Litany of outrages shows true nature of Sinn Fein: Allister

He hit out after Mary Lou McDonald signed off her leadership acceptance speech at the weekend with “Up the rebels” and “tiocfaidh ár lá” (our day will come).

In her first speech as the new party president on Saturday, Mrs McDonald said she wanted to secure and win a referendum on Irish unity “with respect, graciousness and generosity”.

But Mr Allister warned that her closing remarks should serve as “an insight into the true heart” of Sinn Fein.

Mrs McDonald’s comments are the latest in a litany of incidents since the start of 2018, which Mr Allister said have “made a mockery” of the party’s calls for respect and equality.

Last month, Sinn Fein West Tyrone MP Barry McElduff resigned after he ignited huge controversy by posting a video on social media, in which he appeared to mock victims of the Kingsmills massacre.

Less than two weeks later, Mrs McDonald found herself embroiled in controversy after she – along with Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard and other party representatives – took part in a commemoration for an IRA bomber who tried to blow up a police station in Castlewellan.

Last week, unionists slammed Sinn Fein MLA Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly after he was filmed removing a wheel clamp from his car with bolt cutters. At the time, DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds described the incident as “symptomatic of a wider pattern of behaviour by leading Sinn Fein figures”.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein MLA Alex Maskey also came under fire from unionists last week after he branded Northern Ireland a “putrid little statelet”.

Mr Allister claimed Sinn Fein’s actions over recent weeks highlight why the DUP should not return to a power-sharing government with republicans.

He told the News Letter: “They are the party who constantly speak of the need for respect, yet here we have their new leader embracing the lingo of the IRA and attending commemorative services for terrorists.

“Sinn Fein is not in the business of changing. The raison d’etre is to subvert Northern Ireland’s place within the UK, and having failed to do that through violence they are now seeking alternative methods.

“No one should be fooled into thinking that Sinn Fein will go back into government in order to make Northern Ireland work.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said he was “disappointed” by Mrs McDonald’s remarks, which he described as a “missed opportunity” on her part.

“She had to do something different rather than go back on the same tired rhetoric of the past,” he told the News Letter.

However, while he said the remarks were “very ill-advised”, Mr Beattie added: “One speech does not define a person and she still has an opportunity to show she can offer something different. But she has certainly not gotten off to a good start.”

Reconciliation campaigner Trevor Ringland said the actions of some senior Sinn Fein figures in recent weeks had been “very unhelpful when it comes to building a constructive future for Northern Ireland”.

He added: “Sinn Fein needs to recognise that violence was the wrong way to go about things, and the sooner they come to that realisation the better for everyone on this island.

“They need to face up to how badly they got it wrong and they need to continue to be challenged on this.

“As the new party leader, Mary Lou McDonald needs to decide whether she is going to move Sinn Fein forward or just be a continuation of the past.

“Judging by her comments at the weekend, the signs don’t look great.

“This country needs good government, not just government for the sake of it.

“Northern Ireland has so much potential and we need politicians who will run the country well rather than hold it back.”

The News Letter asked Sinn Fein for comment yesterday, but we received no response at the time of going to press.