SINN FÉIN HAS been accused of “hypocrisy” by Taoiseach Simon Harris over the party’s opposition to a mobile phone pouch scheme for schools.

Simon Harris said he was “absolutely shocked” after receiving a letter from Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald in opposition to the scheme in the Irish Republic when he found out a similar scheme is in place in Northern Ireland where Sinn Fein is in government.

DUP Education Minister Paul Givan, who is in the joint government with Sinn Féin, Alliance and the UUP at Stormont, announced the move in Northern Ireland earlier this year.

The scheme in the North cost £250,000 for pouches for 10 schools. 

In this year’s budget, the government allocated €9 million for a fund for schools to purchase pouches for mobile phones for pupils aimed at minimising disruption.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has suggested the money for the scheme “could have been better directed” in schools.

Speaking to the media during a visit to Blessington, Co Wicklow, Harris emphasised there should be a “sense of perspective”.

No pouch is going to be forced on any school, but the Taoiseach said the government is prioritising the issue of mobile phone safety, social media, online media, and cyber bullying.

“This idea came from a number of schools who had already rolled out this project.

“We have over 700 secondary schools in Ireland. We have over 370,000 children in those schools and when you look at that… it is a very small investment of just over 20 quid. If a school wants it, they can have it, and if a school doesn’t want it, the school doesn’t have to have it.”

Executive announced phone pouches for schools

“There also needs to be no hypocrisy, because you can imagine my absolute shock after I received a letter from deputy Mary Lou McDonald.

“She was outraged about this. She was absolutely outraged. You could have knocked me down with the letter when I saw only a few hours after receiving it, that the Stormont Executive, which is led by Sinn Féin, have, funnily enough, purchased with taxpayers’ money, pouches for mobile phones in Northern Ireland.

“This is an effort by some to distract from a budget of over €105 million euro.

“So you can understand the opposition likes to pick this issue, but you can understand the absolute mortification when they’re actually doing it in Northern Ireland, when they’re in government. It’s hypocrisy.”

Speaking to reporters in Cork, Tánaiste Micheál Martin also accused Sinn Féin of “hypocrisy”, stating that Sinn Féin has attacked the measure all the while Sinn Féin, as part of the Executive, approved it in Northern Ireland.

Martin said it wasn’t good enough that Sinn Féin was trying to distance itself from the scheme in Northern Ireland by saying that it was a DUP minister that introduced the it, stating that Sinn Féin is part of the Executive that governs with the DUP.

“Ah come on… it’s the Executive that decided, everybody was aware of it,” he added. 

He said phone pouch use is already policy in the North, stating that Michelle O’Neill is the First Minister.

“Is Sinn Féín seriously trying to suggest it wasn’t aware that this was happening in Northern Ireland before they attacked the initiative in the Republic. That is hypocrisy. Nothing but hypocrisy,” he said.

‘Superficial hypocrisy’

“That’s the type of superficial hypocrisy we could do without now, because this is a serious matter,” he said, adding that it is a “very serious public health threat to all of our children”.

“Let’s get serious about how we debate it. I accept people might be angry about it, but I’ve asked people to stand back from the noise,” said the Tánaiste. 

“We’re either serious about the mental health of children or we are not. Preventative mental health is extremely important. We have lots of evidence now from public health doctors who are extremely concerned about the mental health impacts of social media, and also from a learning and behavioral approach within schools, It is distracting.

“It is impacting on study. It is impacting on focus, and then it leads to other unexpected behaviors around bullying and so on. So if children and young people can enjoy their school day without the mobile phone being ever present, that’s a good thing,” said Martin.

With reporting by Press Association