SINN FÉ IN:SINN FÉIN leader Gerry Adams yesterday acknowledged it appeared that Fine Gael would lead the next government but warned it would be "a very, very bad government because it is exactly the same as Fianna Fáil".
“I want to stay away from predictions and speculation – you can go on forever about it. But it does appear that there is going to be a Fine Gael-led government or a single Fine Gael government. If that is the wish of the people we will accept that entirely.
“But it is my strong view that that will be a very, very bad government because it is exactly the same as Fianna Fáil. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are opposite sides of the one coin. If you have a bad government committed to these bad policies then you need a good opposition. What is the difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – the size of their pensions?”
Mr Adams also criticised Labour for wanting to go into government with Fine Gael, saying it made no sense to him that a party which claimed to be left-wing wanted to attach itself to a conservative party such as Fine Gael.
He urged Labour to work with Sinn Féin towards developing a right/left divide in Irish politics. There was the potential for a realignment in Irish politics “if there is a relevant alternative and people could see that it would work – that means all of us who share the same vision should start to co-operate on the big issues and the small issues.”
Mr Adams was speaking during a visit to Cork where he went canvassing with party candidates; Jonathan O’Brien in Cork North Central, Chris O’Leary in Cork South Central and Sandra McLellan in Cork East.
Mr Adams later rejected criticism by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin of Sinn Féin’s economic policies, saying the “real acts of lunacy were taken by Mr Martin and his party over the past 14 years, leading us to an unprecedented economic crisis”.