Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald at the party’s Ard Fheis in the Helix Theatre, Dublin on Saturday
This morning.
Via Irish Examiner:
As part of its projection as a responsible democratic movement with a legitimate claim to power it produced a stunning coup de theatre by committing to the option of non-jury courts in “exceptional” circumstances, a long-standing point of opposition among core republican supporters.
The change of policy coincides with polls which reveal Sinn Féin to be the most popular party among voters in the country. A sharp fall in support for Fine Gael has opened up a 10-point lead for Sinn Féin over its nearest rival. An Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll taken at the start of this month shows that Sinn Féin has the support of almost a third of voters at 32%, far ahead of Fine Gael (22%) and Fianna Fáil (20%).
In June, eight of the party’s TDs staged a walk-out of the Dáil before an annual vote on the retention of the court. In 2020, the party abstained, having always voted against the legislation previously.
That last time Sinn Féin made such an historic decision in defiance of traditional republican orthodoxy was at its 1986 Ard Fheis when it pledged that its elected representatives would take their seats in the Dáil. This decision ran counter to the history of the previous 65 years. It still refuses to take its seats in the House of Commons.
Irish Examiner View: Upbeat Sinn Féin breaks with the past (Irish Examiner)
Hitler shed most of his principles the minute he secured power.
He eliminated his erstwhile friends in the Night of the Long Knives.
Sinn Fein not even waiting that long!!
Here are my principles but if you don’t like them I have others. 😎— Ned o Sullivan (@NedoSullivan2) October 31, 2021
Ah, Ned.
Thanks ESB
It’s not a principle it’s a policy.
The SCC came into existence in the 1970s because the government did not like the verdicts the juries were coming back with. No other reason.
Nothing to do with the Troubles then. Nothing to do with terrorism cases. A complete coincidence?
lol the desperation is a fupping joy to behold
good man Ned whoever you are….I actually hope they get a clean sweep come GE time
Great man for making phone calls is our Ned, especially for the Healy Raes. Some man to talk about principles, I presume its just a funny comment?
What’s even funnier is that he is saying, he is actually saying that Hitler had ‘principles’ prior to being elected.
This is what is wrong with this country – connected cabbages like Ned the ball talking out their hole.
I mean clearly everyone remembers what a lovely, likable chap Hitler was before being elected, he used to regularly turn up at Bar Mitzvahs and Bris’s with some plum puddings and Liebfraumilch but as soon as he was elected that stopped pretty fast I can tell you.
Jesus wept.
What?
A person having ‘principles’ doesn’t exclusively mean that person is good. A person of ‘principle’ can be either good or bad.
Jesus wept is right.
That’s not a defense of Ned, just pointing out the simple fact of a good/bad person can be principled.
Hard to square non-jury courts with a modern democratic state.
“B-but the gangsters! Jury intimidation!”
All things that can be solved whilst still maintaining that fundamental right – to be judged by a jury of your peers.
Fairly common, see Germany
“Fairly common, see Germany”
Ok that’s two, can you list the other countries that do this?
Yes
Ned is a obviously a very worried man about the next election, Change is coming and about time
Ned’s biggest worry will be getting the timing right for offload of d’oul REIT shareholdings
‘Hitler shed most of his principles when he came to power’
I think somebody’s brain is broken. It might even be mine.
To be fair that speech he gave at the end of the documentary on him, The Great Dictator was great so what happened after that?
Yes, yes I know it came out in 1940 but the footage was on based on his early life so……oh, I see.
Forget all I wrote there, clearly my brain is broken too.
Hands out on Mary-Lou like Christ the redeemer. She’s reaching Charlie/Bertie levels of adulation, fitting as these guys are effectively the up and coming FF.
I guess they’re looking like the largest party in the next Dáil. It’ll be a tough run for them if they end up as the larger part of a coalition. They’ve made a lot of principled stands that’ll need to be backed up with some serious capital investment and spending overruns.
Like FF, the bond markets could end up being the ones to oust them. I’m certainly no fan of SF, but they’re gonna get shafted internationally immediately on getting into power – through the European commission first and then international markets, which won’t like a firebrand left-leaning politik in the EU.
The only question is, how will they get propped up? Based on the arithmetic, you still more than likely cannot have a government that doesn’t include FF or FG, or a confidence and supply from one of them. If they win by the margin in current polls and don’t end up in government, we could be in for some unrest from people who don’t understand representative democracy or proportional representation very well.
They’ll bend, it’s not their first time flip flopping on an issue. They were once pro water rates remember. Then flipped when they saw which way the public was going. They are the epitome of populist.
I’ve little time for them myself. But if they were to win an election, I’d hope they get the majority needed to get in on their own. Let them at it, and see if they can actually make some changes, and not have any excuses for not sticking to promises.
Time will tell, and of course, I actually would wish ’em well if they got in on their own. Who knows, could SF morph into some SF-lite to be the type of proper social democrat type party you see in Europe? Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Will be interesting to see. One would hope they’d moderate against doing anything daft internationally, and do a blame the predecessor and blame the fiscal compact routine like FG did in the first few years (hopefully being a bit wiser than FG in trying to keep this up for 7/8 years).
Timing will be key for them, trying to get an election going coming out of this winter of discontent would allow them to hurl from the ditch on energy charges and high unemployment, whilst grabbing the reins during high growth that might allow for increased spending. In doing so, they would very easily however fall into the FF trap of overheating the economy.
All eyes on Leo for the next move though. If the incompetent ministry we have can lurch on without shooting themselves in the foot on a no-confidence motion, Leo might be able to engineer a situation where they pull out of the current government just before they’d take ownership of it, and then aim to sweep up some vote from FF.
Unfortunately for FG and FF, they’re entire MO seems to be “If I can just hang onto power a little longer, I truly believe we can win people over”. It’s like watching a chronic gambler trying to win back their lost paycheck with 50c bets.
Love that closing para, very apt, and a great funny image in my head :)
I reckon they’ll steal fianna fail votes by skipload.
And FG in fairness.
Again, I’d rather a majority party in power than another wishy-washy coalition, even if it is SF! :)
i’m not sure about fg votes. they have positioned themselves as the major opponents to sf; if they lose votes to anyone it would be greens or soc dems maybe.
Ned still huffing and puffing away reading that Féin Kampf. Terrible stuff.
It’s way past time we had a Female Taoiseach, I mean, yes, she might be the leader of a party that is (allegedly) still funded by organised crime, but sure the Big Two (allegedly) took money from property developers, same difference. Still, Female Taoiseach, wahoo!
“This decision ran counter to the history of the previous 65 years.”
Eh, two different parties. That’s quite the oversight by the editor.