Policy of Opposition is easy for Hypocritical Sinn Féin. Letter to Dundalk Democrat

 

 

 

The hypocrisy demonstrated by Cllr Tomas Sharkey and his Sinn Féin colleagues is staggering. Criticising, as he does, every single measure taken by a government that is battling for this country’s recovery is an easy position to take. Shouting from the side-lines while difficult decisions must be taken may get you short term political gain but it ultimately offers no solutions for the people you claim to represent. The hypocrisy and doublespeak from Sinn Féin is particularly galling when, as a party of power in Northern Ireland, they are involved in implementing severe cuts across the public services.

In the North, they have a Sinn Féin Education Minister whose own schools policy could lead to a closure of 70 schools.

In the North, Sinn Féin in government implement household taxes more than ten time higher than the household charge.

In the North, Sinn Féin MLAs have defended water charges. They even had a Minister for Regional Development who did nothing to reverse the decision to meter water while he was in office

In the North, Sin Féin in government will be responsible for the proposed closure of half of the North’s acute hospitals within six years.

Most recently, Sinn Féin stood idly by while a Welfare legislation which will permanently reduced the North’s benefits passed through the NI Assembly.

Cllr Sharkey’s most recent attack on Labour was in relation to child benefit. Child benefit here is still far more than you would get in Northern Ireland under Sinn Féin rule. Child Benefit in Northern Ireland is €102.50 per month for the first child and then €67.70 per month for each additional child. The adult rate of Jobseekers Allowance and Benefit in Northern Ireland, under Sinn Féin rule, is €78.33 for an individual and €122.95 for a couple. The rate here continues to be €188 for an individual and €312.80 for a couple, despite the challenging economic climate.

Let us remind ourselves why Ireland is in this difficult economic situation and of Sinn Féin’s role in it. Sinn Féin voted in the blanket bank guarantee in September 2008 and has been the single biggest contributing factor to the unprecedented economic crisis we now face. The Labour Party was alone in voting against that disastrous and permanent bank guarantee.

The reality of that decision, voted in by Sinn Féin, is that we have lost our economic sovereignty. Coupled with our massive bank debt, the State is spending €11 billion more than we take in through taxation. This means that in order to continue to pay the services that the State must pay for – teachers, nurses, Gardaí etc. – we must reduce the gap between spending and revenue. Labour is in government to make sure that the decisions we take are as fair as possible.

Labour promised to work hard to get the country out of the economic hold in which it found itself. The country was broken when we entered Government. There were broken banks, broken public finances, a broken reputation and broken morale. We have worked hard every day to fix these problems.

At every step along the way, Sinn Féin has accused Labour in Government of breaking promises. They have claimed that we broke our promise on restoring the minimum wage; they were wrong about that. They claimed we would not renegotiate the deal with the EU and IMF; they were wrong about that. They said we would never get the 1% reduction in the interest rate. They were wrong about that because we got a reduction of 2.5%, at a value of €10 billion to the country. They said we wouldn’t get a deal on separating bank debt from the State. They are wrong. Their claim that we haven’t delivered on political reform is wrong. We cut the pay of Ministers, cut the transport arrangements for Ministers, and capped the salaries of public servants. We have changed the pension arrangements for top-level public servants. We are introducing reforms across the public sector without industrial action by maintaining a strong commitment to the Croke Park arrangement.

On none of these issues has Sinn Féin admitted they were wrong.

We are in difficult times but I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. There have been significant jobs announcements in recent weeks and we are confident for Ireland’s future. Labour in Government will continue to work hard to tackle unemployment.

All of this may be an inconvenient truth for Cllr Sharkey who clearly prefers shouting from the side-lines, refusing to offer any constructive advice for the benefit of people in County Louth and beyond.