Sinn Fein
The Week in Review
24-31 July 2014

Gerry Adams TD reiterates call for Dáil recall to discuss Gaza situation
On 29 July Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams reiterated his calls for the Taoiseach to recall the Dáil to support `an end to violence and in support of the United Nations appeal for a 72 hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza’. Mr Adams said the move would `send a powerful message of solidarity to the people of that region and encourage an intensification of pressure on the Israeli government to accept the United Nations ceasefire proposal.’
Mr Adams also strongly criticised the Irish government’s refusal to support a UN Human Rights Council motion calling for the setting up of an International Commission of Investigation into events in the region.
He said he had written to the Taoiseach earlier on 24 July requesting the recall, but had received no answer, and had indicated he would not accede to Sinn Féin’s request for the Dáil to be reconvened, despite strong support from TDs across the political spectrum.
Mr Adams added `Given our own history as a people, our experience of conflict and our peace process, we can and should play a constructive role in seeking to find a resolution to conflict in the Middle East.’
Later, on 28 July, Gerry Adams welcomed the decision to recall the Seanad to discuss Gaza.

Sinn Féin MP condemns Israeli onslaught on Gaza, urges `inclusive negotiations’
On 26 July Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew joined tens of thousands of people in London, where she addressed the Palestine Solidarity ‘Stop the Massacre in Gaza’ rally in Parliament Square.
Ms Gildernew said it was a `privilege’ to be invited to speak `in solidarity with the people of Palestine’. She said Sinn Féin `condemned the Israeli onslaught on the besieged community of the Gaza strip which has left hundreds of people, mostly civilians and children, dead and thousands more injured’.
She said that the party’s elected representatives in Ireland and Europe `have led the calls for inclusive negotiations which must include Hamas to achieve a lasting settlement’, adding `while the exact conditions pertaining to the conflict in Ireland are not the same as those in Palestine, the one principle that applies to all conflicts is the need for inclusivity. No imposed settlement that excludes any section of the population can hope to be successful’.
She urged the International community `to exert pressure on Israel to immediately end hostilities and enter meaningful and inclusive dialogue to create a lasting peace settlement which respects the sovereignty and independence of Palestine along the pre-1967 borders’.
She concluded: `Sinn Féin is working in the political institutions, Dáil, Assembly, EU and Councils throughout Ireland as well as in cooperation with our friends in Britain and Europe to highlight and show solidarity with the people of Gaza’.

• Elsewhere, Michelle Gildernew announced that the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland, Ahmad Abdelrazek, will address the National Hunger Strike Commemoration at Derrylin 3 August. She said that during the 1981 Hunger Strike `the Palestinian people stood in solidarity with Irish republicans as ten young men died in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh’. She added `today the Palestinian people are the victims of a genocidal attack from the Israeli government so it is important that we repay that solidarity by standing in support of their cause’.

McGuinness meets Irish foreign minister on peace process concerns
This week Martin McGuinness met Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan TD, to discuss the current political situation.
Mr McGuinness said the meeting was `useful and positive’ and had been an opportunity to `make the case’ for the need for `the minds of the Irish and British Governments and the US Administration need to be focussed on the political way forward in the North of Ireland’.
He added `This means talks involving all the political parties here’, and that he had `made clear to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that the parties who are part of these institutions need to recognise that any approach which is about merely satisfying the demands of the combined unionist and loyalist parties and the Orange Order will not work and is a mistake’.
He concluded that `meaningful dialogue at both political level and at a local level’ was needed `where all the political parties work together, supported by the Governments, to find agreement’.
Elsewhere on 30 July, Sinn Fein Assembly Member for North Belfast, Gerry Kelly, along with Martin McGuinness, met British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, to discuss the issue of political unionism’s calls for a commission of inquiry into the contentious Orange march past Ardoyne.
Mr Kelly said there had been `much speculation and commentary surrounding what the British Secretary of State may present in terms of political unionism’s call for a commission of inquiry to examine parading in North Belfast’.
Ms Villiers had not presented the Sinn Fein delegation `with any proposition’, he said, adding `ultimately the resolution to the controversial North Belfast parade will be found locally though engaging in dialogue’. Sinn Féin had been `consistent in its support for this approach’ he said. He concluded: `There should be no proposition from any quarter, least of all the British government, which could have the effect of undermining the Parades Commission, the Haass proposals, or attempts to find a solution through local dialogue.’

Society `must stand together against hate crimes’
On 29 July Sinn Féin councillor Niall ÓDonnghaile condemned a series of racist attacks in east Belfast.
Speaking after windows were broken, cars damaged and racist slogans painted on walls in a number of areas in east Belfast, councillor Ó Donnghaile said the `rampage of racism must be condemned by everyone’.
He said `we want to create a welcoming city where people from all backgrounds can live in peace, free from fear of attack.’ He said the `spread and scale of these attacks is very concerning and suggests a high degree of organisation’.
He concluded `There can be no place in society for racism and all sections of the community in east Belfast must stand together and face down the racists in our midst’ and urged `anyone with information on these attacks to contact the PSNI so those responsible can be apprehended.’
Sinn Féin’s deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness also urged all sections of society to `stand together against those who are involved in hate crimes’.
On 28 July Sinn Fein Assembly Member Raymond McCartney condemned an overnight arson attack on Derry Sinn Féin’s main constituency offices in Ráth Mór, Derry.
The Foyle MLA said it was an `attempt to attack the democratic process’ but would `not stop us working or the people of Derry’. He said Sinn Fein would be `continuing to serve the people of the city and the wider north west’.
On 30 July Sinn Fein Assembly Member Bronwyn McGahan said that a vandalism attack on the St Patrick Church in Killyman, near Dungannon was a `hate crime’.
Graffiti was daubed on the church, which she said, police were also treating as a hate crime. She said that `all places of worship, regardless of the denomination, should be treated with respect’ and added `I’m sure the entire local community will condemn this attack and I hope that it won’t impact on the positive community relations in the area.’

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