Sinn Féin 2012: A Fair Recovery for Ireland
“A Chairde,
Over the past five years, we have seen an period of economic hardship caused by a global recession that has created unprecedented challenges for our families and our businesses. We in the North have been hit particularly hard by our economic downturn, as our economy and our society are not fully in the hands of a government elected by and accountable to our citizens. Our political institutions must change to guarantee the people of the North our fundamental right to control our own future. Taxes raised here should stay here, and the Executive and Assembly must have the power to decide how they are spent.
Other parties will muddle their message with suggestions of deals and agreements, propping up Labour or Tory. Only Sinn Féin has as our sole priority creating the best deal for all our people. We have achieved more in direct negotiations with the British government than all other parties have in decades on the back benches. Following this election, we will seek an immediate negotiation with the incoming government to protect our public services by gaining full control over our economy. Your vote will strengthen our hand."
Gerry Adams TD1. Implementing the Good Friday Agreement: While Sinn Féin has fully upheld all agreements in which we have entered, there are several outstanding issues within the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent negotiations that the British government has not yet acted upon. Chief among these is a referendum on Irish Unity. Sinn Féin has called for a referendum on Irish Unity to be conducted within the next five years. Other key elements of the Good Friday Agreement remain unrealized, including a Bill of Rights for all citizens, the creation of a North/South Consultative Forum, and the recreation of the Civic Forum. A vote for Sinn Féin is a vote to push for the full implementation of all agreements.
2. Empowering Stormont The current relationship between Stormont and Westminster means that the needs of Britain will always take priority over the needs of our people. Real economic growth will only be driven by the Assembly, not by Westminster. The current economic arrangement is unacceptable to achieving that end. We support returning to the Assembly and Executive the economic powers necessary to guide the North’s recovery. We seek full control over income, corporation, inheritance, capital gains tax, as well as control over national insurance, borrowing powers, and the power to set the minimum wage. Full control over these taxes will allow us to build a fair taxation system that meets the needs of our people. Money raised in the North ought to be retained here and reinvested to support job creation and the delivery of strong public services.
3. Creating Jobs It is clear that a sustainable recovery requires action to stimulate economic growth. In the North in particular, our recovery is hampered by different economic structures north and south that pose a barrier to island-wide trade. An agreement to integrated, island-wide cooperation on economic development will create jobs and increase productivity. To that end, Sinn Féin supports the creation of a Border Economic Development Zone, in order to harmonize trade across the border, as well as the removal of transaction costs for cross-border trade and a review of regulatory barriers for border businesses and cross-border staff transfers. We also support investing in our infrastructure and our businesses, through the creation of an island-wide plan for rail, road, and waterway infrastructure investment and the creation of a state-owned community bank to provide low-cost credit for ordinary people as well as small and medium enterprises.
4. Protecting Public Welfare Sinn Féin stands strong against attacks on the most vulnerable in our society. We seek not merely a more economically robust society, but one in which all people are able to share in our prosperity. While flexible working schedules can benefit employees as well as employers, without guaranteed income and guaranteed hours workers face an uncertain economic future. Sinn Féin stands for the elimination of zero-hour contracts and the creation of a living wage. We believe this guarantee of a livable income should extend beyond one’s working years, and support making the Pension Credit automatic.
Moreover, we support the expansion of social programs to halt poverty. One of the leading causes of poverty is a lack of adequate housing, particularly the lack of adequate social housing, which forces many people into the private rental sector. Sinn Féin supports a plan of house-building to ensure that housing remains affordable for all people, as well as rent controls in the private rented sector and moratoriums on evictions for those in mortgage arrears. This will be funded, in part, by removing the rates rebate on second homes.
5. Creating a Just Society: Sinn Féin stands for a just society in which all people are treated equally. We believe a united community can only be built through a firm commitment to pluralism and inclusivity. To that end, Sinn Féin will always seek to stand against racism, against discrimination, and against sectarianism. We seek an Acht Gaelige to promote the Irish language and safeguard the rights of Irish speakers, the demolition of the peace walls, and equal rights for all regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity—including the right to vote for all people age 16 or over, marriage equality, and equal treatment of LGBT parents in social services.
6. Continuing the Truth Recovery Process: Sinn Féin believes that families deserve to know the truth about the deaths of their loved ones. We stand for independent and impartial investigation into legacy inquests. Specifically, we call for a full and independent public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, as agreed to by the British government at Weston Park, and the full disclosure of all information held by the British government related to the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and the Ballymurphy massacre. A vote for Sinn Féin is a vote to pressure the British government
