Tánaiste: Sinn Féin 'over-glorified' paramilitary violence

Tánaiste Micheál Martin was asked if Fianna Fáil would go into government with Sinn Féin and his response was that policy is essential to the foundation for a successful coalition government. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

The Tánaiste has said he believes Sinn Féin “over-glorified” paramilitary violence during The Troubles and failed to respond sufficiently to the victims of that violence.

Micheál Martin made the comments during a Q&A session with Boston Globe journalist Kevin Cullen at the JFK Library in Boston on Saturday night, with up to 200 people in attendance.

The Tánaiste was asked if Fianna Fáil would go into government with Sinn Féin and his response was that policy is essential to the foundation for a successful coalition government.

He claimed Sinn Féin is anti-enterprise, particularly towards free-trade agreements that have been entered into by the EU.

He told the audience that Sinn Féin has to “deal with the past” and accused the party of attempting to rewrite history to “justify terrible atrocities and acts of violence.” 

“And Sinn Féin, in my view, have over-glorified what happened in the last 30 years and haven’t responded sufficiently to the victims of violence that they were responsible for,” Mr Martin said.

I think they need to deal with that.”

“I would have a big question mark over their commitment on enterprise and a whole range of other issues so they’re not the most likely party that we would go in with because of their economic and social position.” 

The Tánaiste spoke at length about the Good Friday Agreement, the impact President John F Kennedy had on Irish-American relations, and the Windsor Framework.

He said the relationship between Ireland and the UK “has improved” since Rishi Sunak became the UK Prime Minister.

He said there was a “distinct difference” between Mr Sunak’s government and previous governments. While he “got on well with Boris Johnson”, Mr Martin said he did not agree with his views.

He said “no real thinking” went into how Brexit would work in practice and “incredibly no research.” 

Mr Martin said the most recent British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference “was the best in 10 years”.

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While both governments may not agree on all issues, including the proposed legacy legislation which he said the Irish Government made clear it is not happy about, they are “working on it and engaging to try and get a pause on” it.

He said the Windsor Framework will provide “positive and a new trust” between both countries and there could be investment opportunities for the North on the back of the agreement.

When asked if Ireland will ever join Nato, the Tánaiste said a national conversation will be initiated over time but it was not a binary issue. He said he does not see Ireland’s military neutrality changing any time soon.

However, given the new threats globally such as cybersecurity, he said the State needs to examine the threats and the challenges to Ireland and how best to respond.

The Tánaiste will join Congressman Richie Neale in Holyoke on Sunday and also walk in the parade before flying back to Ireland.