In her first speech in Northern Ireland since last weekend’s general election, Mary Lou McDonald told Sinn Féin’s Six County AGM that “the people voted for change”.
He said Sinn Féin “is in government in the North” and is ready to do likewise in the State. Standing in front of a banner stating ‘Time for Unity’, Ms McDonald said: “Never again will a general election be pitched as a simple choice between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
“Just as the unionist majority here in the North has gone, the two-party system has been consigned to history”.Ms McDonald said her candidates had been elected in record numbers on a “people’s manifesto” and noted all 32 counties on the island of Ireland now had a Sinn Féin representative.She attacked the republican credentials of Fianna Fáil, which does not stand for election in Northern Ireland but does have a loose relationship with the SDLP, which only stands for election in the North. “Fine Gael postures as the ‘United Ireland party’ but has no strategy, no programme and no real desire to bring unity about,” she said. “And as for Fianna Fáil, the so-called republican party, Irish unity doesn’t rate a mention in its manifesto’s five core aims.”“They cannot block the growing demand around unity,” she added. Ms McDonald also criticised “so-called dissidents” for making threats against Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Féin’s policing spokesman, Gerry Kelly MLA , for attending a PSNI recruitment event in Belfast.“They are at war with their community and are now threatening political representatives who serve the people,” she said.The section of the speech on the restoration of Stormont gained applause from the audience. Ms McDonald highlighted the need for action on matters in Northern Ireland such as poverty, health, housing and victims’ issues, and stressed “unionists have nothing to fear from Irish unity”.Ms McDonald urged Sinn Féin activists to “keep your shoulder to the wheel” and serve local communities. She ended the speech by saying: “Onwards. Upwards. We can do this. We will do this. We are almost there. And now we will leave and work hard in our communities as proud republicans, as unapologetic united Irelanders.”
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