BODENSTOWN SPEECH:SINN FÉIN leader Gerry Adams has described Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin's criticism of his party as "bogus" after the former minister for foreign affairs accused the North's main power-sharing parties of putting party interests first.
Mr Adams said fear of Sinn Féin’s progress in the Republic had motivated Mr Martin to claim the DUP and Sinn Féin were not capable of working in the interests of all groups during his address at the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, Co Kildare.
“Sinn Féin on the Executive is attempting, in the absence of fiscal powers, to manage a serious economic crisis and is succeeding much more effectively than Fianna Fáil in government or in opposition has,” Mr Adams said.
“Micheál Martin’s comments have more to do with his fear of Sinn Féin in the South than a concern about the North.”
Mr Adams said the end of conflict in Northern Ireland, the peace process and powersharing were among “the greatest achievements of modern years”. He also accused Mr Martin of having developed a “renewed interest” in developments in the North.
A spokesman for the DUP also rejected Mr Martin’s criticism of his party, saying he understood Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin were engaged in an ongoing “battle” for votes in the Republic.
“My guess is that Micheál Martin’s comments are based more in a war for votes than they are anything to do with the future development of Northern Ireland,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Mr Adams also said Mr Martin’s criticism of Fine Gael and Labour “rings hollow”. He accused the Government of “simply implementing” the policies of the previous Fianna Fáil/Green Party administration. “His attack on Sinn Féin is equally bogus,” he said.
Mr Martin had accused the Government of complacency and said the level of engagement with Northern Ireland had been dramatically reduced since Fianna Fáil was in power.
Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh described Mr Martin’s comments as “uneducated” and “a little bizarre”. He said Ministers met their Northern counterparts regularly. “Fianna Fáil has a record of attempting to destabilise North-South political dialogue for its own political advantage. The party’s cynical attempt to merge with the SDLP some years ago was firmly spurned,” Mr McHugh said.
He said he was prepared to brief Mr Martin this week on recent developments if that was required.
“I’m not sure where Deputy Martin has been over the last 18 months if he isn’t aware of the large volume of work the Government has been doing and the regular meetings between members of this Government and its counterparts in the North,” Mr McHugh said.
“Engagements by this Government with Northern Ireland are now everyday and commonplace.”
Mr Martin had characterised Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s attitude to cross-Border matters as one of disengagement and complacency.
“The Taoiseach has had the bare minimum of meetings concerning the North and has outlined not a single new item for his agenda,” Mr Martin said.
