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Describing the coronavirus as the “crisis of a century” in March, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was time for the country to come together. The pandemic was not a time for anyone to “throw shapes,” he declared.
Seven months later, Sinn Féin’s support for the government’s Covid-19 plans has significantly waned, with the party accusing the government of dangerously rejecting public health advice and delivering inconsistent messages to the public.
In turn, government parties denounce that Sinn Féin is using the pandemic for “political gain” and “instilling fear” and confusion in an already anxious and agitated public.
In September, notes Fianna Fáil Senator Lisa Chambers, it was McDonald who called for pubs and restaurants to remain open at a time when Dublin was entering Level 3 restrictions, while the government stood on a tougher line.
Later, Fine Gael and Tánaiste leader Leo Varadkar said that Sinn Féin’s approach was “a risk for all of us.”
“[They have] been responsible for slow decision making, poor leadership and divided government in Northern Ireland on Covid-19. Let’s not let them get anywhere near the south of the border. “
Fine Gael has repeatedly highlighted the differences in Sinn Féin’s approach to the north and south, especially the different positions the party has taken on whether schools should be closed or not.
In the north, Sinn Féin is believed to have actively favored the closure of schools for four to six weeks. In the end, the closing of two weeks that the Executive finally agreed represented a compromise reached with the DUP.
By comparison, Sinn Féin education spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire says Sinn Féin supports keeping them open in the south if testing and tracing among students improves and if schools get the support they need.
Sinn Féin also faced criticism from Fine Gael for differences in the levels of welfare benefits available to workers affected by Covid in both jurisdictions, although the charge is less robust as the figures for the North are set by the Treasury in London.
Finally emerging
Chambers of Fianna Fáil says that “the hypocrisy of her approach is finally emerging and people are seeing it. In the north, they are happy to take a different approach. His answer is contradictory depending on the time of day ”.
Ó Laoghaire says that while “it is not ideal to have different public health councils in the north and south,” the fact is that Nphet (the National Public Health Emergency Team) in Dublin did not recommend closing schools.
Questions and criticism are fine, Chambers says, but a strategy that aims to undermine the government’s approach and instill fear is dangerous and improper. Far from being the most constructive opposition in the state’s history, Sinn Féin has been the most destructive.
His answer is completely political. They approach the pandemic in the same way that they approach any other issue, thinking about how they can obtain a political benefit, “says the Mayo politician.
In government buildings, some senior officials believe Sinn Féin has been deliberately vague – or, as one influential figure put it, “hesitant” – when asked repeatedly on radio and television about the extent of the public health restrictions. that should exist.
The suspicion is that Sinn Féin does not want to alienate voters at a time when they are doing well in poll scores, so it deliberately seeks to stay in the middle of the road, hoping not to make a potentially damaging impression. .
Sinn Féin, however, argues that it has forced the government to “back off” on PUP cuts, reintroduce tenant protections and is still demanding mortgage rescissions for borrowers affected by the pandemic.
He insists that none of the criticism made of him is true, adding that he has supported public health restrictions along with financial support for those affected from “the beginning.”
He also says that he has not had full access to government data.
However, this latest defense was called into question this week when it emerged in a report in the Irish Independent that McDonald had left a three-hour Covid-19 briefing for opposition leaders after just one hour.
Such conduct is “hypocritical and untrue,” said Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, and is “typical of Sinn Féin to wait and see which way the wind blows before committing to public office.”
Presentation
However, Sinn Féin argues that McDonald was present throughout Medical Director Tony Holohan’s presentation, and that she came on the call at 4 p.m. as scheduled and left after 90 minutes. The defense is rejected by others who were on the call.
“The excuse of not having information is not credible. Absolutely. She was at the meeting with the medical director and the deputy medical director, and she left early. All the statistics were shared, all the predictions. “
If there is tension in Dublin, however, there is relative harmony in the Northern Executive, although there will always be tensions between five parties that have diametrically different positions.
Insiders say there was an opinion in March that it was four games to one (Sinn Féin was one), but the relationship between Prime Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill has improved as they have struggled to find solutions to Covid. -19.
Last week, the DUP and Sinn Féin had to hold night talks to achieve a blockade for the North. The fact that they have done so is seen as an achievement and a sign that they can reach a compromise in the interest of public health.
All of this despite Sinn Féin’s calls for an island-wide virus strategy, something the DUP looks on dispassionately. Not even the coronavirus, for all its stubbornness, can overcome those particular hurdles.
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