In a fairly strident piece today's IT comes the instruction to all Irish parties to cut the crap re Sinn Fein.

O'Connor says Fine Gael and other Irish parties are mistaken if they believe that with no one left to outflank them on the right end of the spectrum that they could with impunity simultaneously share power with Sinn Féin ( a la Dublin council last cycle, Senate votes, and many other council across the state etc), while continuing to abuse them when they see fit.

Her message is a simple one. Politicians cannot barrack Sinn Fein while working with them day in day out.

Its time there was some political leadership shown here. Or does o'Connor hope in vain - will the work with Sinn Fein every day but condemn Sinn Fein at election time policy continue.

Irish times

Read her article and you'll see the parallels as clear as the day.

But Sinn Féin is required by treaty to be part of the Northern Ireland Executive. It's not required by the Constitution of our country to be part of our government. There isn't really a parallel because nobody is legally obliged to form a coalition with Sinn Féin, just because they agreed on a voting pact.

It is very boring at this stage. Only FG could turn the debate away from Fianna Fail and the mismanagement of the economy about coalition with SF, when everyone in the country knows that they would go in to coalition with them, if the no's demand it. FG need to start living in the present, not muttering about the civil war and the North.

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Fianna Fáil
The Land agents party.

You are saying ignore policy differences, go into government?

The treaty requires not that SF be in govt. Its their vote that gets them their positions.

The point of her article was to highlight the child like strategy of the DUP in working and condemning SF at the same time.

You focus on the executive of this state but then ignore the work done day in day out between the reps of all parties, the voting packs etc.

I suppose her article questions how long parties can have Mayors etc elected with SF support, or work with them issuing joint statements etc. while then coming out with the tired old cliches at election time.

If the no's require it, then serious talks will hapen, if an agreed programme does not result so be it, but FG need to get real about politics, they are facing in to become the party of power, time to start acting like that. FF's were thanking their lucky stars that Enda dragged this up, made people question his honesty, it distracted from their woes, and it helps reinforce the idea, that FG are knee jerk against anything Irish republican because they are still so worked up over the civil war, never mind the last thirty years in the North. Get on with it, and say of course we'll look at SF if the numbers if the figures call for that, but to be honest we feel that the policy differences are too big.

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Fianna Fáil
The Land agents party.

There is no parrallel. Sinn is the second largest party in Northern Ireland, and as such it is constitutionally impossible to exclude them from the Assembly. Sinn Fein is the smallest Dail party in the Republic of Ireland. And other parties can choose their coalition partners and electoral allies as they see fit.

Her thoughts are like a young FF'er jumping up and down and demanding nobody mentions the economy at election time.

Its election time FFS.


Duh for her.

There is no parallel indeed of a constitutional requirment to include a party in govt. in the southern state.

The point I am making is can other parties issue joint statements with SF, get mayors elected via SF, have senators voted in via SF etc but then carry on like they did before the election in that pathetic spectacle.

Ian Knox the cartoonist got it in one:


So will Fine Gael etc take Sinn Fein votes in councils when needed but at the same time will they continue with the Flannery/Enda policy farrago as per last week?