Sinn Fein’s president has accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fail of conspiring to keep her party out of government and prevent change in Ireland.
Mary Lou McDonald said Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin were now “indistinguishable” from each other, as she claimed they were suffering “acute amnesia” in regard to their records in government.
The Fine Gael and Fianna Fail leaders, who were partners in the last coalition government in Ireland, have made clear they will not countenance Sinn Fein as a potential partner in the next administration in Dublin.
Tanaiste and Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris during the final TV leaders’ debate (Niall Carson/PA)
On a visit to Naas Fire Station in Co Kildare, Ms McDonald reflected on Tuesday night’s final leaders’ TV debate which featured herself along with Taoiseach Mr Harris and deputy premier Mr Martin.
“I was in the middle of the two and I didn’t hear anything that I haven’t heard a million times before,” she said of the RTE Prime Time debate.
“I am absolutely struck at the fact that they seem to be suffering from acute amnesia, they have forgotten that, in fact, they have been in government together in support of each other for the last decade.
“To listen to them, you’d imagine they had just arrived on the scene and that they were going to come up with all of these solutions. They have had ample chances, ample opportunity to make things better, and they have failed, and in between the two of them, I make the case that now we ask for our chance, with our plans, with our team, to demonstrate how change can happen, how your community, your family, yourself, can be supported when the government is actually on your side.”
The leaders of Ireland’s three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in the last televised debate before Friday’s General Election.
The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, saw the parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day.
The latest opinion poll on Monday put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for Mr Harris’s party.
After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Ireland’s Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (centre) speaks to the media at Naas Fire Station (Niall Carson/PA)
The Green Party joined the administration as a junior partner.
From 2016 to 2020, Fianna Fail had supported Fine Gael in power through a confidence and supply arrangement from the Opposition benches in the Dail parliament.
Sinn Fein won the popular vote in 2020 but a failure to run enough candidates meant it did not secure sufficient seats in the Dail to give it a realistic chance of forming a government.
Following Tuesday’s debate, Ms McDonald was the first of the three leaders to face the cameras on Wednesday.
“I think people know from the last general election that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael went to all lengths to keep not just Sinn Fein out of government, but to stop change,” Ms McDonald said.
“And we’re saying to people this election now is time to call time on that.
“There’s an opportunity now for the people to be in the driving seat, to come out in big numbers, to back Sinn Fein, to back change, to back a change of government, because that is the thing that can transform the situation.”
Ms McDonald said she found it “astonishing” that Tanaiste Mr Martin appeared to be on a “mission” to ensure that Fine Gael returned to government.
“It’s astonishing, really, that Fine Gael having been in government for 14 years that Micheal Martin is now so intent on returning them again,” she told reporters.
“That, to be clear, is a recipe for continuing failure. And I think it’s astonishing that he would advance that position, having been so clear five years ago (during the last election campaign) that Fine Gael had been too long in the government.”
Asked who she thought won the RTE debate, Ms McDonald replied: “I think the argument for change won the debate last night. I think that Micheal Martin and Simon Harris have become now almost indistinguishable. I think there is a pretence that they are different in their politics. They’re not.”