Letter: Voters will get to decide on Sinn Fein’s promises in upcoming elections
A letter from W J Craig:
With the council and assembly elections now only just over eight months away, I think it is worth taking a look at how things are actually going for Sinn Féin.
I have never been a supporter of Sinn Féin and make no secret of that fact, but putting personal politics aside, there are some fairly obvious questions that I suspect their base will want them to answer.
Casement Park was repeatedly presented as something Sinn Féin would deliver, yet it still hasn’t happened. The A5 from Aughnacloy to Londonderry is another project where there have been plenty of promises but very little to show for them.
Then there is the situation surrounding the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Sinn Féin have spent years saying that a return parade along the road would never happen. Yet we are now hearing about the possibility of such a parade taking place.
If that does happen, people are entitled to ask what has changed and whether the assurances given by Sinn Féin can actually be trusted.
There is still eight months to go and a lot can happen in politics during that time. Sinn Féin are not going to disappear, and I am certainly not suggesting that they will, but elections are supposed to be about holding politicians to account. Promises are made, voters listen to them, and ultimately voters get the chance to decide whether those promises have been kept.
Sinn Féin will be asking people to put their trust in them again. I hope voters remember the promises that were made the last time around and look carefully at what has actually been delivered.
W J Craig, Belfast BT5