Harris and Martin have ‘acute amnesia’ over records in government, says McDonald

Sinn Fein’s president has accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fail of conspiring to keep her party out of government and prevent change in Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald said Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin were now “indistinguishable” from each other, as she claimed they were suffering “acute amnesia” in regard to their records in government.

The Fine Gael and Fianna Fail leaders, who were partners in the last coalition government in Ireland, have made clear they will not countenance Sinn Fein as a potential partner in the next administration in Dublin.

“I was in the middle of the two and I didn’t hear anything that I haven’t heard a million times before,” she said of the RTE Prime Time debate.

“I am absolutely struck at the fact that they seem to be suffering from acute amnesia, they have forgotten that, in fact, they have been in government together in support of each other for the last decade.

“To listen to them, you’d imagine they had just arrived on the scene and that they were going to come up with all of these solutions. They have had ample chances, ample opportunity to make things better, and they have failed, and in between the two of them, I make the case that now we ask for our chance, with our plans, with our team, to demonstrate how change can happen, how your community, your family, yourself, can be supported when the government is actually on your side.”

Mr Martin accused Sinn Fein of being “dishonest” about how they will fund their manifesto plans.

Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, he said that he is anxious to get clarity on the issue.

“I think Sinn Fein have been very dishonest, frankly, in terms of the funds, because if you go through their figures, and this is a matter of fact, not opinion, they’re predicting a surplus of a billion in 2026, a billion in 2027.

“Even in 2025, they’re talking about a mini budget, which would mean reducing the surplus that we’re anticipating in 2025.

“There’s a legislative obligation now on any new government to put 0.8% of GDP to one side, and into the funds. There’s no way you can do that with a surplus of a billion in 2026 or 2027 and we would argue they would not have enough funds next year either to put into the funds.

“You can’t ignore the legislation. And it seems to me Sinn Finn should be more upfront and honest in saying that they’re going to discontinue the 0.8% contribution to the funds. The implications of that are serious.

“It means they have no room to manoeuvre if things go wrong, if there’s headwinds come externally, or there are shocks internationally, Sinn Fein is not allowing any headroom at all in terms of room to respond or to move it.

“They want to spend all the windfall cooperation taxes next year, the year after and in 2027.”

Mr Martin said he enjoyed the debate, adding it went fast.

He said the next 48 hours will be tough.

“It will be a closely fought race. There’ll be 43 different elections in different constituencies,” he added.

“So it’s too close to call, I’m not predicting anything, and I think it would be far too premature to do so.”

The leaders of Ireland’s three main political parties clashed on housing, healthcare and financial management in the last televised debate before Friday’s General Election.

The tetchy debate, which was marked by several interruptions, saw the parties set out their stalls in a broadcast that commentators said did little to move the dial before polling day.

The latest opinion poll on Monday put the parties in a tight grouping with Fianna Fail slightly ahead of Sinn Fein, and Fine Gael in a close third after a significant slide in a campaign marked with several hiccups for Mr Harris’s party.

After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Ireland’s Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power.

From 2016 to 2020, Fianna Fail had supported Fine Gael in power through a confidence and supply arrangement from the Opposition benches in the Dail parliament.

Sinn Fein won the popular vote in 2020 but a failure to run enough candidates meant it did not secure sufficient seats in the Dail to give it a realistic chance of forming a government.

Following Tuesday’s debate, Ms McDonald was the first of the three leaders to face the cameras on Wednesday.

“I think people know from the last general election that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael went to all lengths to keep not just Sinn Fein out of government, but to stop change,” Ms McDonald said.

“And we’re saying to people this election now is time to call time on that.

“There’s an opportunity now for the people to be in the driving seat, to come out in big numbers, to back Sinn Fein, to back change, to back a change of government, because that is the thing that can transform the situation.”

Ms McDonald said she found it “astonishing” that Tanaiste Mr Martin appeared to be on a “mission” to ensure that Fine Gael returned to government.

“It’s astonishing, really, that Fine Gael having been in government for 14 years that Micheal Martin is now so intent on returning them again,” she told reporters.

“That, to be clear, is a recipe for continuing failure. And I think it’s astonishing that he would advance that position, having been so clear five years ago (during the last election campaign) that Fine Gael had been too long in the government.”

Asked who she thought won the RTE debate, Ms McDonald replied: “I think the argument for change won the debate last night. I think that Micheal Martin and Simon Harris have become now almost indistinguishable. I think there is a pretence that they are different in their politics. They’re not.”