General election 2016 as significant as events of 1916

The outcome and consequences of the 2016 general election will be as significant and as profound as the events of the 1916 Rising.

The election has the capacity to influence, shape and impact on our society and country for decades and generations to come and like the Rising a century ago will prove a defining moment for our country and our aspirations.

The electorate will be asked to choose between the positive politics of progress or the negative campaigning of endless protest. The choice is clear and the alternatives are stark.

As with the spirit and vision surrounding the events of 1916, the general election of 2016 will be defined by leadership, principles and values.

This is no abstract notion but a stark choice between the leadership of Joan Burton and Gerry Adams, the principles and values of the Labour Party in contrast with those of Sinn Fein and others of their ilk.

The Labour Party is a broad church, where you are not silenced or excommunicated for speaking up and speaking out. In Sinn Fein, you stick to the script, do as you are told and speak when you are told. This is such an anathema to the true democratic values forged in the formative years of our State.

In the Labour Party you don’t just stand for election, you stand up and are counted, you stand up for people, and you stand up for families without fear or favour. In Sinn Fein you stand or stand down when you are told.

The sad thing is that so many people seem smitten by Sinn Fein, the cult of their leader and the politics of entitlement, where everyone can have everything but no one has to pay, other than the mythical ‘well off’. The problem is that Sinn Fein think that everyone earning above the average industrial wage is well off. That is because all their TDs are handing over their wages to the Sinn Fein kitty, and living on the average industrial wage? And if you believe that you will also believe that Gerry Adams was never in the IRA…

The only way to stop Gerry Adams and the Sinn Fein gallop in Laois is to vote for me, a strong, credible, independently minded candidate who puts people ahead of party, politics or personal advantage. This is a choice not just for those who want to vote for me and the Labour Party, but a decision which Fine Gael and Fianna Fail supporters are also going to have to make.

Astute and informed Fine Gael and Fianna Fail supporters know full well that their candidates Flanagan and Fleming are home and hosed, sure things. The real election in the new Laois constituency is a two-horse race between myself and Stanley of Sinn Fein for the third seat. In order to unseat Sinn Fein and prevent Gerry Adams from getting into government I will not only require a strong first preference vote but a significant transfer from traditional Fine Gael and Fianna Fail voters.

How Fine Gael voters could consider transferring to Sinn Fein is beyond me and Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin has rightly called Sinn Fein out for the mafia that they are. Yet some FF supporters do entertain the notion of playing footsie with Sinn Fein and they will do so at great peril to the country themselves and their party.

With Sinn Fein in government, we would all pay a high price, and not not just economically. Even though oil is at a 12 year low, the only thing that might be cheaper would be diesel!

I do not fear losing the election. I fear Sinn Fein winning it. I have never counted them as either Republican or Socialist. They thrive on strife and sectarianism. They are nationalist socialists with all the menace, trappings, control and the cult of the leader that goes with it. Their stronghold of West Belfast is one of the most down trodden and impoverished in the country.

Sinn Fein stand for one thing – themselves alone.

You know a man by his friends the company he keeps.

Sinn Fein’s heroes are Gerry Adams, Pearse McAuley and Slab Murphy.

Mine are Joan Burton, Jack Wall and Ruairi Quinn.

You will get whichever you vote for!