Liadh Ní Riada calls for fairer distribution of Europe money

EU candidate Liadh Ní Riada has suggested richer member states should put cash into a bailout fund in order to help countries in financial difficulty.

The Sinn Féin south candidate also claimed that Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney’s policies were a “disaster” and fishermen had been left with raw deal from Europe.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the former RTÉ producer admitted that she was “not a polished politician”, but said she hoped to win the support of the constituency’s voters for an MEP seat in May’s EU elections.

Ms Ní Riada said she wanted to see a fairer distribution of funds across Europe.

“I think we should call for a particular contribution from member states to be put into a reserve fund and if we can apply that funding then to areas like Ireland to create a more equal distribution of those funds to create jobs,” she said.

“I think the richer countries should put their hands in their pockets.”

Meanwhile, Ms Ní Riada said Mr Coveney’s work on fishing quotas had been an “absolute disaster”.

“They now have a ‘penalty points’ type system for fishing, where they are monitored so closely where they have to log everything... but if they reach a certain amount of points, their licence is revoked.

“That’s totally unfair, they’re being crucified. I know the Spanish and French and Dutch are not even reaching their quotas. They have a surplus which they would be happy to give to Irish fishermen. It doesn’t make sense that they’re not being given that.

“Irishmen are struggling. They only get to fish 15 days in a month.”

She suggested that supplements should be introduced for fishermen, in a similar way to the single farm payments scheme.

Ms Ní Riada, who hails from the Gaeltacht community of Ballyvourney in South West Cork, also claimed it was a sign of the Coalition’s “failure” that fewer state services were available in Irish and that the language commissioner had recently resigned.

Despite having not been elected to any position previously, the Sinn Féin ard chomhairle member said that she had the right experience to be a good MEP.

“I have that entrepreneurial background spirit,” she said. “There’s always a way, you have to be creative. The actual position if I get a seat doesn’t phase me at all, it’s the getting there that’s a bit daunting and a bit overwhelming at times because it’s such a large constituency.

“At the end of the day, it is about whether you can speak your mind.”

She added that politcs was about being a voice for ordinary people.