Jan O’Sullivan: Time for Sinn Féin to put up or shut up
“I think people have decided that we shouldn’t be in government and I think it’s up to the parties that won the election [to form a government].I know Fine Gael didn’t win the election. Fianna Fáil had a big success; Sinn Féin had somewhat of a success; others were successful. I think they have a responsibility to form a government
“I accept what the people have said. They don’t want us in government. We were in government and were offering to continue in government to fight for equality, for those services we think are really important, and people decided they didn’t want us,” she said.
“So if they don’t want us, that’s fine, but we will continue to adhere to our principles; we will continue to fight for equality. But that will be in opposition as far as I’m concerned.”
She said her message to any party which got a mandate, including Sinn Féin, was to show how they would do things.
“They’ve got the mandate. They put out policies on the basis they were policies they would implement in government. If they are not prepared to go into government what’s the point? It’s time for Sinn Féin to put up or shut up.”
Following on Simon Coveney’s comments on water charges, Ms O’Sullivan said Fine Gael now has an obligation to clarify very quickly what it means by saying it is willing to talk about water charges.
“People have paid in good faith. What is the alternative now? Are they going to dismantle Irish Water and send [Irish Water] people back to local authorities and forget about any kind of centralised approach to cleaning up our rivers and making sure everybody has a safe and clean supply of water?
“If that is the plan, people need to know that and people need to know how it will be done.”
Asked about refunding those who have paid water charges, Ms O’Sullivan said they “probably” do not have a legal recourse.
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