Political Correspondent Christina Finn reports from Washington DC:
TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said he finds the removal of certain press statements from the Sinn Féin website “kind of Orwellian”.
The Sunday Independent reported at the weekend that thousands of press statements from Sinn Féin politicians going back over 20 years have been deleted in recent days.
The newspaper reported that among the statements deleted were party leader Mary Lou McDonald’s comments in March 2018 describing then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s decision to expel a Russian diplomat over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, as “a flagrant disregard for Irish neutrality”.
In March 2018, McDonald spoke about the matter in the Dáil stating there should be “abhorrence of anybody using chemical weapons in any circumstances”.
“I do not think that anybody would argue but that the State and Government have to take action where there is a prima facie case and where there is absolute concrete evidence of any such action and that a diplomat or diplomats must be expelled or an embassy punished in such circumstances,” she told the Dáil.
“I put it to the Taoiseach – and he should acknowledge this – that his position on military neutrality and an independent Irish foreign policy is threadbare,” she said at the time.
“Essentially you’re asking us to trust Boris Johnson and dare I say this is not the wisest course of action,” McDonald also stated.
Comments from former foreign affairs spokesperson Seán Crowe supporting the abolition of NATO in 2014 have also been taken down from the SF website.
In an interview with The Journal yesterday, McDonald insisted the deletion of thousands of press statements from her party’s website was not an attempt to pivot Sinn Féin’s position on issues such as Russia and NATO.
“No, absolutely not,” McDonald said when asked if the deletion was an attempt to deflect away from some of the positions its members have taken over the years.
“The website is getting a long overdue overhaul. So the archives are being changed,” she said.
When asked about the matter today outside the Irish Embassy in Washington DC, the Taoiseach said he read the comments made by McDonald to The Journal yesterday.
“I think it’s very interesting. I read a comment from from deputy McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, that the archives have been changed. Kind of Orwellian I thought myself,” he told reporters.
“I think there’s a reason why they’re all being taken off or taken out of the archives or whatever,” he said. “But I think Sinn Féin was soft on Russia for the last number of years.”
“I mean, Sinn Féin is saying, which is good news now, that they don’t agree with the violation of Ukrainians’ territorial integrity, but it was violated in 2014. I recall in the Dáil making those points at the time and the response was somewhat muted from Sinn Féin to say the least,” the Taoiseach said.
McDonald has rejected claims that her party is soft on Russia, stating yesterday that Sinn Féin’s position “has always been and remains that any conflict will ultimately be resolved by diplomacy and by dialogue, that’s the reality”.
“But just be very clear. When Russia stepped outside of international law, and invaded Ukraine, we didn’t skip a beat in calling that out.”
The Journal’s Political Correspondent Christina Finn will be bringing you all the latest updates from Micheál Martin’s visit to Washington DC this week, including his meeting with US President Joe Biden on Thursday.
Stay up-to-date by following @christinafinn8, @TJ_Politics and TheJournal.ie’s Facebook page.
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