Sir, – Michael Flynn wonders (Letters, November 22nd) about the strategic thinking which informed the inclusion in Sinn Féin’s election manifesto of a statement that it opposes arms supplies to Ukraine so as not to escalate the conflict further. I think the inclusion of the statement, which is attracting attention, was a simple mistake. I also think that the official who allowed it to slip through was guilty of no more than forgetting to forget.
Bobby McDonagh (“Sinn Féin has changed its tune on the EU”, Opinion & Analysis, December 8th, 2022) offered in evidence of the transformation in Sinn Féin’s attitude to the EU the fact that Mary Lou McDonald was “markedly warm” in her then-recent Dáil contribution about the EU’s strong response to Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.
He might have written that this was evidence of Sinn Féin changing its tune not only on the EU but also on President Putin and his warmongering in Ukraine. It was then only a year since Sinn Féin’s sole representative in the European Parliament was among a small minority of MEPs which failed to support a resolution condemning Russia’s provocations in Eastern Ukraine and the build-up of Russian forces on Ukraine’s borders. And on November 24th, 2022, Naomi O’Leary reported that the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to treat Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and as carrying out war crimes in Ukraine and that “Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus did not vote”.
Sinn Féin’s “changes of tune” on the EU and on Russia and Ukraine are, it is clear, grounded not in principle but in seeking to position itself for electoral advantage. It realises that the vast majority of our voters have long been and continue to be supportive of EU membership. And it took the party only a few weeks to discover that Irish people were on the right side of the conflict in Ukraine and that a little deft footwork was called for on its part.
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As to the latter, Sinn Féin’s Claire Kerrane TD had a go at explaining the party’s change of heart (Politics, March 15th, 2022): “we are now in a very, very, very different situation in relation to the conflict that’s there in Ukraine, of people being absolutely bombed and killed every single day”.
Sinn Féin’s brazen volte-face on Vladimir Putin should be seen for what it is. Its Damascene conversion from a long-standing and consistent policy of going easy on Mr Putin and Russia was prompted by the realisation that almost all Irish voters are on the right side of the war in Ukraine. But of course one understands that for Sinn Féin to condemn a bloody campaign of terror waged on a helpless civilian population is a sensitive matter.
Meantime, back at head office, I think officials should be cut a little slack if there is confusion as to which of the party’s various and varying positions on Russia and Ukraine finds its way into the election manifesto. – Yours, etc,
PAT O’BRIEN,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.