Gerry Adams MP Presidential Address Ard Fheis 2006
I want to welcome you all once again to this very unique gathering, the Ard
Fheis of Sinn Féin. I want to greet our international visitors, our
delegates, members and activists. Fáilte mór romhaibh uilig chuig an ócáid
sainiúil seo inniu. Ard Fheis Shinn Féin. Beannachtaí ar leith dár gcairde
idirnáisiúnta, dár n-ionadaithe, baill agus gníomhaithe.
I want to extend greetings also to republican prisoners and their families.
Special greetings to our Friends of Sinn Féin from the USA, Australia and
Canada. You are all very, very welcome.
I am also very conscious
as we gather here in Dublin of the suffering of the families bereaved by the
Stardust disaster - this week 25 years ago. Our hearts are with you all.
2006
is an important year for the people of Ireland. It marks both the 90th
anniversary of the 1916 Rising and the 25th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger
Strikes. Both events in their own way showed how ordinary people can change
the course of history.
Beidh muid ag cuimhniú ar agus ag
céiliúradh an dá ócáid i rith na bliana.
At
this time 25 years ago, the men and women in the H-Blocks and Armagh had
already announced that another hunger strike would begin on March 1st. Many
people of my generation will remember that time well, although I always find
it difficult to talk about it.
It is difficult to do justice to
the memory of those who died on hunger strike.
I am still amazed
that I knew such men. And for those who were close to the prisoners and
their families there remains a raw emotional wound. It's also hard to
recapture a sense of that time for those who weren't there.
Twenty
five years ago Nelson Mandela was in gaol on Robben Island and apartheid
looked set to last forever in South Africa. Twenty five years ago dictators
of various hues were in the ascendancy. Maggie Thatcher ruled Britain;
Pinochet's Chile was a byword for torture, and war raged on the streets of
the Six Counties. The world was divided between the two superpowers, the
United States of America and the Soviet Union. This also looked as if it
would last forever.
But for many Irish people that period brings
back immediate memories of those long 8 months in 1981 when Bobby Sands,
Francie Hughes, Patsy O'Hara, Raymond McCreesh, Joe McDonnell, Martin
Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Tom McElwee, and Michael Devine, all
died on hunger strike. Almost 50 died outside the prison. Seven, including
three children, were killed by plastic bullets and hundreds were wounded.
Thug
said a raibh acú ar son a gcairde faoi ghlas agus ar son saoirse na hÉireann.
The
conditions which led to the hunger strikes were created when the London
government, supported by Dublin, tried to criminalise republicans. The logic
was simple. If there were hundreds of political prisoners how could the
struggle be depicted as mere wanton criminality. The British decided that
the prisons were to be a breakers yard for the republican struggle. The
British government didn't want a settlement. It wanted victory.
But
the republican prisoners, the women in Armagh and the Blanketmen, would not
be criminalised. In extraordinary circumstances they took on the entire
might of the British state.
I want to welcome the families of the
hunger strikers who are with us here today. I want to remember Frank Stagg
and Michael Gaughan. I also wish to extend our continuing support to all
their families and the families of all our patriot dead.
Of
course the grief and anger at the death of the ten hunger strikers extended
far beyond their families and friends. Here in this city the political
establishment sat in silence.
But Dublin came to a standstill.
People stopped work, young people walked out of schools, many businesses
closed, tens of thousands took to the streets in scenes that were replicated
across Ireland and the world.
In censored times, the prisoners
cut through all the spin and disinformation. Everyone took sides. Either you
supported Thatcher or you supported the prisoners.
After the
strike ended and 10 men were dead the British government moved to bring
about the prisoners five demands. The prisoners won but at a terrible price.
British government policy failed, once again.
There are many
stories to tell about this time, many lessons to be learned. Over the coming
months I recommend that people take part in the events which are taking
place to commemorate the Hunger Strikes.
Tá féilire ar fáil ón
Choiste Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta.
1916
Rising
What was it that inspired Bobby Sands and his
comrades to engage in struggle, what was the vision that sustained them in
those prison cells. 90 years ago a small number of men and women went out
onto the streets of this city and challenged the greatest superpower of the
day. They were poorly armed and for the most part poorly trained. But they
had big hearts, boundless courage and determination, and an overwhelming
desire to free Ireland.
For many of the republicans, especially
Connolly and Pearse they also saw their endeavour in wider global terms and
especially in the context of British Imperialism.
The British
Empire was the biggest the world has ever seen. The Empire on which it was
claimed, the sun never set. So large were its conquests that it stretched
around the world. Over a quarter of the earth's landmass was incorporated
into this Empire and London imposed its rule over 500 million people and
scores of colonies. It is no accident that these include some of today's
worst troubled regions, from Iraq across the Middle East to Africa, still
dealing with the legacy of colonialism.
The Republic
In
Ireland in 1916 things changed utterly, for the British, but also for the
Irish. A Republic was declared. But not just any Republic. This Republic was
uniquely democratic and determinedly inclusive.
The core values
of this republic were mapped out in the Proclamation.
The
Proclamation hangs in many homes. It prefaces many books. I would appeal to
you all to read it - really read it.
The Proclamation is a
freedom charter for this whole island and all the people who live here.
It
guarantees religious and civil liberty and is avowedly anti-sectarian.
It
promotes equal rights and equal opportunities for all citizens.
And
at a time when women did not have the vote it supported universal suffrage.
The
Proclamation is a declaration of social and economic intent for a rights
based society in which the people are sovereign.
These are not
just clever words or empty rhetoric.
These are great words, great
ideas, which it is our task to see implemented.
Those who most
immediately understood its significance were revolutionary Irish women. One
of these, Margaret Skinnider, was wounded during the fighting in Dublin in
Easter week. Afterward she said: "… in the Constitution of the Irish
republic, women were on an equality with men. For the first time in history
indeed, a Constitution had been written that incorporated the principle of
equal suffrage."
This view was echoed by Hanna Sheehy
Skeffington, who said: "It was the first time in history that men fighting
for freedom voluntarily included women." There are lessons for others and
for all of us here.
Honouring 1916
I
welcome the Taoiseach's announcement that the state will mark the
anniversary of 1916. How this is done will be important. And it's good that
there will be consultation on this issue.
Is a military parade of
two and a half thousand soldiers the best way to do this?
I don't
think so.
An inclusive, civic and cultural celebration, which
educates us all, particularly about Irish republicanism, which measures our
society against the Proclamation, is the best way to honour the visionaries
of that time.
The reason for the re-establishment of the state
event has been the accusation that Sinn Féin hijacked the legacy of 1916.
This
party is part of that legacy. We never hijacked 1916. It is not the sole
property of any political group or any political party.
The truth
is that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, and all the rest of them abandoned
1916.
Mo chlann féin do dhíol a máthair, mar a dúirt an Piarsach.
They
also rewrote the Proclamation. In their writ the ownership of Ireland
belongs not to the people of this island but to the giants of globalisation.
In
their writ the right of the people of this island to the unfettered,
indivisible and sovereign control of our destinies has been handed over to
the bureaucrats of the European Union.
In their writ there is no
notion of cherishing all the children of the nation equally. They cherish
only those who can pay for it.
In their writ our right to
national freedom and the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and
all its parts has been set aside in the interests of the few.
So
it is a good thing that the state is to mark the 1916 Easter Rising.
The
Proclamation of the Republic is the most important and abiding legacy of
that time.
It has outlasted the counter-revolution, the savagery
of the civil war and the partition of this island.
Ireland today
is a country in transition. But the core values of the Proclamation are as
relevant in 2006 as they were in 1916. And a lot of unfinished business has
to be completed if we are to build an Ireland of equals.
Five
great strategic challenges
This evening I want to set
out the five great strategic challenges facing Sinn Féin.
First
and foremost we must concentrate our efforts on the current negotiations.
Our task is to advance the peace process and ensure that the Good Friday
Agreement is implemented in full. Included within this will be the deeply
problematic issue of policing in the north.
Another great
challenge is the need to develop an entirely new relationship with unionism.
Our engagement with unionism must deepen and broaden in the time ahead. This
is a major challenge for this party and I would urge everyone, every
activist to take up this challenge personally.
The third great
challenge facing this party is to build support for Irish unity in Britain.
There
is a potential to create in Britain a solidarity movement similar to that in
the USA.
Another great challenge will be to build an Ireland of
equals. We want to advance the all-Ireland agenda, to make partition history
and to campaign for an Ireland of equals. Our task, like that of all other
progressive forces in Ireland, is to actively change Ireland, day by day,
based on the republican principles of equality, liberty and solidarity.
Our
fifth strategic task is to build Sinn Féin. There are more republicans in
Ireland today than at any time in our history. There are many more
republicans on this island than there are members of Sinn Féin. I want to
call on you to join Sinn Féin, to help us to push forward with our agenda
for change. I especially want to open up our party and our leadership to
women. We need more women involved in our decision making processes.
Five
big strategic challenges - and the biggest challenge is we have to do all of
this at the one time.
Is obair crua a bheas ann, obair trom ach
tá muidne reidh dó.
They are all equally important and
necessary for the success of our struggle. But they are no less than this
party is capable of achieving if we plan and organise and build our capacity
properly.
Historic IRA decisions
It
is over ten years since the historic decision by the IRA to call a cessation
of military activity. This last year, in some respects saw an even more
momentous decision with the IRA's decision to formally end its armed
campaign and put its weapons beyond use.
I want to commend the
courageous and confident vision of the Volunteers of the IRA.
As
I said in my appeal to the IRA last April:
'In the past I have
defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle. I did so because
there was no alternative for those who would not bend the knee, or turn a
blind eye to oppression, or for those who wanted a national republic.
Now
there is an alternative.
I have clearly set out my view of what
that alternative is. 'The way forward is by building political support for
republican and democratic objectives across Ireland and by winning support
for these goals internationally.'
I also said that those who
oppose change are not going to roll over; 'It will always be a battle a day
between those who want maximum change and those who want to maintain the
status quo.
But if republicans are to prevail, if the peace
process is to be successfully concluded and Irish sovereignty and
reunification secured, then we have to set the agenda - no one else is going
to do that.'
The decision by the IRA to move into a new peaceful
mode places an enormous responsibility on all of us to seize the moment and
to make Irish freedom a reality. I believe that this generation of
republicans can make good the promises of the 1916 Proclamation.
But
the decisions by the IRA were undoubtedly deeply difficult for many. There
are republicans still trying to come to terms with it many months later.
Sheas
na hÓglaigh sa bhearna baoil leo féin thar na blianta fada. Mhol muid iad
ansin. Nuair a thaispean said misneach anuraidh mhol muid arís iad. Agus
molaimís iad inniu.
Indeed undoubtedly there are some who
believe that the IRA has made a mistake. They are entitled to their opinion
but to no more than that. No one should harbour the notion that the
republican struggle can be advanced any further by an armed campaign. This
leadership is firmly opposed to such a departure.
The IRA
initiatives also present challenges to others. No-one should under-estimate
the contribution Oglaigh na hÉireann has made to the peace process. The IRA
has removed themselves from the picture and those genuinely interested in
peace need to stop looking for excuses.
The Peace Process
The
peace process is arguably the most important issue facing the people of this
island today. Progress will create stability, will create opportunity, will
create wealth, will improve our standard of living. Success will generate a
confidence, an excitement, an enthusiasm which will contribute to further
progress. All of these things are interlinked and interconnected.
Failure
will set all this back by decades.
So, the months ahead are
critical.
I have made it clear from the republican perspective -
the war is over. But, unfortunately, powerful elements within the British
system have both a war mentality and the resources to sustain this. For them
the peace process is war by other means.
We have told the British
Prime Minister that this is not acceptable. The British government has a
responsibility to dismantle its war machine, to decommission its spy rings
and spymasters and to take to its troops out of Ireland.
In my
April appeal to the IRA I made the point that commitments, including
commitments from the two governments, were reneged on in the past. There
have been further examples of that since then.
History will not
be kind to any government, whether it is the PD/Fianna Fáil coalition here
in Dublin or the one led by Mr. Blair in London, if it puts party political
considerations above the peace process.
There is no possible
excuse for the British and Irish governments to not fully and faithfully
implement the Good Friday Agreement.
This means the Irish
government actively promoting the rights and entitlements of all citizens,
including those in the north. The Taoiseach's decision this week to renege
on his commitment to proceed with northern representation in the Oireachtas
is not acceptable.
There is sufficient support for this within
the Dáil - if the Fianna Fáil party truly supports the participation of
northern MPs - nationalist and unionist. Rhetorical words about 1916 and the
Republic need to be backed up by action.
Is poblachtánaigh uile
oileánda sinn agus ní ghlacfaidh muid le níos lú ná atá i dteideal dúinn.
I
want to direct some remarks to other republicans. (To those who are
frequently labeled by the media as 'dissidents'.)
Obviously there
are fundamental differences between us but all republicans and nationalists
want a united Ireland, an end to British government involvement in Irish
affairs, the release of all political prisoners, and an end to the
harassment of the families of prisoners in Irish and English prisons, and
much more.
I am asking that you look objectively at the current
political situation.
I am asking that you carefully consider your
options.
And I am calling upon you to debate these matters.
The
Future of the Good Friday Agreement
The peace process is
in many ways the reworking of the relationships between unionism and the
rest of the people of this island. And between all of us and the British
government.
British policy in Ireland has historically been the
catalyst for conflict and division in our country.
British policy
ultimately needs to be about ending British jurisdiction on this island.
An
bhfuil said reidh go fóill leis an rud ceart a dhéanamh? Tcífidh muid.
The
current phase of the political talks will decide the future of the Good
Friday Agreement.
I have to say I have huge reservations about
how the two governments are approaching these talks.
At this time
they are pandering to the DUP.
Sinn Féin will listen attentively
and respectfully to everyone's ideas. But the main objective of these talks
has to be to end the suspension of the political institutions within a short
time-frame.
The Sinn Féin leadership has told both governments,
and I have told both Mr. Ahern and Mr. Blair directly, that there can be no
dilution of the Good Friday Agreement to allow for a two-tier or two stages
approach or British appointed Commissioners, to run the north.
British
direct rule is also not an option.
So, the focus of our
negotiators in the weeks ahead is straightforward:
· An end to
the undemocratic suspension of the institutions
· The triggering
of the mechanism for electing the Executive.
· Delivery on
outstanding aspects of the Agreement.
· The conclusion of the
debate on policing on the basis set out in December 2004
· And
the delivery of a peace dividend for the north and border counties.
In
other words we look to both governments to honour their commitments,
publicly made and thus far unfulfilled. That is our agenda for the talks.
Unionism
I
said that we face five strategic challenges. One of these relates to our
relationship with unionism.
Partition has failed. It has failed
the people in the south. It has failed nationalists in the north. It has
failed the very community it was designed to safeguard. It has failed
unionists.
Even within their own rationale partition has no
economic merit. On the contrary all economic advantage lies in Ireland as a
single island economy.
Within the north the large unionist
dominated industries have disappeared.
Discrimination in the
workplace is being challenged. The northern economy has failed. The position
of superiority and influence enjoyed by unionists is being replaced by
equality. That is good for everyone.
Unionist working class
communities are ravaged by unemployment and educational under achievement.
This is bad for everyone.
No unionist leader can believe that
British direct rule is benign. A terrible price is being paid in all of our
communities in the North as a result of British Direct Rule.
This
includes job losses, privatisation, education cuts, falling incomes for
those working in agriculture, a failure to produce any strategy to deal with
suicide prevention, and much more.
The best people to make
decisions about the lives of people in the north are people who live there.
An
gcreideann duine ar bith in Éirinn nó i dTír na Sasan fiú nach dtig le
daoine áitiúil post níos fearr a dhéanamh sa rialtas sa tuaisceart?
There
are many good people within unionism.
People who care about their
community. People who want to see stability, peace and prosperity.
People,
including in the PUP, the DUP and the UUP, who have worked with Sinn Féin in
committees and at councils. People who want a say in decision making.
So
there are challenges for unionism and questions they need to answer.
I
have a question for Ian Paisley - are you ready to begin the process of
building a shared future?
One thing is for certain, Sinn Féin is
not going away.
And there is another thing that all of us can be
certain of - change will continue. And the best option for unionists and the
rest of us is to collectively manage the changes that are coming.
Regardless
of the disposition of the DUP, republicans need to engage with unionist
communities. We need to talk about the future. Everyone has the right to
guarantees for their civil and religious liberties. Republicans need to talk
to unionists about this. We need to listen to their concerns. We want to
talk about Irish unity, about safe guarding everyones rights and identity.
It
is within our collective ability to resolve problems. For example, the
annual crisis caused by the small number of contentious loyal order parades
must be sorted out.
This requires positive political leadership
and meaningful dialogue based on equality and mutual respect.
Sinn
Féin has consistently supported such an approach.
We now
must deepen our engagement, our understanding of unionism if we are to have
partners in conflict resolution. The imperative of conflict resolution begs
another question of Ian Paisley - Ian, is your war over?
International
solidarity
One of the strategic challenges I spoke of
earlier is to build a solidarity movement in Britain. Our struggle has a
huge debt of gratitude to people there, to people in the USA, Australia,
Canada and Europe, and to the government and people of South Africa. As we
build on that support we must also be conscious of our responsibilities
internationally.
Nuair a lás laochra Éirí Amach na Cásca an tine
bheo i mBaile Atha Cliath nócha bliain ó shin spréigh an tine sin ar fud an
domhain.
War in Iraq, conflict in the Middle East, countless wars
in Africa, unimaginable poverty and deprivation across the globe, hunger,
disease, environmental disasters and the fear of more to come, globalisation
and the exploitation of workers, racism and sectarianism, injustice and
oppression, are all huge issues which need to be tackled.
The
reality of our time is that more money is spent on military projects than on
aid or fair trade policies. At the same time impoverished nations in the
developing world are forced to pay exorbitant foreign debt. If this money
was diverted back into health and education, and the other goals set by the
Millennium summit were implemented, the lives of 7 million children could be
saved each year.
These are just some of the international issues
which confront us. Our party will also continue to try to help in peace
processes elsewhere, including in the Basque country, the Middle East, and
Sri Lanka.
Ireland has a place in the world and a responsibility
to change it. That is why I call again on the Irish government to
immediately suspend the use of Shannon Airport for US troops traveling to
the Gulf.
The recent video footage of British soldiers beating
young Iraqis is a stark reminder of the dehumanizing aspects of conflict,
and a familiar experience for many Irish people.
There should be
real democracy in Iraq. Sinn Féin calls for the British and US governments
to withdraw from that country and allow the Iraqi people to determine their
own future.
An agenda for change - Fighting Inequality
The
strategic challenges I have spoken about include the need to use our
political strength to make real our vision of an Ireland of Equals.
We
want to develop a programme which makes republicanism relevant in the every
day lives of citizens. We are about empowering people. Sinn Féin believes in
strong communities which stand up for themselves and which stand by the
weak, the vulnerable and the aged.
Society in this state is more
unequal than it was 15 years ago at the beginning of this period of economic
growth. Some are much better off, but many people are working longer hours
and commuting long distances because they cannot afford to live near their
place of work.
Caithfidh muid cinntiú go ndéanann an rialtas níos
fearr!
There are also - to the Irish government's great shame -
tens of thousands living in poverty. At a time of unprecedented growth, 15%
of all children live in consistent poverty, while one in four children are
deemed by the government's own statistics to be at risk of poverty.
After
15 years of growth it is a disgrace that people are left waiting for days on
hospital trollies, that people can't afford a home to live in and that the
transport system is gridlocked.
Health
In
1980 there were over 17,500 acute hospital beds in the Health service.
Despite the increasing population there are now only 12,000.
This
state has an under-resourced and over-burdened public health system, yet it
gives tax payers money to a thriving private health sector. Those who can
afford to pay avail of the best that is available in the private system.
This includes access to private beds in public hospitals. Health
privatization is a reality in the 26 Counties.
Sinn Féin is
committed to ending the two tier health service.
Sinn Féin is
committed to the establishment of a public health system accessible to all
on the basis of need and delivered to best-practice standards.
That's
what people work and pay taxes for.
No one should have to
languish on a hospital trolley in a corridor. Not in 2006, in the era of the
Celtic Tiger. No one should be on a waiting list for years.
Comhionnanas
do gach duine in Éirinn? Má tá an t-airgead agat.
Every
citizen should have access to the same standard of care.
Why?
Because people have rights. That, Ms Harney, includes the right to a public
health system. If you want private hospitals use your own money. Stop using
the taxpayers money to fund your friends in the private sector.
Housing
There
are almost 44,000 families on the social housing waiting list; there are
thousands more with mortgages they can barely afford.
House
prices continue to rise faster than wages. Building land around most of our
cities, and especially in Dublin, is controlled by a tiny cartel of builders
and land speculators who have friends in high places.
They have
no interest in letting prices fall - their interest is bigger profits. This
is not sustainable and it will be ordinary homeowners who will be at risk.
The
current system is not working. Affordable and social housing should be
provided directly through local authorities and voluntary organisations.
The
money is there to do this.
But, it will require a government
strategy, backed by sufficient funding and political will to achieve this. A
strategy that puts the needs of the many in front of the profits of the few.
Does
anyone think this government has the will or the strategy? No chance. But
Sinn Féin has.
Childcare
There
was a very belated but nonetheless welcome recognition by Fianna Fáil and
the PDs that their policy on childcare has failed children and families.
Having
recognised the problem, however the government's response was pathetic.
•
They should have brought in an immediate increase in paid maternity leave to
six months, with a rapid extension of leave to one year thereafter.
•
They can also afford to introduce paid paternity leave. And, the
introduction of a comprehensive and free pre-school system for all under
fours.
If these bold steps were taken the other remaining
problems such as supply of places would be much easier to solve.
Irish
language
Sinn Féin is in the business of promoting the
use and status of the Irish language. As we celebrate the anniversaries of
the Easter Rising and the Hunger Strikes let us remember how the language
inspired both these generations of republican activists. The hunger strikers
all made the effort to learn Irish under even in the most atrocious
conditions.
So, let us make time for the language.
Let's
continue to
• Promote and develop activities to bring life to the
Language Act in the south.
• Campaign on and support the demand for an
Irish Language Act for the 6 Counties.
• Defend the status of Irish in
the southern education system - teaching methods do need to be improved and
modernised. But any move to sideline Irish should be opposed. Irish should
remain at the core of our education system as a living, spoken language.
In
the near future Sinn Féin's Cultural Department will be unveiling a draft
plan which aims to put activism on the language at the heart of Sinn Féin
activity.
We seek to move from being a party with sound policies
on the language to having a comprehensive strategy which will see the
emergence of a bilingual party with a vision to put the language back into
the lives of the people of Ireland.
Migrant Workers
The
experience of the Irish abroad in the 19th and for much of the 20th
centuries is now a depressing feature of life for others in 21st century
Ireland.
The fact is that there has been a gradual EU wide drive
to erode the conditions in which workers are employed.
The EU
Services Directive would allow private companies to undercut public service
providers by employing people on the salaries of their country of origin.
Amendments adopted in the European Parliament this week were deceptive - the
country of origin principle may have been renamed, but it remains at the
heart of the directive.
This would open migrant workers up to
even greater levels of exploitation, with no protection, while creating the
real prospect of indigenous workers being displaced by migrant workers.
The
government and other parties are complicit in this.
This is
evident in its lack of commitment to the rights of migrant workers; and by
its ongoing refusal to ratify the 1990 UN International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families.
It is also evident in the way in which the Government
has pursued a minimal enforcement of existing labour law.
Sinn
Féin welcomes new communities of all nationalities to our country. We reject
racism and discrimination in any form. It is good that many people are
coming here to work. Immigrant workers are not the problem. The problem is
unscrupulous employers who exploit immigrant workers with low pay and poor
conditions.
Unlike the Labour Party leader, Sinn Féin will not
embrace populist policies which risk setting one group of workers in the
existing workforce, against another group of migrant workers.
Seasann
muid le chéile le cosmhuintir na tíre seo agus ní ghlacfaidh muid le
ciníochas ar bith.
You don't have to be an expert on labour
law to know that if Irish and migrant workers have the same pay and
conditions of employment that this removes any financial benefit for
unscrupulous employers who might otherwise seek to displace their existing
work force. That's common sense.
A Fair Taxation system
The
reality is that our people do not have to choose between being economically
successful and building a more equal and successful society. We can do both.
The
countries that are at the top of the global tables for their successful
social models are also among the most competitive in the world
Those
countries have high quality social services, health systems, and education
systems and they spend a greater share of their wealth on those services
than Ireland. Sinn Féin is about building public services.
There
is now the wealth in this state to ensure:
• That every sick
person who needs a hospital bed gets it when they need it
• That
every child can grow up in modern Ireland without poverty and with good
childcare and education
• That everyone can have a home
•
That there can be decent pay and conditions of work for all sectors.
I
want to call on the Social Partners to put the provision of quality public
services at the top of the agenda in their current partnership talks with
the Government.
The well being of a state cannot be measured only
by how much wealth it produces. The real test is in how that wealth is used
for the benefit of citizens.
The real test is the equality test.
This
state fails that test - miserably.
In 2005 - the two major banks
in this country AIB and Bank of Ireland made profits of almost 2.8 billion
euros - and are liable for corporation tax at only 12.5%.
These
banks are not even the worst cases. Of the top 100 individual earners in the
South in 2005, 41 of them paid less than 5% income tax.
Meanwhile
ordinary working people start paying tax at 42% on anything over €29,400
last year.
Sinn Féin would effectively tax high earners.
Sinn
Féin would increase taxes on capital gains, property speculation and
corporate profits.
Of course, our policies will be attacked by
those who have mismanaged the boom years of the Celtic Tiger.
Expect
more attacks on Sinn Féin including totally unprincipled efforts to vilify
us in the time ahead.
Don't be distracted by this nonsense.
What
we need to do is promote our own agenda and our own record.
Let
the government defend its record. Fianna Fáil attacks Sinn Féin's economic
policies while Fianna Fáil Ministers waste billions of euros of taxpayers
money on failed vanity projects.
Fianna Fáil and the PD's preside
over the systematic destruction of our agriculture industry and what is left
of our fishing industry in this island nation.
They privatise our
public highways and give their friends permission to erect toll booth, after
toll booth, after toll booth.
They sell off public services,
penalise working people and reward the wealthy.
They squander
taxpayers money.
They hand over our natural resources to
multi-nationals like Shell and jail the victims of this sell-out. I would
like to take a moment to welcome Vincent and Maire McGrath and Micheál and
Caitlín Uí Sheighin from the Rossport 5 campaign in County Mayo to our Ard
Fheis and to assure them of our ongoing support. The west's awake. Maigh Eo
abú.
The Mahon Tribunals have also focused once again on the
payments made to crooked politicians by corrupt developers.
There
is a certain irony in the fact that many of these payments were made in
Conway's Bar at the corner of Parnell Street and Moore Lane close to the
spot where Padraic Pearse brought an end to the Rising.
As Luke
Kelly so eloquently put it;
'For what died the sons of Roisin
Was
it greed?'
It is little wonder that the establishment abandoned
the 1916 commemoration when they did. For many of these people they probably
think of the GPO only as a place to buy brown envelopes.
New
Arena of Struggle - Make partition history
Sinn Féin can
look back over the last few years with some degree of satisfaction.
We
have, along with others, been key architects of the peace process. We have
increased our political strength on both sides of the border. I would like
to welcome to the Ard Fheis our new MP for Newry & Armagh, Conor Murphy and
all of the party's councillors who were elected last year. I would also like
to make a special mention of Gráinne Mhic Géidigh, who has the proud
distinction of being our first representative on Údarás na Gaeltachta.
But
we still have a long way to go.
Of course there have been
difficulties. Last year I pledged our support for the family of murdered
Belfast man Robert McCartney. We continue to support them in their campaign
for justice. Let no one be in any doubt about that.
Our party and
our people are travelling through a time of great hope, great risk and great
opportunity. And the road map is clear.
2006 sees Sinn Féin enter
our second century of political activism in an entirely new area of struggle.
Bobby
Sands once remarked; 'Everyone, Republican or otherwise has his own
particular part to play. No part is too great or too small, no one is too
old or too young to do something.'
I believe that there now
exists for the first time since partition an opportunity for all political
parties which espouse Irish unity, and democrats generally, to build a broad
movement to debate and plan the type of Ireland we want to live in. A
political strategy to deliver unity and independence is required - a
strategy which addresses the concerns of unionists but which also carries
forward the necessary work of making partition history.
Ireland
and the world is a different place today from when the leaders of the Rising
assembled on Easter Monday. It is a different place from when Bobby Sands
began his hunger strike on March 1st twenty five years ago.
Our
struggle has changed but our values and objectives remain. They are the core
values of the Proclamation.
Níl aon amhras orm faoi sin.
Between
now and our next Ard Fheis we have a big job of work to prepare for
elections, north and south. Every party, including the government coalition
partners, are already fighting the election.
So too is this party.
And,
don't let the preoccupation of the other parties with Sinn Féin go to your
head.
It will be the voters who will choose their representatives.
Hard
work, sensible planning, good candidates and common sense policies - well
presented - will make a difference.
We are serious about making
change. This weekend Sinn Féin has published three major policy documents on
enterprise and job creation, all-Ireland healthcare and Irish
re-unification. We are serious about implementing these policies, north and
south.
We will be in a power-sharing government in the north once
again. And if we have the mandate and if we can secure an inter-party
government and a programme for government which is consistent with our
republican objectives, we will look at being in government in the south.
But
we have no interest in any of these positions for the sake of it. Or for
ministerial perks or to make up the numbers. Others have shown themselves
more than suited to this task.
Our sole purpose of going into
government is to bring about the maximum amount of change. We will never
meekly serve our time. Our objective is an all-Ireland parliament for all of
the people of Ireland.
The men and women of 1916 were
visionaries. So were the hunger strikers.
We need to be
visionaries too.
This is a time to be confident.
And
to have faith in the changes we are making.
It has become almost
a national pastime for Irish people to run ourselves down. Occasionally it
is good to remind ourselves that Ireland - all 32 counties - is a great
country. And we are proud of it.
Let's make it a better place for
everyone who lives here.
Deanaimís cinnte go mbeidh saol níos
fearr ag ár gcuid páistí ná an saol a bhí againn féin.
Bobby
Sands had a word for all of us.
'Never give up' he said.
'No
matter how bad or black or painful or heartbreaking, never give up, never
despair, never lose hope.'
We, who live in much better times,
have every reason to be equally determined and positive.
On
Wednesday July 29th 1981 I visited the prison hospital in Long Kesh to meet
the hungerstrikers. By that point Bobby, Francie, Raymond, Patsy, Joe and
Martin were dead. Kevin, Tom and Micky died later
Among those I
spoke to was Kieran Doherty. He died three days later after 71 days on
hungerstrike..
I was awed by his dignity, as he lay propped up on
one elbow, in his prison hospital bed, blind as a result of the hungerstrike.
Doc
had a word for us all also.
'Lean ar aghaidh' he said. Advance.
'They
think they can break us. Well they can't. Lean ar aghaidh, he said.
Tiocfaidh ár lá'