 24 June, Mr Molloy said he was delighted to join campaigners who had travelled to Westminster `to make their views known to British Prime Minister David Cameron and his cabinet of millionaires that the cuts agenda is unacceptable’. He said they were `particularly angered by the British government’s decision to cut the Independent Living Fund which helps people with disability live independently and with dignity’. Mr Molloy said it was `clear there is a growing groundswell of public opinion against the austerity policies of the Tory government across all levels of society’ and concluded `we need to build on that momentum and engage all sectors to continue to oppose Tory cuts and protect the vulnerable and frontline public services.’

Sinn Fein Westminster meeting:
`Uncomfortable Conversations – an initiative for dialogue towards reconciliation’On Tuesday 14 July, Sinn Fein MP Pat Doherty will host a panel discussion titled, `Uncomfortable Conversations – an initiative for dialogue towards reconciliation’. Speakers will include Sinn Fein national chairperson Declan Kearney, former Labour Secretary of State for the north of Ireland, Peter Hain, Lord John Alderdice former Assembly Speaker and Irish in Britain Chief executive Jennie McShannon.
Speaking in advance of the meeting, Pat Doherty said, `the need for reconciliation across society, and between the islands of Ireland and Britain, must represent the next phase of the peace process. Bringing this discussion to Westminster, this event will put a spotlight on the need for reflection and healing between Ireland and Britain, and to assert a new framework to take forward new and improved relations.’
For further details or to RSVP email jayne.fisher@parliament.uk. All welcome.

Sinn Fein in London to outline negative implications for Ireland of a British EU exit
July 24 saw the launch at the Irish Embassy in London of a Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs report on the implications for Ireland of Britain leaving the European Union.
Sinn Féin Senator Kathryn Reilly outlined the negative impact this would have on the Border region, at the launch of the report, also attended by Sinn Fein MP Francie Molloy.
Speaking of the importance of the report and the recommendations, she said it was `crucial that we start the debate on the implications for Ireland of a British exit from the EU as soon as possible’. She said that such an eventuality would be `devastating’ for the Border region in particular and would see `the reintroduction of check points, passport controls, custom checks, and many other negative measures’.
She added, `the economy of the whole island would be damaged, and this would no doubt be worsened in the Border region. The free movement of goods and services would no longer exist in its current format across the Border. This would have significant implications for trade and employment, it would also affect families and communities, and it would reinforce partition even further.’
Senator Reilly concluded `Sinn Fein is committed to seeing Britain remain in the EU, it is in the best interest of citizens in the Border regions, it is in the best interest of all the citizens on the island of Ireland, and it is in the best interest of Britain and the EU. We as a party will be actively campaigning for a no vote in the upcoming referendum and we will seek to have special treatment afforded to the north so the people of the six counties can decide their own future for themselves.’