Sinn Féin deputy Dáil leader Pearse Doherty TD, speaking in the Dáil today, has said that Sinn Féin are fighting to win in the four Dáil by-elections being in Cork North Central, Dublin Mid-West, Dublin Fingal and Wexford on the 29th November.
He said that Sinn Féin has excellent candidates in all four constituencies, who work day-in, day-out to stand up for ordinary people and deliver for local communities.
Calling on voters to vote for Sinn Féin , he said “Sinn Féin will give workers and families a break, and we are the only party that are committed to Irish Unity”.
Teachta Doherty said:
“I want to welcome the moving of the writs for by-elections in Cork North Central, Dublin Mid-West, Dublin Fingal and Wexford that will be held on the 29th November.
“I want to welcome the moving of the writs for by-elections in Cork North Central, Dublin Mid-West, Dublin Fingal and Wexford that will be held on the 29th November.
“I also want to welcome the fact that we are not waiting an undue period for these by-elections to be held – as we were ten years ago under the then Fianna Fáil/Green Party government when I was forced to go the Courts to ensure that the people of Donegal South West were afforded proper representation in the Dáil, which was denied to them for seventeen months.
“The government of the day – of which the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was a member – contended in the High Court that the Court – in adjudicating on the matter – would ‘tear asunder’ the provisions of the Constitution.
“Thankfully, the High Court found otherwise and stated that it was the ongoing failure of the government to move the writ for the Donegal South West by-election that ‘offended the terms and spirit of the Constitution and its framework for democratic representation’.
“As I went on the win the by-election that ensued, I suppose you could say that I like by-elections. They are an important part of our democracy, and whilst it is high time that this government was put out of office and a general election called, these by-elections are important.
“Sinn Féin are fighting to win in all of these constituencies and we have an excellent slate of candidates; Cllr. Thomas Gould in Cork North Central, Cllr. Mark Ward in Dublin Mid West, Cllr. Ann Graves in Dublin Fingal and Johnny Mythen in Wexford.
“All four are top-class activists that work day-in, day-out to stand up for ordinary people and deliver for local communities.
“They will provide first class representation in the Dáil for their respective constituencies, and I want to send them my very best wishes and look forward to assisting them all over the coming weeks and getting out on the campaign trail.
“There is no substitute for talking to voters on their doorsteps. That is where you get a real sense of where people are at and I know there are people out there who are struggling.
“There are families here who are barely scraping by and are being burdened by the out of control cost of living, by sky high rents, by excessive childcare costs and rip-off insurance premiums.
“Those people have a voice here in this Dáil. They have Sinn Féin; a party that wants to give workers and families a break and they have in Sinn Féin a party that stands up for ordinary people and delivers for local communities.
“That is the basis on which we are seeking a mandate in these by-elections.
“We want to give people an alternative to the failed policies of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and the failed experiment that is so-called “new politics”.
“The past three and a half years have seen the housing and homelessness crisis spiral out of control. We have two parties that are wedded to failed policies and are doing nothing to improve the situation for ordinary workers and families and get us back to a position where the State and local Councils are building houses.
“We have a health service that is in a state of perpetual crisis.
“Crime is spiraling out of control, in both urban and rural areas.
“Sinn Féin would take a fundamentally different approach to the conservative alliance of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in tackling the issues that affect ordinary people and communities.
“We want to give workers and families a break.
“To do that we would help renters by reducing rents by up to €1,500 per year.
“We would reduce the cost of childcare by an average of €100 a month per child.
“We would provide two free GP visits for every person without a medical card so that nobody delays going to the doctor because they are worried about the cost.
“We would end the insurance rip-off.
“We would introduce free travel for 5 to 18-year-olds on public transport, so that we take meaningful steps to tackle climate change.
“And we are the only party that are seriously committed to Irish unity.
“Where the others pay lip service, we want action and preparation for unity must begin now.
“An All-Ireland Forum on Irish unity should be convened without delay; to map out making the transition to a United Ireland a success for all the people who share this island, for our economy and for our public services; and we want a referendum and to win that referendum.
“These by-elections are an opportunity for voters to vote for positive change.
“I make the appeal today – as I will over the coming the weeks – to the people of Cork North Central, Dublin Mid-West, Dublin Fingal and Wexford to vote for Sinn Féin.”
