Voters behind Sinn Fein surge angered by call for unification
SOME voters who lent support to Sinn Féin for its dramatic election breakthrough have been left ruing their decision.
Since Mary Lou McDonald’s party secured a shock second place, the focus has shifted to the party’s IRA roots and support for a broadly unpopular referendum to unify Ireland.
A viral video of David Cullinane, a Sinn Féin MP for Waterford, concluding his victory speech to supporters with shouts of “Up the ’Ra and tiochfaidh ár lá”, [Up the IRA and our day will come] angered new Sinn Féin voters. “This is disgraceful, I did not vote for this” and “I am embarrassed by this. I loaned Sinn Féin my vote for this election. Never again” were among the posts made in a backlash online.
Ms McDonald yesterday called for violent dissident republicans to disband, after members of Sinn Féin were threatened by anti-peace process activists. The party’s president said it would not be intimidated by gunmen, adding: “These people have no politics, no strategy and nothing to offer.”
Sinn Féin made a border poll on Irish unity within the next five years a precondition for entering the government in Dublin. Since the election, Ms McDonald has said that the Irish and British governments must start preparations for unification.
But according to an extensive exit poll carried out among voters, health, housing, pensions and to a lesser extent climate change, the economy and Brexit were the factors that swayed voting intentions.
A united Ireland was than 1 per cent of voters. less
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