The wondrous adventures of Sinn Fein (part 3) Mod Notes and Threadbanned List in OP

Bishop of hope

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122726417#Comment_122726417

It appears they have no other ideas, simply copycatting the govt. I see they've approved BAM as the contractor for their children's hospital in Belfast, despite telling the Irish govt that BAM shouldn't be used under any circumstances for any new contracts here.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/sinn-fein-defends-backing-contractor-bam-to-build-new-671m-childrens-hospital-in-belfast/a1593826759.html

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210356#Comment_123210356

That is an incredible decision, but par for the course with Sinn Fein, do as I say, not as I do.

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122726417#Comment_122726417

Seems they are building up for a bit of roaring and shouting this Wednesday ……

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211029#Comment_123211029

As I have said elsewhere, it is their court case about the Junior Ministers which is the catalyst for what is happening.

The Constitution has no role for the opposition, no role for Leader's Questions etc. If the long-standing tradition of super-juniors can be tossed aside, then the shorter precedent of twice weekly Leader's Questions can also go.

Sinn Fein don't have any policy ideas of their own. Their bring back ground rents housing policy fell flat on its face. They can only do shouting and roaring.

StormForce13

Quality Op Ed from the always-excellent Mick Clifford in today's Examiner concerning the IRA's biggest groupie:-

Would-be taoiseach Mary Lou McDonald's lauding of IRA killer should give us all pause for thought

Brendan ‘Bic’ McFarlane’s violent past raises questions about Sinn Féin’s retro republicanism and its treatment of IRA victims

Joanne McDowell was 29 when she was having a drink in the Bayardo Bar on Aberdeen Street in Belfast.

A man walked in, threw a bomb and ran away. The bomb exploded killing Ms McDowell. Linda Boyle was pulled from the wreckage alive but she died of her injuries within a week. She was 17. They were murdered because they were Protestants.

As the bomber did his thing, one of his associates sprayed the front of the bar with machine gun fire. He killed doorman William Gracey and his brother-in-law Samuel Gunning, who had just stopped for a chat. They were murdered because they were Protestants. A fifth victim of the bomb and gun attack was Hugh Harris, a 21-year-old member of the UVF.

One of the killers that night, August 13, 1975, was Brendan ‘Bic’ McFarlane. Last Friday, on McFarlane’s death at the age of 74, Mary Lou McDonald described him as “a great patriot who lived his life for the freedom and unity of Ireland”. ….

https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41581735.html (paywall)

Brendan Bendar

They want it every way, for sure.

Behave like that and roar and shout about everything else.

StormForce13

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123211791#Comment_123211791

An approach that appears to appeal to the lowest quartile. Mind you, so does Conor McGregor.

blanch152

https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2025/0303/1499879-triple-lock-defence/

The deference to Putin from Sinn Fein gets another airing.

Everyone knows that the next Peacekeeping operation will be in Ukraine and that it will be an OSCE/EU/NATO construct, rather than a UN one as Russia will apply a veto. Ireland needs to step up to the plate and play its part in securing Europe. The world is changing and we must change with it.

Cold war ideas of neutrality are in the past.

harryharry25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123227879#Comment_123227879

Well going by every opinion poll to date the Irish public want to keep the triple lock

StormForce13

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123227879#Comment_123227879

Yep I was amused at SF's Denis O'Leary on Morning Ireland passionately arguing that the UN Veto had to be kept, presumably so the hated Brits* could have a veto as to where our peacekeepers could be sent!

(* or the Russians, or the Chinese)

Someone from SF's Head Office should slowly explain to poor Denis that "Sinn Féin" doesn't mean "Ourselves and the UN alone".

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123227938#Comment_123227938

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/kevin-cunningham-poll-shows-transactional-voters-like-the-idea-of-back-garden-cabins-and-more-defence-spending/a2068214033.html

Really? There is now a majority of support for Ireland joining a European army.

blanch152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123227956#Comment_123227956

It is bizarre, letting the Brits have a veto over the Irish army. Bending the knee.

StormForce13

Sinn Féin politician subject of pointed dress code comment in Stormont

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41586307.html

Looks as though young Danny forgot to change his shirt after attending a funeral for a deceased IRA "patriot"!

gormdubhgorm

Saw this article former Clare Sinn Fein TD Violet Anne-Wynne very young. Topped the poll with SF. But then lost her seat as independent. Just shows how strong the SF “brand” is/was.

Now she claims she can’t pay her debts. An odd story about the “mother of six”.

https://amp.rte.ie/amp/1523126/

“Ms Wynne - who received a TD’s annual salary of €113,679 - lost her seat in the November General Election in Clare receiving only 310 first preference votes where she stood as an independent candidate in a vote collapse from her 2020 general election vote when she topped the poll as a Sinn Féin candidate.”

gormdubhgorm

A more subtle one showing how SF telling different lines different stories to different audiences re NI. Irish times. Titled “A tricky question for Mary Lou McDonald”

https://archive.is/nnqp2

“Does the island of Ireland contain two badly-run economies or one, or none? The question arises following Mary Lou McDonald’s appearance on Monday’s Good Morning Britain on ITV.After calling for a united Ireland, the Sinn Féinpresident was asked by presenter Richard Madeley: “Why do you want Northern Ireland still so badly? Because, economically, I think it’s fair to say it’s close to being a basket case at the moment. This country pays it a huge amount in terms of subsidies to Ulster, far more than we get back.”

“Since 2013 Sinn Féin has insisted Northern requires almost no subsidy, as the £10 billion-plus subvention is a perfidious British accounting trick. In recent years it has simultaneously condemned the Irish Government for economic mismanagement while boasting that the Republic is booming and could easily afford what costs of unification remain.The party restated this two weeks ago, following an academic report. Its subvention claim assumes Britain would continue paying State and unfunded public service pensions to Northern Ireland, without collecting any taxes. Although this is highly implausible, it is Sinn Féin’s position and McDonald was put on the spot over it.”

“Describing Northern Ireland as a basket case might also have raised republican hackles. Sinn Féin has co-governed Stormont for almost two decades. Since the start of this decade it has increasingly claimed leadership of economic policy, taking control of the Department of Finance and adding the Department for the Economy last year, when it also took the First Minister’s chair.”

“This seizing of the reins has been accompanied by promises of prosperity for all through Stormont, serving the goal of a united Ireland. Sinn Féin has given every impression of having resolved the conundrum, for republicans, of how to govern Northern Ireland successfully while also seeking to end its existence.The party could claim this is beginning to work, although few of its policies have yet been implemented. Northern Ireland has been the best-performing part of the UK since Brexit by some measures and even its subvention is no longer an outlier: Scotland had a slightly larger subsidy per head in 2023.Scottish nationalists point to this to argue for rejoining the EU through independence. Sinn Féin could do likewise.Instead, McDonald simply echoed Madeley. “The North is consistently in economic difficulties because it is not economically viable as a territory,” she replied.”

“The Sinn Féin president then headed off to her main engagement in London, alongside First Minister Michelle O’Neill, to address the UK’s Foreign Press Association on a united Ireland. Both women made their case, yet again, in terms of Northern Ireland requiring almost no subvention.Sinn Féin could say none of this is necessarily contradictory and it is delivering economic progress in Northern Ireland despite the poor hand history has dealt it. But McDonald could not bring herself to say this on ITV.”

The message to the British public is “let us take this expensive burden off your hands”, without revealing it expects Britain to keep paying the bills. The pensions claim is to reassure the Republic unification would be painless. Even a perfectly manageable amount of pain is seemingly too much to ask.