Sinn Féin failure to criticise Russia proven by party’s poor European voting record – Ward

Sinn Féin’s failure to criticise Russia is evidenced by their embarrassingly poor voting record in the European Parliament, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Dún Laoghaire Senator Barry Ward said today’s report from VoteWatch Europe on the analysis of votes cast in the European Parliament since 2019 highlights Sinn Féin’s continued weak stance on Russia.

Senator Ward said, “Given the war raged by Putin in Europe, it’s nothing short of an embarrassment that Ireland is one of the least critical countries of Russia, across EU member states. While Ireland received an overall score of only 65% in relation to our assertiveness towards Russia, Sinn Féin’s score was far lower at less than 43%.

“Time and time again, we see Sinn Féin MEPs cosying up to Russia by failing to vote for resolutions against Putin and his government. To take just one example, MEP Lynn Boylan and her colleagues voted against a 2019 European Parliament resolution which was critical of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the country’s interference in European elections.

“These decisions from Sinn Féin MEPs completely fly in the face of what we value and represent as a nation. Concerningly, the party’s poor voting record in the European Parliament in condemning Putin’s regime has significantly contributed to Ireland being placed fourth from the bottom in terms of criticising Russia.

“Unsurprisingly, MEPs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly had an average 16.7% level of criticism. This appalling score is significantly lower than Sinn Féin’s. However, in contrast to MEPs Wallace and Daly, Sinn Féin representatives promote themselves as belonging to an ordinary, functioning political party. For this reason, Sinn Féin must be held to a high standard.

“Fine Gael has been staunch in our utter condemnation of Russia and Putin’s regime, and we have been steadfast in our support for Ukraine. The VoteWatch Europe report found that Fine Gael had an average 90.2% level of criticism of Russia. We will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine, and we will not apologise for standing up to Putin’s horrific regime,” concluded Senator Ward.