Sinn Fein
The Week in Review
13-20 February 2014
Sinn Féin National Chairperson calls on British government to `re-engage with peace process’
On 16 February Sinn Fein chairperson Declan Kearney, urged the British government to `re-engage with the peace process’.
Mr Kearney said that Sinn Féin had `endorsed the Haass compromises, because they were in the wider interests of our society.’ He said that the Irish government had also agreed the proposals `represent the best way forward’, a view shared by the US administration and that the British government `needs to get on to the same page as the rest of us’.
He added `comments and interventions by British politicians and officials which fail to concentrate minds on the need to embrace the Haass compromises are entirely counterproductive’. That approach, he said, would only serve to ` deepen current difficulties, and reinforce unionist intransigence’. He called on the British government to `immediately and unambiguously support the Haass compromises, and call for their implementation’.
He said the `prevarication and intransigence of political unionism is also no longer sustainable’ and `must end’, adding `there is no alternative to the implementation of the Haass compromises or the exercise of real power sharing’. He said it was `not acceptable for unionist and orange extremists to continue exerting a veto over political progress, power sharing, and the viability of the political institutions’. Some six weeks after the Haass negotiation had concluded, he said it was `now time for political unionism to state without further delay, whether it will step away from the extremists and wreckers; stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of us; and, agree to implement the Haass package’.
He accused unionist leadership of `holding progress and the interests of wider society hostage to selfish electoral interests’ which would `create a political vacuum’. The British and Irish governments `share a responsibility to stop that happening’, he concluded.
Sinn Fein MP welcomes motion urging Haass implementation
Earlier this week, Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy welcomed a parliamentary `Early Day Motion’ (EDM), sponsored by Labour MP John McDonnell, which urged implementation of the Haass proposals. The motion, 1029, has won cross-party support.
Mr Murphy said he welcomed the EDM `as an important effort in highlighting the need for the British government to get behind the Haass proposals. By failing to do so, they are simply allowing the leadership of political unionism to block progress.’
He added `It is also important that politicians in Britain get behind the proposals, as part of ensuring the peace process continues to move forwards’. He said it was clear from public engagement which Sinn Féin was regularly involved in, that `the Irish community in Britain want to see movement on these crucial issues’. He said `ordinary people on both sides of the Irish Sea cannot understand why these reasonable steps proposed by Haass cannot be backed by all parties.’
Mr Murphy will be in Westminster next week, 25-26 February, to continue to press the British government and other political parties on the issue. He will meet Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, Labour Shadow Secretary of State Ivan Lewis and Conservative chair of the parliamentary committee dealing with the north of Ireland, among others.
Welfare reform bill remains `unacceptable’
Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey said the DUP were `playing scare politics’ regarding the Welfare Reform bill. His comments followed claims by the DUP Finance Minister Simon Hamilton regarding losses to the Executive budget and claims of job losses.
The South Belfast MLA and chair of the Assembly’s Department of Social Development committee said it was `scaremongering by the DUP and the cost to the Executive and job losses quoted is disgraceful. The DUP along with other political parties agree that this bill is not acceptable in its current form.’
He added `This London cuts-agenda will impact on people, not only those unemployed but also people on low-income and citizens with disabilities. A wide range of public opinion, from the Unions, voluntary sector, churches and many more have voiced their concerns around the consequences if this bill was implemented in its current form. Those concerns remain and are still relevant.’
He concluded: `This bill, unchanged from London, will put more children in poverty. It is not acceptable and it is the responsibility of the parties to knuckle down and make sure we get the best deal possible for the most vulnerable in society.’
Adams calls for release of Margaretta D’Arcy
On 20 February Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams TD again called for the immediate release of Margaretta D’Arcy from Prison, currently held in the Dóchas centre in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin.
The Sinn Féin leader renewed his call after receiving correspondence from the Minister for Justice on Ms D’Arcy’s medical treatment in prison.
Mr Adams and party colleague Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh visited Magaretta D’Arcy in Limerick prison the previous week.
Gerry Adams said `Margaretta D’Arcy is 79 years old, suffers from Parkinsons disease and is undergoing treatment for cancer. While I accept the Minister for Justice’s assurance, in a letter to me, that Margaretta has “access to the full range of services in prison, including all medical services” including 24 hour nursing service, and daily access to a doctor if requested, or on referral by the nursing staff, nonetheless she is a frail and elderly woman with a serious medical condition who should not be in prison.’
He added, `Margaretta is taking a stand for Irish neutrality and for human rights and against the use of a civilian airport for military purposes, and the secret rendition of detainees to places of torture. She is not alone in expressing opposition to government policy.’
He concluded, `Margaretta is not a criminal. She represents no threat to the public and it is outrageous that she should be still in prison. Margaretta D’Arcy should be released immediately.’
Decent pay and working conditions `are good for the economy’
Sinn Fein Senator and workers’ rights spokesperson David Cullinane has welcomed the announcement that a national strike by members of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Trade Union (TEEU) appears to have been averted.
Senator Cullinane said he was `glad that talks have taken place between the TEEU and the main employer bodies and that the Labour Court (LRC) facilitated the process’. He said that it appeared the intervention of the LRC has been crucial in averting widespread industrial action.
He added, `More importantly, in what can only be described as a positive step the LRC has recommended the establishment of a new Registered Employment Agreement as the best means of restoring stability in the sector’, and that `the return to collective bargaining and national agreements that protect workers in terms of pay and conditions must become part and parcel of our industrial relations framework.’
He concluded: `Decent pay and good working conditions are good for society, good for the economy, and good for workers.’
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