Harney rules out councils coalition with Sinn Féin

The Progressive Democrats will not enter into an alliance with Sinn Féin on any local council, Tánaiste Mary Harney said today.

The PD leader said this policy would apply even if it meant losing mayoral positions on local authorities.

“Our view on Sinn Féin is very clear. For as long as they are associated with the Provisional IRA, and as long as they refuse to condemn and stand down their army, we are not going to enter into an alliance with them. We never have and we will not as long as I am here.”

The PDs' final press conference before Friday’s local and European elections was also attended by Justice Minister, Michael McDowell.

He said it was a serious issue that local Sinn Féin candidates might be serving on policing committees in the future when they supported the release of the killers of Garda Jerry McCabe.

Mr McDowell held up a picture of Sinn Féin members meeting these men in prison to illustrate his point. He also said it was not inconsistent of the PDs to refuse to co-operate with Sinn Féin while urging the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party to do so in the North.

“The executive in Northern Ireland has collapsed repeatedly because of paramilitarism. It is clear there is no way forward, no fudging and no appeasing anymore. We are not going to have restored government in Northern Ireland unless paramilitarism is brought to an end.”

The Progressive Democrats are not contesting the European elections but the party is running 127 candidates in the local elections, compared to 62 in 1999.

Tánaiste Mary Harney said the party hoped to win council seats in new areas such as Kerry, Laois, Mayo and Offally.

The party won 32 seats in the 1999 local election and Ms Harney said she was confident they would make gains on this figure.

She said there was a need for more accountability and value for money in local authorities when their overall budget was €3.7bn.

“That is three times the budget of my department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment,” she said.

She added that the PDs had done extraordinarily well in coalition Government with Fianna Fáil, considering their small size.

“We are creating new jobs at the rate of 45,000 a year. But we’re impatient with reform in the health service and in aviation. Health spending has increased three-fold but the quality of service has not improved. But we will continue to work with out colleagues in Fianna Fáil,” she said.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell defended the PDs' record in Government with Fianna Fáil, saying they had fulfilled their election commitment.

“There was an agricultural product one time which was said to be a quare name but great stuff. The PDs are the Ronseal party, it does what it says on the tin.”