Sinn Féin Party has come in from the cold
IT’S not that diffic ult to understand how a national media j ournalist said on RTE Radio One on Monday morni ng that no one saw the rise of Sinn Féin coming , not even the party itself or the media.
And, that was where she was wrong. Many people outside of Dublin did see it coming.
There might be dozens of cranes all around Dublin at the moment building hotels and apartments but the rest of the country is clearly not performing near as well and an unhappy population outside of the Pale decided as Joe Duffy suggested on Liveline to give Sinn Féin a chance, that it couldn’t be any worse.
Former Labour Party leader, Pat Rabbitte also hit the nail on the head on Sunday morning when he said the effects of the recession has still not washed through the people.
You see, most people are now entering their 12 th year of austerity.
Ask anyone on the minimum wage or anyone waiting for years on a hospital appointment or someone on a housing list their view on how the country is doing.
Many workers haven’t seen a pay rise in over 12 years, many others are trying to get by on zero hour contracts.
If you lived in Dublin, you’d certainly get the impression that the economy was booming but as the Northern and Western Regional Assembly report pointed out recently, there is a two speed economy in this country and the West has been totally neglected in terms of investment.
The ordinary person has had enough of austerity and badly need a break. Rural
Ireland is still hurting from a raft of closures including post offices, schools, pubs, banks and Garda Stations.
Is it little wonder then that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have suffered in this election and that so many were attracted to the message of Sinn Féin?
People have voted to give them a chance. And, if the latter does get into power either with FF or through a coalition with a range of others, they’ ll be faced with some unpopular decisions and nobody minds paying their fair share but what needs to be done is a serious look at how Government can be fair to its people, especially the less well off and its elderly and sick.
The public has taken so much ont he chin since 2008 and they’ve simply had enough after their need for a helping hand was ignored. They just waited in the long grass.