DURING the general election campaign I have been in several constituencies. In Dublin, in Drogheda, Dundalk, and Donegal and some other places in between. People are clearly  fed up with the cost of living, the crisis in public services, especially in health and housing, childcare and disability services. 

But increasingly after a century of Tweedledum and Tweedledee politics by the two civil war parties, many people are annoyed at the sameness of their politics, their dismal failure to tackle the big issues impacting on people’s daily lives and the conceited self-serving way they approach election contests. With a sense of entitlement. This is hardly surprising given that they have been in power, one way or the other, for a century. However, many people are catching up on the reality that a vote for Micheál is a vote for Simon and a vote for Simon is a vote for Micheál. That is despite the sham Punch and Judy arguments between them.  

Housing provision in the South is a mess. Rents and childcare costs are through the roof. Education is in a crisis, as is the health system. The Children’s Hospital, which Simon Harris vainly tried to wash his hands of during a televised debate, is now the most expensive hospital ever built – anywhere in the world. It has cost two billion euro of taxpayers’ money. So far. 

The environment, rural Ireland and agriculture are under enormous pressure and the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government – and in particular Simon Harris as Health Minister – has failed to deliver on his commitment to provide for children with scoliosis. And to add to this debacle, it was revealed at the weekend that there is a five billion black hole in Fine Gael’s manifesto financial commitments.

None of this will come as a surprise to anyone who has watched these two parties. Between them, after partition they created a conservative and mean-spirited dispensation which was particularly cruel to women, children and the poor. Over many decades both were responsible for mass emigration when at least a million people left Ireland for Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia.

Under their watch there was the horror of the reformatory and industrial schools operated by Catholic Church orders, which were funded and supervised by the Department of Education. It was the stuff of nightmares. The Ryan Report laid bare a system that treated children like prison inmates and slaves. They were routinely abused and subject to beatings and rape. 

The Magdalene Laundries were another long-standing scandal ignored by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.  Women and girls pregnant outside of marriage or suspected of ‘immoral’ behaviour were incarcerated  in institutions run by nuns. They were unpaid labour.  They were deprived of their liberty and suffered both physical and emotional abuse.

And then there were the mother and baby homes. The final report into these institutions by a Commission established in 2015 was published in January 2021. It revealed that around 9,000 children, one in seven of those born in the 18 institutions covered by the Commission's terms of reference, had died in them between 1922 and 1998. This was double the infant mortality rate in the general population.

Remember also that the Fianna Fáil party drove the Southern economy over the cliff in 2008/9 and Fine Gael and Labour then imposed harsh austerity measures that inflicted huge hurt on the most vulnerable in society. 

In 2020 Martin denied that Fianna Fáil would enter a coalition with Fine Gael. He said: “...the people want change... they want Fine Gael out of office... they’ve been there too long...” He described any u-turn on a coalition with Fine Gael as “Jekyll and Hyde behaviour.” Martin then did a u-turn. He misled the voters. 

But even this experience of the past two decades only scratches the surface. In addition, members of both parties have been linked over many years to planning corruption that saw elected politicians receive money in return for favours.
Republicans also know that neither party is serious on the issue of Irish unity. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil pay lip service to it but refuse to take the practical steps needed to plan for an end of the union. For decades they ignored partition and its impact on the economy of the island and on the families living along the border corridor. They disregarded the decades of discrimination and inequality in the North and backed British government policy, even when that policy was reliant on collusion and torture. They have spent 100 years bolstering partition. 

The Good Friday Agreement has a process to end all this if that is what the people want. Over 25 years after the Agreement neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael have made any real effort to plan for this. In its manifesto Sinn Féin has set out the steps that a Sinn Féin-led government will take if it wins a mandate in this election.  Sinn Féin has A Plan for Unity. A plan which will usher in constitutional, legislative and political change. 

Sinn Féin also has 71 candidates in the field. 174 TDs will be elected so Sinn Féin will not be able to form a majority government even if all its candidates are elected. But neither will Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil. No party will form a government on its own. 
However, if Mary Lou receives a mandate to lead a government she will then be able reach out to other progressives to form a government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. That is doable. 

So there is a historic opportunity in this general election to opt for fundamental change – to push aside the failed and self-serving politics of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. 
It’s all in the hands of the voters. They have the opportunity to elect a strong, progressive and sustainable government led by Sinn Fein. Without Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is all to play for. Sinn Fein can win this election. 100 years of FFFG is too long.

So is 100 years of partition. 

Friday will tell the tale.

Pat Donaghy: A patriot true to his core values

AS I finished this column I got the sad news that Pat Donaghy has died. Originally from Tremoge near Carrickmore in County Tyrone, Pat emigrated to the United States in the 1950s. Like many others he went looking for work because work was sparse for northern nationalists in unionism’s apartheid northern state.

He was in his late teens. His older sister Nora sponsored him. Pat was the sixth of fifteen children. Phyllis, Peggy and Bella along with Nora had already emigrated. Other siblings born after Pat and the older sisters also emigrated.

Pat Donaghy and Gerry Adams
2Gallery

Pat Donaghy and Gerry Adams

I got to know Pat through his work for Ireland, his loyalty to the Irish cause and his native county of Tyrone, and his commitment to the Friends of Sinn Féin. Pat, by dint of hard work, did well in the USA.  He founded Structure Tone with Lewis R. Marino in 1971. It is now one of the biggest construction companies in the USA.

Pat Donaghy threw his considerable influence and goodwill into the peace process and behind Sinn Féin’s peace strategy. He became one of Friends of Sinn Fein’s main supporters when that important group was established in 1995 and was part of the small group of like-minded patriots who inaugurated the annual Friends of Sinn Féin Dinner in New York in 1995.

I always found Pat to be a warm, friendly and unassuming patriot. Despite his huge success in the construction industry he was grounded in the traditions and generous core values of his parents and his native place.

I am honoured to have been his friend and to have enjoyed his company.
I want to extend my solidarity and condolences to the entire Donaghy family in the USA and Tyrone, especially his wife Mary, his children Brian, Jimmy, John, Ray, Maureen and Eileen.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis

Sanctions urgently needed against Israel

Last Wednesday was World Children’s Day. It was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. It is also the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The following day the world’s top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Minister for Defence Yoav Gallant. They stand accused of crimes against humanity in connection Israel’s genocidal war on the people of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The warrants acknowledge that it is believed that both Israeli political leaders are using “starvation as a method of warfare.” They are doing this by deliberately blocking humanitarian aid entering Gaza and they have intentionally targeted civilians. The current underestimate is that over 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza. Over half of these are women and children. As the world marks Children’s Day the Israeli military, using weapons provided by the USA, Britain, Germany and others are killing Palestinian children in their thousands.

The Irish government has been negligent in taking meaningful action against Israel. The next government must step up to the plate. It must introduce sanctions against Israel, pass into law the Occupied Territories Bill and join a coalition of states determined to stand up to Israel and its allies.