PRESS RELEASE
Sinn Féin: ‘Our Chance
To Redeem the Republic’
March 3, 2011 (EIRNS)— Ireland's ballot revolution swept away the Fianna Fáil ruling party, after it had connived with the financial institutions of the empire to loot the Irish people for generations to come. This is not only a defeat for Fianna Fáil, but for any ruling party in the Eurozone or elsewhere, which attempts to impose a "pound of flesh" policy.
After being a ruling party for most of the past 80 years, the Fianna Fail went from 78 seats in the Irish Parliament (the Dáil) to all but 20, securing only 1 seat out of 47 in Dublin, the nation's capital and largest city. Their coalition partner, the Greens, got a well-deserved smashing, losing all of their seats. While the well-established Fine Gael won 76 of the 166 seats, the Labour Party won a record 37, putting the two parties on the way to forming the next government. The most spectacular gains, however, were made by the Sinn Féin under the leadership of Gerry Adam and his "burn the bank bondholders" banner. They more than tripled the number of their seats, from 4 to 14. As for other anti-bailout parties, the Socialist Party and the People Before Profit Alliance each won 2 seats, and the independents, 15, reflecting the electorate's growing distrust of big parties.
Thus, the long hand of Irish history came down and decimated the economic traitors of the Fianna Fail, who had sold the Irish people out to the Celtic Tiger speculators, and then handed over national sovereignty to the IMF and the EU.
Lyndon LaRouche welcomed the developments in Ireland, noting the common history of the foundations of the American Revolution and the Irish fight against the British Empire from the time of the invasion of William of Orange.
Fine Gael's leader Enda Kenny is now set to become the new prime minister. In contrast to Sinn Féin, which rejected the bank bailout, Kenny has accepted it in principle, but has committed his party to demanding renegotiation, especially in terms of interest rates. Although EU leaders have declared there is no room for Ireland to renegotiate the bailout, Kenny will be under tremendous pressure from the growing block of Sinn Féin-led anti bailout candidates elected. As newly elected Sinn Féin member Padraig MacLauchlan, said, "This is our chance to redeem the republic."
At the beginning of the Irish crisis, as details of the rotten bailout deal began to leak out, Sinn Féin took the moral leadership. Gerry Adams resigned his seat in the Northern Ireland Parliament and announced that he would lead a full slate of Sinn Féin candidates in the Republic of Ireland. While all other parties were crawling on their knees to the IMF and EU, Sinn Féin announced that "not one red cent should be paid to bail out the banks." The Sinn Féin candidates campaigned against every aspect of the austerity budget agreed upon by the government and the financial empire running the bailout, and that leadership is what will shape the period ahead.
When it was announced that Adams had won election on the first ballot, he was hoisted on the shoulders of his supporters, and said,
"We went out in this election, we set out our stall very, very clearly. I think the votes across the state show a significant amount of people support the position we have taken up."
Sinn Féin will be joined by other anti-bailout parties in the new opposition, including the United Left Alliance and Independents. The leader of the Socialist Party, Joe Higgins, who faced down José Barroso in the European Parliament, was elected, as were others who agree with the intention to "burn the bondholders, save the people."
