Sinn Féin’s performance in Government in North does not bode well for here – Ward

If Sinn Féin’s performance in Government in the North is taken as an indication of future performance if elected to office here, the Irish people will need to buckle up, a Fine Gael General Election candidate has said.

Senator Barry Ward said, “The risks on the horizon following the US election will pale in comparison if a Sinn Féin Government is elected here at the end of the month.

“Mary Lou McDonald, in a media interview this week, conceded that her party has no Government experience while referencing the fact that Sinn Féin has been in power in Northern Ireland for a number of years.

“If this is her benchmark of future success, the Irish economy and our people are in for a severe, sharp shock.”

The facts are that with Sinn Féin in power in Northern Ireland;

• The lowest number of homes have been built in 65 years – just 5,380 new homes were built in 2023 compared to 32,700 new dwellings completions here.
• House completions in 2024 are set to be the lowest since World War II – since Winston Churchill was Prime Minister.
• Social housing completions in the North more than halved in the latest quarter compared with the same period in 2023-2024.
• 47,312 people on the social housing waiting list in the North in June, compared to 58,824 in the Republic with a population almost three times the size.
• Homelessness has more than doubled in the North in the last 10 years in every district bar one.
• The prevalence of drug offences in Northern Ireland is 437 per 100k, compared to 306 per 100k in Ireland.
• Sexual offences are at 170 per 100k, compared to 60 per 100k in Ireland.
• The North has healthcare waiting lists more than twice as long as the Republic in 2023 (281,000 per million compared to 138,000 per million in the Republic); it’s the worst performer in the United Kingdom for patients waiting over one.
• As recently as June 2014, Sinn Féin slashed spending across all Government Departments in NI (except health and education), agreeing cuts of £78m.

Senator Ward went on to say: “Sinn Féin was also part of a Government that saw its public representatives refusing to take their seats, while getting paid, for more than two years. If this is how Sinn Féin gets things done, then we should all take heed.”

“Sinn Féin’s reckless approach to our economy here in the Republic, which will see that party spending billions more than others, would shred our safety net and leave us without any safeguards for the future.

“They are promising to spend €79bn over the next five years, far in excess of Fine Gael, which is proposing to spend €52bn.

“In addition to setting out how they will keep us safe and provide for our people in the years ahead, Sinn Féin needs to start explaining where they are getting all the money.”