Toiréasa Ferris Blog

Counting the days

Monday 1st June

The last week of an election campaign is always stressful for candidates, party colleagues and family members. There has been a raft of opinion polls, newspaper specials and media events taking a look at all the candidates and at least some of the issues. All of this creates an atmosphere of almost unbearable tension among everybody involved in the campaign.

This atmosphere soaks right down to the voters. It is in these last few days that the voters really focus on the issues and the candidates, there’s no hiding from the public or from the media. My sense is that as people concentrate more and more on deciding who to vote for those of us arguing that we need real change in Ireland and in Europe are benefitting most.

That sense of almost desperation for new policies for this new time is palpable. I am out there every day trying to convince people that a new generation doesn’t have to follow the failed policies of yesterday. It’s an important message to get across as cynicism and mistrust of all politicians is understandable as we see the queues for the dole getting longer and longer every day.

I am still confident though that the appetite for change is growing by the day and the response I am getting across Munster has made me believe that a great result for Republicans and for all forces trying to bring about real change is possible.  I don’t intend letting up over the last few days- this election is too important to allow the government off the hook!

On another note, these last few days are also noticeable for the number of clichés that get trotted out every day. “It’s all about momentum” and “there’s only one poll that matters” are two of my favourites. I suppose there’s a grain of truth in every cliché but they do get tiresome. For my part I promise to try avoiding the use of any clichés between now and Friday.

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Consistency: is it too much to ask for?

 

As more and more issues arise over the length of the campaign I am beginning to wonder if some of our sittings MEPs have dual personalities!

 

I mean on the one hand I listen to them passionately defending our local and regional hospitals and even taking part in campaigns to protect them and then on the other hand I look at their record and that of their party colleagues in Brussels and Strasbourg where they have supported moves to treat healthcare as part of the "internal market" instead of as a public service.

 

You see them railing against nuclear power at home and pushing the nuclear agenda in Europe, even running on a manifesto which talks about the need for more and cheaper nuclear power plants- Sellafields with Homer Simpson at the helm as my colleague Tomás Sharkey puts it!

 

Not forgetting the biggest hypocrisy of them all- the Lisbon Treaty. How can they on the one hand say they want Ireland to be at the "Heart of Europe" and on the other hand argue for a Treaty which will halve Ireland's voting power at the EU table and remove some of our strategic vetoes? How can they say they want a more democratic Europe when they have actively contrived with other MEPs and governments to ignore not only our vote against Lisbon but that of the people of France and Holland previously on the EU Constitution?

 

I have no intention of developing any dual personality if elected. Imagine having to try to remember if you are in favour of rural post offices one day or whether you're against them another day because you're in Strasbourg!

 

Sinn Féin's two MEPs over the past five years have worked tirelessly and consistently in defending our constituents' interests. Their work has shown up the antics of other Irish MEPs too long used to getting away with voting one way in Europe and coming home then to say the exact opposite!

 

With me you won't get two Toiréasas- I only know how to be the one- and wouldn't even be able to change that if I wanted to!

 

 

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"Cherishing the children of the nation"

 

There have been accusations flying around of political exploitation of the terrible revelations of the Ryan report and I for one do not want to be branded as one of those opportunists, therefore I am writing this blog not as an election candidate but as the granddaughter of a young orphan who suffered at the hands of the Mercy order in Westport for thirteen years and as the cousin of a young boy, victim of extreme abuse in St. Joseph's industrial school in Tralee. I, like the family members of all victims, am satisfied that this report acknowledges and condemns their treatment, however I am disgusted that just like all those in positions of power in this state who have committed crimes against the people, very few are being held accountable for their actions. In this specific case very few have been convicted before the courts, and despite its extreme wealth the church is not doing the Christian thing and paying for their sin, the taxpayer is.

 

I would like to think that its publication does at least show that the State and government is capable of admitting mistakes, apologising for them and correcting its ways. However, I wonder if even that much is true.

 

The Ryan report shows us all what can happen when the State fails to protect its children. It paints a picture of the most extreme consequences of this failure which lead to prolonged physical, sexual and mental abuse of thousands of children in institutions a cross the State.

 

We can all say "never again" as many times as we want but we should also be asking ourselves another question- is the State of today protecting and cherishing our children?

 

For decades our state ignored and in some cases assisted the exploitation and abuse of our vulnerable children. It is ironic that in the very year the Ryan report was published highlighting such serious failings, our current government has launched a devastating attack against our country's must vulnerable children.

 

During these times of cutbacks and savings, it seems that responsibility is once more being waived. I wouldn't dream of comparing the horrors of the Ryan report with the economic and social effects of today's policies but the cutbacks now being implemented will also have consequences for our most vulnerable children.

 

Look at some of the cuts currently being administered by the State which affect children:

 

• The increase in class sizes at primary level along with cuts to teacher numbers.
• The cuts to special needs education classes which are hitting the most vulnerable children in our education system.
• The shortfall in funding for the national Children's Hospitals resulting in the closure of wards and theatres and long delays for sick children awaiting operations and other treatments.
• The cancellation of the HPV cervical cancer vaccine programme for girls.
• The refusal to provide essential facilities for children and young people with cystic fibrosis.
• The refusal to put in place out-of-hours social work services to help children in crisis.

• Closure of Community Crèches due to the withdrawal of funding.

 

 

Each of these cutbacks will have consequences for our children.

 

Does the State really think it can cut teacher numbers and still educate our children as well as they did before? How can the closing of community crèches help people get back to work?

 

Lessons must be learned from the Ryan report about how to protect our most vulnerable children and equally in this day and age our policies should be about maintaining that level of protection for our children, not letting it whither away as this government abdicates responsibility to our nation's children once more.

 

Let's stand up for the victims of the state's failure to protect our children and let's campaign for better economic and social protection for today's children too!

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Thursday 21 May

Answering all the questions!

 

As the big day approaches more and more media opportunities are popping up. The last couple of days have been crazy. First up on Monday night I was in Dublin for the Vincent Browne show on TV3 and then on Wednesday the Pat Kenny show was in Cork to do a programme with all the candidates in Munster.

 

Now, we all know what the big issues of the day are: jobs, jobs and jobs!

 

I am left asking myself then why Vincent Browne wanted to spend the whole interview picking seemingly random tragic events from the conflict in the north and asking me about my feelings on certain events from the seventies or eighties. This is 2009 and we are in a deep recession caused in no small part by the failed policies of our own successive governments and the European Union's flawed economic policies and the only thing he can ask me as an EU candidate is about events long ago that not one person has asked me about throughout my whole campaign!

 

On Wednesday it was the Pat Kenny show along with almost all of the other EU candidates in the "South" constituency. To be fairer this was a broader interview but once again Kenny seemed fixated on a bizarre line of questioning. This time it was about Mary Lou McDonald's absence from the European Parliament during her maternity leave! How dare a woman spend time with her children instead of trooping off to the European Parliament?!

 

Not that I am the only one being asked odd questions. Each of the candidates at the Pat Kenny event was asked almost random questions. What did the two Fine Gael candidates think of each other? Where are your substitutes from? Can you guarantee you won't run in the general election? I am beginning to wonder if this is a European election at all!

 

I'd love to see debates focussing on the real issues and the genuine concerns of people as we get closer to the election. Maybe the journalists need to spend some time canvassing!

 

Meanwhile back in the real world, the work continues and the campaigning hots up...

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday 17^th May

The big launch!

 

 

Campaigns launches are of course big media events and planned in great detail and I guess sometimes the detail of what a party stands for and what its policies are can be lost in the camera flashes and the media can just pick on one detail or one comment and build their whole presentation around that. I think it's important therefore to reiterate what platform you're standing on and why and what makes you different.

 

I haven't followed any other party launches too closely but I know of at least one way in which the Sinn Féin team launch was different- we're the only ones presenting an all-Ireland team to the electorate. In a way, the European election is the closest thing we have to an all-Ireland election. Irish people from all thirty-two counties can vote for politicians to represent them in the same parliament; that's unique in Ireland but yet only Sinn Féin can manage to field serious candidates in every constituency!

 

My party's campaign in different in other ways too. We have laid out an ambitious platform in which we have put the interest of the Irish people first and unashamedly so. This means opposing any re-run of the rejected and outdated Lisbon treaty, it means promoting real democratic change in Europe and it means standing up for Ireland's economic sovereignty so that we can take the necessary measures at home to improve our economy.

 

I wonder how some Irish MEPs can canvass for support in an EU election less than a year after the Irish people strongly rejected the Lisbon Treaty and lecture us on how the EU and other MEPs are right to carry on planning the implementation of the Treaty. You can be sure that all Sinn Féin candidates elected will play no part in the charade currently going on in which our own government, other EU governments and the EU Parliament pretend that we never voted!

 

Another thing that strikes me as being different is the emphasis some parties are putting on their "European political party". You know when you vote for me you are voting for a Sinn Féin candidate and only a Sinn Féin one. Other parties may be happy to take their orders from the PES or EPP or whatever acronym they attached themselves to but for my part  I will approach every vote and every issue with the interests of the Irish people as the deciding factor in how I vote, not the interests of the Brussels office of any "European political party". I'm sure on the really big issues the interests of working people across Europe are the same but sometimes an Irish approach is needed to ensure our interests are protected. I can guarantee that I won't shirk from voting for Ireland when necessary, can they?

 

Well, that's just some of the differences that may get lost in the heat of the campaign but Sinn Féin won't forget about them when we're elected!

 

 

 

 

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Saturday May 16

Opinion Poll encouraging but not surprising

 

 

I am not one to read too much into opinion polls but sometimes they can be useful in confirming your suspicions if nothing else. Yesterday's Irish Times opinion poll on the Euro-constituencies falls into that category of poll and is greatly encouraging for Sinn Féin and for my own campaign in Munster. Not only does it show Mary Lou McDonald on course to keep her seat in Dublin but also shows strong showings from all Sinn Féin candidates across the state.

 

In "South", which includes five of the six Munster counties, the Irish Times' number cruncher predicts that "the constituency will go down to the last count." There seems to be some surprise out there at this revelation but as somebody who has been campaigning across the province for weeks now I am not one bit surprised. Everybody knows about the anger and resentment towards the government but from my experience this is only part of the picture.

 

We are seeing an economic collapse that was unthinkable only a very short time ago. Jobs are disappearing at an unprecedented rate and it's ordinary working people and families who are feeling it. Naturally there is a huge deal of frustration and annoyance among the voters I am coming across. The sight of Fianna Fáil politicians linking the rejection of Lisbon to the economic crisis is sickening but again not surprising in the current climate. It is exactly the type of dishonesty and recklessness with the truth and our livelihoods that have us in this disastrous economic situation and which quite rightly leaves people raging at their arrogance and incompetence.

 

However, what I'm picking up on the doorsteps is something deeper than just anger; it is a desire for change. People are angry but equally they are looking for an alternative. Gerry Adams has spoken about the need to develop an alternative based around the forces of the Left. This opinion poll is more proof if needed of the vulnerability of the "two-party" system that has so stifled progress in Irish society.

 

This is potentially a time of great change and realignment in Irish politics. We need to capitalise on this mood by bringing our message directly to as many people across Ireland as possible over the next few weeks. We saw during the Lisbon referendum how a concerted and people-based campaign can empower people to challenge the status quo and the establishment parties, I think this poll shows how the upcoming local and EU elections can offer a similar opportunity to deliver a shock to the establishment. 12 per cent? "You ain't seen nothing yet!"

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Love it or hate it, reality TV has done womankind a huge favour by introducing Jade Goody into our lives. Whether a fan of hers or not it cannot be denied that Jade Goody has done more to highlight the need for regular cervical smears than our government ever could, even if they were willing to give it the attention and funding it deserves. Watching a young mother organise her last weeks and days with her two sons has been the wake up call many, including myself, needed to schedule our next and for some their first cervical smear test.
 
What is equally upsetting is that despite the fact that our government can roll out a vaccine that will prevent upwards of 70% of cervical cancer cases for the generation not yet in their teens, they are choosing not to do so. You cannot put a price on the value of young women's lives. But even if you were to ignore the heartache and suffering of cancer sufferers and their families, providing the vaccine makes financial sense. The cost is said to be in or around €9 million Euro. When one considers the cost of treating cancer and the fact that upwards of 70% of cases of cervical cancer will be prevented by the vaccine then surely there are huge savings to be made.
 
While the responsibility to our young women lies with those running our country it has been left to an anonymous business man and a number of GP's to protect the future of three hundred young girls in North Dublin. They are to provide the vaccine free of charge, as the government had promised to do a few short months ago.

This is a welcome initiative by these individuals and it would be fantastic if it was followed in other parts of the country. But it is no substitute for government action. €100 million was spent by the state last year subsidising private fee-paying schools where the majority of citizens will never be able to send their children, hundred of millions was spent on branded drugs where cheaper generic versions are available. Similar examples of wastage are everywhere; but the government could not come up with €9 million to save the lives of young girls. Once again this government is failing in its most fundamental duty to its citizens.

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I spent the weekend at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis at the RDS. There was a real buzz among the 1,000 delegates and supporters who attended. If the spirit at the Ard Fheis is any indication, the omens are good for the June elections. Gerry Adam's address was excellent - slating the bankers and golden circles who have brought this country to its knees, and calling for an alliance of the left and a new patriotism and sense of common purpose to take us forward. If you didn't see the live broadcast, check it out on youtube!

Particularly impressive were the number of young, articulate candidates going forward at the next election. People like Tomás Sharkey and Kathleen Funchion, the EU candidates in Leinster, Matt Carty from Monaghan, David Cullinane from Waterford, Rachel McCarthy from West Cork and Pearse Doherty from Donegal. I honestly don't think any other party could field such a team of young, capable representatives, and it gives me great confidence in the future of Sinn Féin. 

It was also great - given the "macho" image republicanism still has in some quarters - to see the number of women candidates, and particularly to see Mary Lou McDonald MEP elected Sinn Fein's Vice-President.

There were some interesting motions on the clár. I learned what "foix gras" was - a paté made from the livers of geese who have been force-fed - as a result of an Ógra Ath Cliath motion calling for a ban on its sale in Ireland. Barry McElduff was hilarious, as usual, calling for the PSNI to wear Easter lilies as well as poppies in the cause of "parity of esteem".

But the serious business of the Ard Fheis was to grapple with the economic crisis facing the country. We all know who got us into this mess - the golden circle, or poison cocktail, of Fianna Failers, bankers, and developers. But the question people want answered is "how do we turn things around"?  Well, not by cutting public servants' pay - which takes more money out of the economy - mortgaging our children's future through cutbacks in education while targeting the least well off! What is needed is strong leadership and a clear plan. Central to that plan needs to be sorting out the banks, targeted investment in areas that will bring the greatest economic return, reform of the taxation system to make sure everyone pays their fair share, and protecting the most vulnerable in our society.

Over the next few weeks, Sinn Fein will be rolling out a number of detailed policy papers putting forward our alternative approach to the economy. Watch this space!

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Hello and welcome to our Ireland South European Election web page! If you've made it this far than you can't be having much difficulty navigating the site, however if there are any improvements or additions you can suggest please feel free to let us know.

The purpose of this blog is to allow you access to me to discuss any issue of importance to you or any recommendations you have for the campaign. I'll try to respond in a reasonable time, however juggling a baby, work and an election campaign, I can't always guarantee that my definition of reasonable will reflect yours!

To get the ball rolling here's something I'd like to discuss with you...........
 
In these tough economic times it's more important than ever that we stand together. So I'm particularly disappointed with the way both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are trying to divide the workers of Ireland and sow division between the public and the private sector.

For the last six months we have had a flood of stories about public servants fattening themselves on the back of the Irish tax payer. Behind the media campaign lies a determination by employers to exploit the downturn to drive down wages for both public and private sector workers.

Last week the propaganda paid off and last week when the government announced what is in effect a 6% pay cut for the public sector. What is worse, the way the levy is implemented discriminates against low- and middle-income public servants. A worker on €20,000 will sacrifice almost the same percentage of their income as someone on €300,000.

At almost the same time, it was revealed in the Dáil that landlords get €1.4 billion worth of tax relief each year. Meanwhile the government is preparing to hand €7 billion in taxpayer's money to the banks that had a big hand in causing this mess - with few meaningful guarantees for mortgage holders or small businesses strapped for cash.

Ordinary workers, in public and private sectors alike, are now paying the price for the recklessness of bankers and property developers who fuelled an unsustainable property boom, and for a government that was asleep at the wheel. Workers should not allow themselves to be set against another. Rather, workers in all sectors need to unite against those who want to use these difficult times an excuse to slash hard-fought for wages and conditions for all.

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