Daniel McConnell If Sinn Féin wants power it can't keep up the mixed messages

Mary Lou McDonald spoke out against Leo Varadkar, who is facing a Garda investigation, but kept quiet when Gerry Adams was arrested by the PSNI. It's a double standard the party should address

 Mary Lou McDonald: Sinn Féin leader said Leo Varadkar 'gave a cock-and-bull story to the Dáil'. Picture: Gareth Chaney

Last Sunday morning, two newspapers had front-page stories that the Garda investigation into Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s leaking of a confidential document to a friend was a criminal one.

Included in those reports were lines from Varadkar insisting he had done nothing illegal and that no garda had yet been in touch with him.

As the party which had made most noise around the Varadkar issue back in November when it first broke, it was somewhat surprising to see Sinn Féin’s Mairéad Farrell not jump on the matter when on RTÉ television that lunchtime.

Farrell, the party’s public expenditure spokesperson, stopped short of calling on Varadkar to step aside pending the outcome of the Garda investigation.

However, within less than 48 hours, more normal service was restored when Farrell’s party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, decided to put the boot in.

She said that back in November, Sinn Féin had called for Varadkar to be sacked by Taoiseach Micheál Martin for a blatant abuse of power while he was taoiseach. “Everything that has happened since then has proven that we were correct,” she said.

He has only remained in office because Fianna Fáil, the Greens, and a number of Independents are keeping him there. “He gave a cock-and-bull story to the Dáil and has been forced to change his story repeatedly as more and more information has come to light.” 

She said this was a political stroke, pure and simple. “It was an abuse of power by the then taoiseach designed to give advantage to a friend. This was about doing favours for insiders. Politically this cannot be tolerated,” McDonald said.

“Our position remains as it was in November. The Fine Gael leader needs to go,” she said vehemently.

Given such calls, pressure was put on Martin and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan for their take on the controversy; predictably enough, both party leaders rejected the Sinn Féin calls and stood steadfast behind their embattled colleague.

They knew had they not done so, it would have spelled the end of the Coalition and forced a general election.

Martin described Sinn Féin’s concentration on the Varadkar issue as a “deeply cynical” exercise and said it was seeking to “engineer” the controversy. “I don’t take their comments as sincere comments. Actually, I find them deeply cynical,” he said.

He said the “device” of McDonald writing letters to him and “trailing them” publicly in advance is a “well-worn device” at this stage.

So it's a tactic that's deployed but they don't seem to be frank. I don't see a whole lot of sincerity behind there

“In my view, you know, if the gardaí have inquiries, they need to be allowed space to continue with those inquiries,” he said.

“I am not officially aware of the nature of those inquiries in any shape or form. I read newspaper reports. But that's about the size of it from my perspective. The gardaí should be allowed do their work. And that, to me, is the most important principle at play here. And I don't think people should play politics with it."

'A presumption of innocence'

Asked should Varadkar not step aside, without prejudice, to allow gardaí conclude their work and prevent the inquiry from overshadowing the work of Government, Martin said: “There's also a presumption of innocence. Before I give them anything that's a very basic principle.” 

What was interesting was the strength of McDonald's comments in contrast to her steadfast silence when her then party leader Gerry Adams was arrested by the PSNI and questioned over the disappearance of Jean McConville.

No calls from her then for him to step aside.

What was also interesting was the coincidence of McDonald’s fury and anger and the fact that Sinn Féin was facing controversy in the North over its decision to abstain from an Assembly vote on abortion.

Questions were asked about the party’s position on abortion, after Sinn Féin speakers in the debate on Monday complained about an attempt to row back on abortion legislation, yet abstained rather than opposed the second stage of the DUP bill.

During the debate, Sinn Féin deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, who said she was speaking in a personal capacity, described the bill as “the thin end of the wedge” and an attempt “to reopen a debate that has already been had around women’s healthcare provision”.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, TD for Meath West, who separated from Sinn Féin over its stance on abortion, accused the party of “speaking out of both sides of its mouth” on the issue.

“They are trying to ride two horses; they are trying to, on one hand, appeal to their traditional republican support base and give the impression that they are reluctant and cautious when it comes to abortion,” he said.

They are also speaking to their newer supporters and trying to say that they are 100% pro-choice.

McDonald sought to dismiss the charges of hypocrisy and double standards. “There's no inconsistency, Daniel, I have to correct you there. Sinn Féin policy has been absolutely consistent and it's consistent with the legislative proposed provisions, here in this jurisdiction,” she told me.

“What we are most consistent on is that unionism reaction or unionism will not stop women getting the services that they are entitled to, services that have been legislated for, and the blockage is not on the assembly floor."

Tactic of distraction

It is not the first time Sinn Féin has used the tactic of distraction to try and insulate itself from clear criticism.

The previous week, McDonald was in full flight in her outrage at what was allowed to happen in the stockbroker firm Davy.

She said during Leaders’ Questions that decades of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governance had allowed the culture which led to the 2014 profiteering scandal.

While her anger was completely justified at what went on in Davy, McDonald's political barbs were less sure-footed.

Martin went on the attack himself. “She needs to practise that as well. She has been unwilling to answer questions about the party's own financial culture. She has accepted it is the wealthiest political party in this country,” he said.

Sinn Féin accepted a €4m donation from the estate of Englishman William Hampton into the party's accounts in the North, when it was bequeathed to Sinn Féin in the Republic of Ireland. This donation was more than 1,600 times the maximum allowable donation under Irish electoral law, Martin said.

“That was a shady enough transaction to make even a stockbroker blush. These are issues that the deputy needs to deal with too when we are talking about wider financial probity and accountability,” he blasted.

The tactics of distraction are nothing new in politics but Sinn Féin’s stance on many issues is now of far more importance as it stands to lead the next government in this country, if current opinion polls are borne out.

The party's policies and positions on issues will increasingly come under intense scrutiny as its fitness for office is explored.

The more it comes under scrutiny, the less it will be able to speak out of both sides of its mouth.