Citizen will never be too small to matter - McDonald

Mary Lou McDonald TD told a meeting of County Wexford Sinn Féin in Ferns last Thursday night that Sinn Féin was now the main opposition party in the country. The Sinn Féin Vice-President told the packed meeting in the Courtyard that both this government and the previous Fianna Fail led coalition had taken a political decision to put the needs of failed banking institutions before the needs of ordinary citizens.

“A political decision was taken,” Deputy McDonald said, “Successive governments decided that banks were too big to fail and citizens were too small to matter. Of course this is clearly wrong and that is why we have so venomously opposed the government’s unfair austerity measures. The reason the so called main opposition party, Fianna Fail, haven’t been attacking these measures is because the Fine Gael and Labour government are only carrying out Fianna Fail instructions. They are implementing the failed Fianna Fail economic program which they campaigned against in the last election.”

“During the 2011 general election campaign Sinn Féin told people that we would be their voice in the Dail. We kept that promise. We are not opposition for the sake of opposition. We are not negative. We are positively asserting the rights of the people. Sinn Féin is a working class outfit and we have no apologies for that.”

Deputy McDonald acknowledged that the real crisis in Ireland for the average citizen is the lack of work. “Sinn Féin has opposed the unfair measures being drafted by this government but we have also put forward alternatives. We have pushed for the investment of funding in the state and the people rather than in toxic banks and unsecured bondholders. We have pushed for the implementation of a realistic job creation program.”

Deputy McDonald said that Sinn Féin was a growing force in County Wexford once again. She urged people who felt disenfranchised to join the party, stating that there will always be more room in the party for genuine people who want to make their communities better.

“Wexford is a county with a long proud tradition,” Deputy McDonald said, “I see no reason why with the right people working for their communities that Sinn Féin can’t be the catalyse of real and lasting change in County Wexford. Change for the better for this county and its people. I’m urging people to make a stand and to join the fastest growing party in Ireland. Sinn Féin believes in a republican Ireland, an Ireland of equality and fairness. An Ireland where banks can sometimes fail but the citizen will never be too small to matter.”