Bríd Smith, People Before Profit TD for Dublin South Central has welcomed the call by Lynn Boylan for Sinn Fein to seek more co-operation with left wing parties.
In a statement, Brid Smith said:
“Lynn Boylan has put her finger on the key issue that needs discussion after local and European elections– Sinn Fein should turn left rather than seeking to position itself as yet another party in the mainstream centre. There are huge inequalities in Irish society and many working class people want the left to co-operate together to break the grip of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
“But that also means making a real choice. You cannot just use left wing rhetoric and then deploy the votes won to prop up one or other of the establishment parties. You cannot talk of developing ‘people power’ style resistance to the political establishment – and then join them later in government.
“So, yes, Lynn is right – Sinn Finn needs to have a conversation about whether or not their strategic goal is to join a government dominated by one of the right wing parties. They don’t need to apologise for walking behind a banner that states ‘England get out of Ireland’ or wear a poppy to show how they have paid an entry price for getting into the establishment. They should embrace, rather than discard, radical, left wing anti-imperialist policies.
“This is not a just an issue on one side of the Irish border. If it is not right to serve in government with Fine Gael or Fianna Fail, then equally there is no point joining the right wing DUP in implementing austerity. Sinn Fein should also acknowledge that their decision to hand over power for welfare reform to a Tory government as a trade-off for reducing corporation taxes was wrong.
“People Before Profit is open to real and genuine discussions on left wing co-operation with all those who regard themselves as part of the Irish left. We only ask that they take a stance of rejecting coalition with the Right.”
