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IMC Report; If Sinn Fein are in Power in The North, What About Here?
Read more about: Government, Northern Ireland, Republicanism, Sinn Féin 
The DUP have beaten Blair and Ahern up on this point for ages now. Ahern won’t accept Sinn Fein so why should Paisley? However as the deadline draws near and IMC reports take on positive hues, the complexion of Northern Politics may be in for another makeover.
And what then?
A case of uneasy chicken and egg exists with the shinners at the moment, sooner or later it’ll be admitted they will be in power somewhere. At the moment, however, they are persona non grata in the executives North and South. One jurisdiction has to give, the power game suggests it may well be in Stormont. Yet, if they get into power in Stormont, then what?
Many if not most voters take a dim view of Sinn Fein, with other parties running a potential gauntlet if they suggest a coalition with them following the election. Are we not thrown into the converse of our current position however if all parties in the Republic deem Sinn Fein good enough for the North (out of the necessity of some form of solution to direct rule) but unthinkable in the South?
I’ll concede there are a lot of ifs and buts in the above but, for politicians, answering the question “where do you stand on coalition with Sinn Fein” become infinitely trickier from the moment they head into government. With November’s deadline looming and neither Dublin nor London wishing to retain direct rule this is a decision likely to barrel towards an election.
There seems to be a misconception that the affairs of Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Republic of Ireland.
Bertie Ahern rates it as one of his major priorities, as does his namesake, Dermot.
But examine these soundbites & you find that they are, as always, playing political games. Dermot wants to strengthen his power base in Louth (and possible succession)& Bertie is playing to the Country & Western wing of FF.
It is unlikely that Sinn Fein/IRA are in any hurry to reach an accommodation.
After all, Mary Lou McDonald’s (and others’) election campaign was paid for from the proceeds of smuggling — as well as the life of Detective McCabe — and the removal of the Border would result in a serious reduction of their revenue gathering.
Both Aherns have made it clear that they would welcome IRA/Sinn Fein into government, to keep FF in power – and, presumably, to hell with the consequences.
So be it. It is an honest Statement of Intent and should be accepted by the Electorate at its face value.
But it should be made absolutely clear that they will so do.
No fudging about dependency on clean reports from the IMC.
What is important is that the Electorate here should be fully aware of the policies of Sinn Fein/IRA – that they are a Marxist Party, in the Stalinist mode; their model is Cuba.
The fact that Cuba operates a blatantly racist policy should not be obscured.
The fact should be made clear that Fidel’s Elite Praetorian Guard live in manorial splendour, just like Stalin & his apparatchiks. Priority access to imported food; wines; autos etc…
Let the Electorate concentrate on their perception of a good Administration; the composition of a Cabinet that will deliver sound policies; not soundbites.
Make a List of their Priorities and decide what party/parties offer the best deal.
Consider the woeful record of broken promises that accompany Fianna Fail; the hopeless mess that they call communications; the incompetence of Martin Cullen in Transport & Michael Martin in Health; the millions given away by Michael Woods; the mendacity of Ray Burke & Liam Lawlor; the lies, half-truths and endless dithering of Bertie; the capitulation of Mary Hanafin to the unions; the weakness of Brian Cowen – in NOT making provisions for the Future – when the construction well runs dry…
The list of incompetences is endless.
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Forget about Shannon & the USA; forget about what is happening in Northern Ireland; forget about the Celtic Tiger and the bloated Revenue.
Concentrate on the day when the Party ends; the hangover and who will be best fitted in solving the consequences of the Waste perpetrated by FF; the possibilities of a recession; unemployment.
If Cowen plays Father Christmas and brings in a Bumper Budget, it will be the next Government that will have to pick up the broken glasses & clear away the mess.
PONDER.
There is a post in that last bit, the end of the boom is certainly facing whatever party gets back in and i would like them to discuss how to manage declining revenues while keeping jobs and maintaining a level of prosperity we can all live with.
On the Sinn Fein question, I know the Aherns have no issue with going into Gov with SInn Fein what im suggesting is that this is unlikely (like most other things) to get discussed and be explicitly endorsed/rejected by hte electorate. Thus after the election our parties inhabit an ambiguous space where they can do what they like (as usual). If SF are in gov in the north a major argument has been reversed and our parties must address what makes SF so ok for north but not for here.
I agree policy differences exist between sinn fein and almost everyone but since when has any party given a monkeys about that?
I’d advise anyone looking for my vote to go into government the moment that more good than bad would come of it. In the North, that moment came years back. That moment hasn’t arrive in the Republic just yet.
Apologies SOS but I couldn’t disagree more with aspects of your post. The affairs of Northern Ireland are most certainly (part) of the responsibility of this state, and have been to an increasing degree in a legal sense since the Anglo-Irish Agreement. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement extends this responsibility to the level of a degree of authority sharing and implementation on an all-island basis. I think it’s wrong to depict the interest of Southern politicians (particularly the two mentioned) as parochial and localised. It’s impossible, in the context of the work on these issues, and specifically the challenge of bringing PIRA to a full decommissioning to write the substantial and significant effort away in such terms.
In broader terms the necessity for us to have a stable polity in the six counties is of crucial strategic economic and political importance to this state – quite apart from whatever responsibilities are engendered by social, historical and cultural ties etc. I’d argue that even ahead of our relationships with the EU and the UK it is the paramount relationship because of it’s destabilising potential.
Regarding Sinn Féin being a ‘Marxist’ party, whatever the rhetoric it’s striking how their economic and social platform is beginning to tilt towards mainstream social democracy. SF, for all the sincerity of some of it’s supporters and members is not a Marxist party (in fact there has been a recent minor split in Dublin with more Marxist oriented members going to Éirigi).