The Sinn Féin leader has warned Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that an “appetite for change” among voters will continue to grow during the next government.
It comes as the two parties ballot their members on the proposed programme for a coalition government with the Green Party.
On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Mary Lou McDonald again labelled Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil “Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee” and said they clubbed together to ensure that “come what may, Sinn Féin was to be kept out” of government.
She said the proposed coalition will leave Sinn Féin “in a very strong political position.”
“They may succeed in slowing down the very necessary change that we need in our society but they won’t stop it,” she said.
“This will buy them some time but I am absolutely convinced […] that when it becomes apparent that we are getting more of the same in housing and health and all of the rest of it, that they are sticking to their old formula and their old failed ways of doing business, I think the appetite for change will grow again.”
"Tweedledum and Tweedledee agreed between them that, come what may, Sinn Féin was to be kept out. This was a clear case of the politics of exclusion. It is wrong," says @MaryLouMcDonald #PKNT
— Pat Kenny Newstalk (@PatKennyNT) June 17, 2020
She said Sinn Féin would provide “a very coherent, a very progressive, a very enlightened opposition” throughout the lifetime of the next government.
“We will deliver on the mandate for change that we were given,” she said.
“If it is not in government this time, it will be from the opposition benches but we will be preparing to be a party of government and leading a government that will have the courage and the imagination to innovate and to ditch things that simply don’t work for vast, vast swathes of our population.”
The Green Party leader Eamon Ryan arrives at Government Buildings, 14-06-2020. Image: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNewsEach of the three parties have different systems in place for balloting their members on the programme for government.
The Green Party has the hardest task, with party rules meaning they need two-thirds of their members to back the plan if they are to enter government.
Deputy McDonald said the document includes a lot of promises about the “greening of Irish policy” – but claimed it promises little in other areas.
“You can see how the language has been crafted to Green Party members in particular but to people who are concerned about the environment more generally,” she said.
“When you read through, it is disappointing though not surprising.
“It promises more of the same in terms of housing, in terms of health and it fudges absolutely the issue of the pension age.
“In other words, it does not respond to the very clear mandate form the people last February which was for a change in policy. A turning of the corner in each of these critical and crucial issues.”
"When it becomes apparent that we are getting more of the same in housing and health and all of the rest... I thin the appetite for change will grow again. If we are leading the opposition expect a very coherent, progressive, enlightened opposition" says @MaryLouMcDonald #PKNT
— Pat Kenny Newstalk (@PatKennyNT) June 17, 2020
Deputy McDoanld also said the surge in popularity for Fine Gael in recent weeks is due to COVID-19 policies that had “agreement across not just political life but across medicine, science and wider opinion.”
You can listen back to the full interview here:
