Sinn Féin defends bank guarantee vote

SINN Féin was put on the defensive at its manifesto launch for voting with the Government on the night the blanket bank guarantee in September 2008.

Its leader in the Dáil, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, was put under pressure by the Labour Party’s charge that it only began to protest against the guarantee when it was too late to reverse it.

Mr Ó Caoláin said on the eve of the guarantee a “calamitous situation” was being painted which would have hurt ordinary deposit holders.

He said in these circumstance it was willing to come to the assistance of the banks; however, when the supporting legislation was released two weeks later it did not support the measures.

He accused the Government of convincing it with an incorrect argument for the guarantee. “Government did not share all the information I believe that they had when they presented proposals on that occasion.

“That [September 28 vote] did not give effect to the implementation of any proposal, it was an indication in principle — the legislation presented on October 17 with the Credit Institutions Bill that was the first opportunity to have sight of the real intent of

Government and where all this was to be directed,” he said.

Mr Ó Caoláin said the vote on the night of the guarantee, which was supported by Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Fine Gael, was only designed to indicate support for the banks. He said it would not have been effective if another law was not passed on October 17 and Sinn Féin tried to block this.

“When we saw the detail of what the Government proposed, the Credit Institutions Bill, we opposed it.

“We opposed it that day and in every other way it has manifested itself since... and no amount of twisting and turning of the Labour Party will change that,” he said.

Mr Ó Caoláin was speaking at the launch of Sinn Féin’s manifesto atCassidy’s hotel in Dublin where it promised not to default on the national debt.

But the party said it would not agree with the IMF/European Union-backed plan to leave taxpayers to fund the debts in the country’s banks.

It would default on bank bondholders, wind down NAMA and fund the state from the National Pension Reserve Fund for the next year.

Sinn Féin wants to merge AIB and Bank of Ireland into a single state bank and shut down Anglo and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

The party’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said the other manifestos were focused on harsh cuts, but if this policy worked then the recession would already be coming to an end.

He said the €18.7bn deficit needed to be filled, but if money was taken out of the pockets of ordinary workers the economy could not grow. “You can’t close the deficit if you don’t grow the economy. This is where Sinn Féin differs from other parties,” he said.