Sinn Féin may not like to be questioned, but we’ll continue doing our job
CONGRATULATIONS to Sinn Féin. Their election was so successful it caught even them by surprise. The party’s share of the vote rose from 13.8% in 2016 to 24.5% last Saturday, leaving it with 37 seats in the new Dáil.
The massive upswing in its vote can be attributed to dissatisfaction among voters with the outgoing confidence-and-supply pact between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Disquiet over how the country was being run will not surprise Irish Mail on Sunday readers, because this newspaper has been consistently critical of the resulting ‘do-nothing’ Dáil, and has led the way in holding to account Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s government.
Sinn Féin now becomes a major player in national politics and is a serious contender to form a government. On that basis, we must insist the party adheres to democratic norms.
During the election, journalists witnessed Sinn Féin attempts to manage the news. Press conferences and public appearances of candidates were arranged last minute. After a debate misstep dealing with the continuing fallout from the murder of Paul Quinn, a doorstep interview with Mary Lou McDonald was organised at short notice, and at the same time and place as a boisterous protest on childcare. This gave journalists barely enough time to attend.
This week, the party invited journalists to attend a speech by the leader ahead of a parliamentary party meeting – but with no questions allowed.
The Mail’s group political editor John Lee did not accept that his role is to act as a stenographer to record speeches by party leaders, and tried to ask a question.
In this case, he raised the myth that Sinn Féin TDs take only the average industrial wage from their salaries. As it turns out, they take much more than that and it is still unclear what they will do if in receipt of ministerial salaries. It ought to have been an easy question to answer for straight-talking Ms McDonald. Instead, she called John Lee childish for doing his job.
Sinn Féin – and their apologists – say they had scheduled an opportunity for questions after the event. This is false. The only firm commitment to answering questions came two hours after the exchange – and with only four minutes’ notice.
On Newstalk radio on Friday, the party’s housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin was asked about a report in the Irish Daily Mail outlining how newly elected Sinn Féin TD Violet-Anne Wynne didn’t pay rent for four years. He said: ‘I would question the accuracy [of the story],’ even though the story was confirmed by Ms Wynne. This attempt to dismiss valid news stories smacks of Donald Trump. Separately, Mr Ó Broin and Ms McDonald have both written for the Mail in the past so, presumably, he values some of what we publish.
This isn’t the only Trump-like news management attempt this week. Adviser and Ard Comhairle member Enda Fanning claimed that Joe Duffy was using Liveline to denigrate Sinn Féin representatives. On Twitter, he wrote: ‘It is utterly shameful. It really needs to be addressed by a new government and a proper monitoring authority with powers introduced to prevent such political bias as we have seen before and since #GE2020.’
Leaving aside the deeply sinister threat to have ‘powers introduced’, there is the usual Sinn Féin cry of media bias any time it is held to account. Sinn Féin would do well to contact the current occupants of Government Buildings and ask how they feel our coverage has treated them.
The election is over. Our elected representatives need to start behaving like grown-ups in their attempt to form a stable government. And to not throw their toys out of the pram, when faced with journalists doing their job.
For our part, the MoS will continue to ensure every policy and process is scrutinised, and each actor is held accountable. Our readers expect no less. As do the electorate.