FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has launched a scathing attack on the main governing parties in Northern Ireland while accusing the Government of ignoring serious problems north of the Border.
In an address at the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, Co Kildare, Mr Martin claimed the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin constantly put party interests ahead of the common good at Stormont.
Stressing that much work still had to be done to end division and sectarianism in Northern Ireland, he characterised Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s attitude to cross-Border matters as one of disengagement and complacency.
“Unfortunately too many people today think that the work is over – that we can take for granted what has been achieved,” he said.
“This could be a mistake of historic proportions. The Irish Government has dramatically reduced its level of engagement with northern affairs. Given the effort that went into this process over a very long time by very many people, this sort of disengagement and complacency by our own Government is unacceptable.
“I know that these are hard words, but they are fully borne out by the reality. The Taoiseach has had the bare minimum of meetings concerning the North and has outlined not a single new item for his agenda. There has been no attempt to move the process to the next stage. There has been no push for initiatives to undertake vital anti-sectarian work. There has been no discussion of how the long-term roots of division and underdevelopment are to be tackled.”
Mr Martin then turned his critical focus to the main parties in Northern Ireland, claiming the popular legitimacy of the power-sharing institutions was in danger of being undermined.
“The peace process was always intended to be about more than an absence of violence,” he said.
“The people of the North deserve a political system that delivers progress, that demonstrates that politics works and is about making their lives better.
“Any calm and objective analysis of the performance of the Assembly and Executive over the last year would, very reluctantly, have to question whether they are delivering in these terms.
“There have been notable successes – the Our Time, Our Place [tourism] campaign has been excellent, but we have seen just five pieces of legislation pass through the Assembly and we have seen the news dominated by old parades politics.
“More depressingly, we have also seen things get worse across a range of key indices.
“For example, the North was confirmed as having the highest levels of child poverty in the relevant comparisons, with an average of 28 per cent. West Belfast currently has a staggering 46.2 per cent of children living in poverty.
“Most of the major advances in the peace process required years of work in getting the DUP and Sinn Féin to change their policies. Getting them to accept the principles of the [Belfast] agreement in all their dimensions delayed its full implementation for nearly a decade.
“It is at best foolish and at worst reckless to step back and believe that the DUP and Sinn Féin are capable of working in the interests of all groups. They have constantly shown an interest in putting party interests ahead of broader interests.
“Playing politics and putting their party interest first is a consistent part of [Sinn Féin’s] ideology – something we see every day in the Dáil,” he said. “They have also refused to acknowledge the founding logic of the peace process . . . that the campaign of violence and division was wrong.”