Sinn Féin welcomes election
On May 15, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams welcomed the end to months of speculation about the general election in the 26 counties, saying "Sinn Féin looks forward to contesting this election and are confident of not only increasing our mandate but returning representatives to sit in Leinster House." Sinn Féin is standing 15 candidates.
Adams said: "We welcome the decision to set June 6 as the date for the elections. Sinn Féin looks forward to putting our policies on a wide range of issues. In contesting this election under the slogan 'A New Opportunity for Peace, A Party for Change', Sinn Féin is committed to rebuilding the peace process. The achievement of a peace settlement will unlock the enormous economic potential which partition and decades of conflict have impeded."
"The return of two Sinn Féin MP's, which has already had a very positive impact both nationally and internationally, can be matched by the return of Sinn Féin TDs [MPs] in the 26 counties", Adams said. "There can be a peace settlement which benefits all the people of this island. There can be an end to the extremes of social inequality in our society."
Call for Australian visa for Adams
Sinn Féin this week called on the Australian government to contribute to the Irish peace process by removing its ban on party president Gerry Adams.
The election of two new party MPs and the change of government in London have brought the exclusion order on Adams back onto the agenda. The Australian government late last year refused an entry visa to Adams, immigration minister Philip Ruddock claiming that the new MP for West Belfast was not of "good character" because of contacts between Sinn Féin and the IRA.
Canberra came under intense pressure from Britain's previous Conservative Party administration to deny Adams a visa. But Sinn Féin leader Martin McGuinness said the ban should be reviewed now that Adams had been elected to the British parliament.
McGuinness, who also won a seat in the election, told Australian journalists, "I think it would be an important contribution to the search for a peace settlement for the Australian government to admit Gerry Adams and to recognise that people like myself and he are moving for a peace settlement."
[From Irish News and Activist Bulletin, May 15.]