[Marxism] Irish Examiner: One Joe Higgins is more effective than 5 Sinn Fein MPs

[DAVID MURRAY <dmurray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

'One Joe Higgins more effective than five Sinn Féin TDs'
Just one Joe Higgins is immensely more effective than all five of the Sinn Féin 
TDs, according to Labour leader Pat Rabbitte. Attacking Sinn Féin's track 
record, Mr Rabbitte said the party works hard at getting elected but had no 
policies to speak off, apart from issues to do with the North. He also 
questioned whether the republicans posed a threat to his party.

Michael O'Farrell and Fionnán Sheahan, ‘Irish Examiner’ (12/05/04)
"I don't know. I don't see it on the ground," he said.

"It is a myth that Sinn Féin are supposed to work harder than the rest of us," 
Mr Rabbitte added.

Challenging anyone to name one Sinn Féin achievement in Dáil Éireann [Irish 
Parliament] or at local government level, Mr Rabbitte said if he was a 
constituent he would rather have one Joe Higgins fighting his corner than all 
five Sinn Féin TDs.

"Their effectiveness in local Government is outside of the chamber rather than 
inside the chamber," the Labour leader said.

But Mr Rabbitte conceded that there were areas where voters were so alienated 
with the current Government that they might choose to vote for the most extreme 
option.

"I think the public have to reflect carefully on where they use their vote," he 
warned.

Labour's environment spokesman Eamon Gilmore added that Sinn Féin did not put 
forward a single amendment to the Government's recent Residential Tenancies 
Bill.

He added that the lack of action was despite constant complaints in the 
republican newspaper, An Phoblacht, about rights for tenants in private 
accommodation.

Commenting on the drafting of the Dublin City Development Plan, councillor 
Dermot Lacey added that Sinn Féin had tabled no amendments compared with 
Labour's 82 and the Green Party's 30



David Murray
visit the SP NSW website 
http://www.geocities.com/spnsw


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