TD claims 'IRA stunt' hit SF raw nerve
A Progressive Democrat TD tonight said she had hit a raw nerve with republicans after she dressed up a mannequin in pro-IRA merchandise sold in a Sinn Féin shop.
Dun Laoghaire TD Fiona O’Malley also claimed her secretary had received threatening phone calls following her hard hitting attack on Sinn Féin.
The Progressive Democrat TD dressed a mannequin near Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green in an ‘IRA – Undefeated Army’ t-shirt, a black ski hat with the republican war cry ‘Tiocfaidh ar lá’ and crossed rifles as its logo, a windcheater with the same logo and a lapel pin based on the infamous South Armagh mock road sign ‘Sniper at Work’.
But her questioning of Sinn Féin’s commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means was dismissed as election gimmickry by the party’s European Election hopeful in Dublin, Mary Lou McDonald.
Ms O’Malley said tonight: “My comments certainly appear to have hit a raw nerve.
“My secretary took a number of threatening calls this afternoon in the Dail but to tell you the truth I am not all that surprised and I’m not all that worried.
“We are in an election and everyone is on a sales pitch at the moment.
“Sinn Féin is very good when it comes to making that pitch. We are used to seeing them in sharp suits but a visit to their shop shows their core beliefs.
“If they are prepared to sell merchandise of this kind, then they should not be ashamed to wear it in front of the cameras because it reflects their core beliefs.
“It’s now six years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed and everyone thought that meant Sinn Féin was set on a totally peaceful and democratic path.
“However if they are still selling merchandise like this, it begs an awful lot of questions about them and for those of us committed to peaceful and democratic means.”
At the launch of Sinn Féin’s campaign for a No vote in the June 11 citizenship referendum, Mary Lou McDonald said the Progressive Democrats were indulging in endless election gimmickry.
“This type of lark will not distract people from the record of the Government and will not distract people from the issues on the ground,” she said.
“It’s just more of the same. It’s a cheap tactic and is just very silly.
“I am the candidate for Dublin in the European Election but I have to say, if it is coming to the stage where I am being asked for my views on t-shirts, I think it just reflects the level to which the PDs wish to drag down the debate.”
Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin also claimed the Progressive Democrats’ attacks were motivated by a fear of another good election result for his party in the Republic.
Asked if it was justifiable for his party to celebrate the Provisional IRA, the Stormont Assembly member said: “If we consider the yearly pilgrimage to Bodenstown, where we have listened to many people who were in government in this state over the years glorifying the actions of their fathers and their grandfathers in the good old IRA, then the question really has to be applied across the board.”
Mr McLaughlin said the people of Ireland had been through a very painful and tragic journey towards peace.
“The question now is: are we now in a better space because primarily of the actions and the decisions and the policies that my party has developed?” he asked.
“The answer is yes and we don’t do it by excoriating people. We don’t do it by excluding people. We don’t do it by denying people.”
