Political Games – Fianna Fáil and SDLP

Lee Casey
Ógra Shinn Féin An Lorgain

Fianna Fáil’s decision to organize and contest elections in the occupied six counties raises a lot of issues for me. The air is also thick with talk of the SDLP and FF amalgamating into one party. This also raises issues for republicans.

FF’s decision to enter the north’s political arena isn’t motivated by an active social conscience or principled creed. It is simply a desire to quench their thirst for political power and influence. FF likes to masquerade as the so called ‘republican party’. This claim is even more far-fetched when you consider that FF have had a mandate in the 26 counties, on and off, for decades. They could have pushed republicanism and re-unification to the fore front of the political agenda at national and international levels but this failed to materialize on every occasion.

Indeed the FF committee set up to organize the move up north was headed by none other than the then Minister for Foreign affairs Dermot Ahern. The fact that FF installed their Foreign Minister to this position just says it all about their commitment to re-unification.

Then there is also the on-going saga of the SDLP amalgamation. To the SDLP amalgamating with FF is nothing more than a last ditch attempt at political survival. The party has lost votes at the last three consecutive elections and due to the on-going electoral strength of Sinn Féin there will no doubt be a fourth election added to what is already a very poor electoral statistic.

To FF amalgamation is simply manipulating the SDLP with the promise of political survival and in return being allowed to use the SDLP electoral structures to attempt to gain a foothold in the north. The move cannot be construed as ideological either. FF and the SDLP are chalk and cheese ideologically. The SDLP likes to think of itself as a social democratic party, whereas FF have done little next to nothing to advance any sort of welfare or social policy agenda in the 26 counties. These political games are not with the benefit of the people in mind or the good of the nation as a whole. It’s simply

So if you are a careerist, champagne socialist, soldier of corruption, not destiny, then join the charismatic Mark Durkan and the exciting Brian Cowan in maintaining partition, making Ireland the political rent boy of the EU and preventing the onset of real justice equality and freedom.