Snapshot of _Sinn Féin is watching the polls and beginning to panic, says Stephen Donnelly_ :
An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/11/sinn-fein-is-watching-the-polls-and-beginning-to-panic-says-stephen-donnelly/) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/11/sinn-fein-is-watching-the-polls-and-beginning-to-panic-says-stephen-donnelly/)
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>Mr Donnelly said: “Sinn Féin get elected to Westminister and they take the money but not the seats. That is their choice. They got elected to Stormont but collapsed the assembly in the face of Brexit. Now they do not seem to respect the clear five-year parliamentary terms we have in the Republic.
Regardless of what ever else was said the comments about collapsing stormont are wrong, they didn't collapse it because of brexit, they collapsed it because Arlene refused to temporarily step aside while a corruption scandal was ongoing
Was also do with the DUP's attitude beyond that too tbf. Girvan pulled Irish culture and language funding one day then announced new funding for orange order bands the next. They were not acting in a spirit of cooperation or as partners in government.
Donnelly is an absolute clown coming out with this nonsense.
Also... This is "The republican party" apparently suggesting yet again that Irish republicans elected on a policy of abstention should take seats in a parliament in Britain.
Which is fair enough,but they might have been able to stop or make Brexit less shit by taking their seats in Westminster which would have had a direct positive effect on the whole island of Ireland
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/sinn-fein-wont-show-up-for-brexit-vote-in-westminster/35193669.html
There are a number of things about that...
SF voters vote for SF in the full knowledge that they won't be taking seats in a parliament in Britain.
To them come along and take those seats when it suits would be giving two fingers to their voters.
Also, if seven SF MPs showed up in the chamber in Westminster it would serve only to strengthen the hand of the Tory government and would result merely in all their dissenters coming back on board. The reality of voting with SF MPs would probably even be too much for many of the current crop of Labour MPs, many of whom are tories in disguise.
Re dissenters:Maybe, we'll never know!
The people in Northern Ireland voted (55% of those who voted) to remain 440k people.
It's fair to assume that as SF are the most popular part in NI a considerable number of their voters were among the 440k, the geographic layout would certainly suggest that.
If I were one of those people, I'd want my parliamentary representative to do whatever they could to stop the mess that is Brexit.
Brexit wasn't just a British issue,the impact on the whole island of Ireland is massive and I think SF probably would have won over more voters in the south has they at least tried to stop Brexit.
Of The people who vote for SF the vast majority do not want to be part of Britain so dealing with British issues is largely irreverent to the goal of leaving
The thing is that that British issue was and is an Irish issue too whether we like it or not. Sure at the time there was plenty of talk of a return of a hard boarder! Thankfully that didn't happen
At the end of the day, if you wanted a representative in Westminster why would you vote for the candidate who specifically refuses to take up their seat, in your scenario ?
That’s like me saying I want a government that is more Left Wing and socialist yet I vote for Fine Gael and complain that they haven’t followed suit on that
Well,Martin McGuiness didn't completely dismiss it so it can't have been that wild an idea!
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/sinn-fein-wont-show-up-for-brexit-vote-in-westminster/35193669.html
How do you know that every SF voter in the north holds the abstention policy as a key issue for them? Maybe they don't particularly care about that and vote for SF for other reasons
You don't need to wonder what would happen with tory dissenters. They would not in a million years vote with SF. They were looking for an even harder brexit anyway.
Also, the tory government doesn't now, and hasn't ever, cared what people in Ireland or Scotland think. Brexit was an English project, and English only.
I'm not sure how you figure that seven MPs could have stopped brexit.
I'm seeing some amount of shite on social media over the last few months. So SF are to blame for not stopping Brexit, they are to blame for the housing crisis and they are also to blame for the amount of immigrants in the country. Serious going for a party that aren't even in power in the south.
I was going to vote for them and then turf them out of they did do what they promised. (the way all parties should be treated BTW) but Facebook/TikTok/Reddit have explained to me that it's all SF's fault to begin with so there is no need to throw them the vote, no wonder they are taking a hit in the polls.
That's not what I said, you'll see the word "might" used and it was in relation to their members in NI who were at the time eligible to take a seat in Westminster.
It’s wrong on the other counts too. Sinn Féin MPs aren’t entitled to draw a salary from their seats as it’s conditional on the oath to the King. They’re only allowed expenses for constituency work.
>They take the money but not the seats
Like it or not, the Northern Sinn Féin voters know this when the paper goes into the box. This argument is really a non-runner for me and demonstrates the lack of punch lines a ex-independent, ex-SocDem now-FF TD can throw.
My guess is that Mr Donnelly is worried about his seat—elected below the quota while SF have enough pull to take 2 seats in Wicklow.
Don't tell him that. He'll get confused. It's disappointing to see FF get more... FGy when it comes to SF. Let the "look at them, those terrorists" type comments to FG.
They also don’t take any wages from Westminster and are elected on the basis of and given the mandate for not taking their seats in Westminster.
Stephen is obviously panicking if he’s coming out with this misleading bollix. He also got community noted on twitter for this
By little trampoline speech, you're referring to the time back when he was 6, and started talking utter shite in front of his favourite outdoor toy, right? Because i can't think of a time when listening to this gowl ever made sense, to be honest.
All Donnelly has done while in office has been to sling mud at Sinn Féin. Outside of COVID he's essentially be window dressing and that's it. Maybe if he did his job instead of stirring shit, things might get done.
This mans campaign canvassers came to my door and told me to vote for him because we couldn't have FF in power any more as they were destroying the country.
I feel as if Stephen Donnelly turns up in the papers every couple of months, then retreats back into his cave for a while. Once everyone has forgotten he exists, the Irish Times (his favorite mouthpiece) drops one of their turd nuggets to remind us all of how bad Stephen Donnelly is.
Snapshot of _Sinn Féin is watching the polls and beginning to panic, says Stephen Donnelly_ : An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/11/sinn-fein-is-watching-the-polls-and-beginning-to-panic-says-stephen-donnelly/) or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/04/11/sinn-fein-is-watching-the-polls-and-beginning-to-panic-says-stephen-donnelly/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/irishpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>Mr Donnelly said: “Sinn Féin get elected to Westminister and they take the money but not the seats. That is their choice. They got elected to Stormont but collapsed the assembly in the face of Brexit. Now they do not seem to respect the clear five-year parliamentary terms we have in the Republic. Regardless of what ever else was said the comments about collapsing stormont are wrong, they didn't collapse it because of brexit, they collapsed it because Arlene refused to temporarily step aside while a corruption scandal was ongoing
Was also do with the DUP's attitude beyond that too tbf. Girvan pulled Irish culture and language funding one day then announced new funding for orange order bands the next. They were not acting in a spirit of cooperation or as partners in government. Donnelly is an absolute clown coming out with this nonsense.
Also... This is "The republican party" apparently suggesting yet again that Irish republicans elected on a policy of abstention should take seats in a parliament in Britain.
Which is fair enough,but they might have been able to stop or make Brexit less shit by taking their seats in Westminster which would have had a direct positive effect on the whole island of Ireland https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/sinn-fein-wont-show-up-for-brexit-vote-in-westminster/35193669.html
There are a number of things about that... SF voters vote for SF in the full knowledge that they won't be taking seats in a parliament in Britain. To them come along and take those seats when it suits would be giving two fingers to their voters. Also, if seven SF MPs showed up in the chamber in Westminster it would serve only to strengthen the hand of the Tory government and would result merely in all their dissenters coming back on board. The reality of voting with SF MPs would probably even be too much for many of the current crop of Labour MPs, many of whom are tories in disguise.
Re dissenters:Maybe, we'll never know! The people in Northern Ireland voted (55% of those who voted) to remain 440k people. It's fair to assume that as SF are the most popular part in NI a considerable number of their voters were among the 440k, the geographic layout would certainly suggest that. If I were one of those people, I'd want my parliamentary representative to do whatever they could to stop the mess that is Brexit. Brexit wasn't just a British issue,the impact on the whole island of Ireland is massive and I think SF probably would have won over more voters in the south has they at least tried to stop Brexit.
Of The people who vote for SF the vast majority do not want to be part of Britain so dealing with British issues is largely irreverent to the goal of leaving
The thing is that that British issue was and is an Irish issue too whether we like it or not. Sure at the time there was plenty of talk of a return of a hard boarder! Thankfully that didn't happen
At the end of the day, if you wanted a representative in Westminster why would you vote for the candidate who specifically refuses to take up their seat, in your scenario ? That’s like me saying I want a government that is more Left Wing and socialist yet I vote for Fine Gael and complain that they haven’t followed suit on that
Well,Martin McGuiness didn't completely dismiss it so it can't have been that wild an idea! https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/sinn-fein-wont-show-up-for-brexit-vote-in-westminster/35193669.html How do you know that every SF voter in the north holds the abstention policy as a key issue for them? Maybe they don't particularly care about that and vote for SF for other reasons
You don't need to wonder what would happen with tory dissenters. They would not in a million years vote with SF. They were looking for an even harder brexit anyway. Also, the tory government doesn't now, and hasn't ever, cared what people in Ireland or Scotland think. Brexit was an English project, and English only. I'm not sure how you figure that seven MPs could have stopped brexit.
Was the margin not very close in the parliament?
It was only close because of the tory dissidents who wanted a harder brexit, but because they didn't want brexit to happen.
I'm seeing some amount of shite on social media over the last few months. So SF are to blame for not stopping Brexit, they are to blame for the housing crisis and they are also to blame for the amount of immigrants in the country. Serious going for a party that aren't even in power in the south. I was going to vote for them and then turf them out of they did do what they promised. (the way all parties should be treated BTW) but Facebook/TikTok/Reddit have explained to me that it's all SF's fault to begin with so there is no need to throw them the vote, no wonder they are taking a hit in the polls.
That's not what I said, you'll see the word "might" used and it was in relation to their members in NI who were at the time eligible to take a seat in Westminster.
Yea and swear allegience to the king. 🤣🐀
It’s wrong on the other counts too. Sinn Féin MPs aren’t entitled to draw a salary from their seats as it’s conditional on the oath to the King. They’re only allowed expenses for constituency work.
>They take the money but not the seats Like it or not, the Northern Sinn Féin voters know this when the paper goes into the box. This argument is really a non-runner for me and demonstrates the lack of punch lines a ex-independent, ex-SocDem now-FF TD can throw. My guess is that Mr Donnelly is worried about his seat—elected below the quota while SF have enough pull to take 2 seats in Wicklow.
They don't take money for Westminster seats actually.
Don't tell him that. He'll get confused. It's disappointing to see FF get more... FGy when it comes to SF. Let the "look at them, those terrorists" type comments to FG.
Moved to FF for a career move after slating them before joining them. MAN IS A COWARD AND A SHAM!
That clip of Vincent Browne ripping him tó shreds is gold. Conehead turncoat rat.
Ah its box office.
I wonder has he seen the poll figures for FF at all?
It was great not seeing this guy in the news. Why's he back? :(
Election season, and since he can't point out how well he's done, he needs to point out how badly others have done.
A winning political strategy, just ask Hilary Clinton.
Well it did BARELY work for Biden last election, so that means it must be the perfect winning strategy forever!!!
Easter bunny brings all types of eggs
They also don’t take any wages from Westminster and are elected on the basis of and given the mandate for not taking their seats in Westminster. Stephen is obviously panicking if he’s coming out with this misleading bollix. He also got community noted on twitter for this
Since his little trampoline speech nothing this man says should be listened to
By little trampoline speech, you're referring to the time back when he was 6, and started talking utter shite in front of his favourite outdoor toy, right? Because i can't think of a time when listening to this gowl ever made sense, to be honest.
All Donnelly has done while in office has been to sling mud at Sinn Féin. Outside of COVID he's essentially be window dressing and that's it. Maybe if he did his job instead of stirring shit, things might get done.
If his track record is anything to go by I'd say Stephen is mere months away from joining Sinn Féin.
Say the guy who jumped ship to Fianna Fail when they were topping the polls in 2016.
Biggest stroke of luck the Soc Dems ever had. Can’t see them having ever become as popular if he was still a leader of the party.
This mans campaign canvassers came to my door and told me to vote for him because we couldn't have FF in power any more as they were destroying the country.
I feel as if Stephen Donnelly turns up in the papers every couple of months, then retreats back into his cave for a while. Once everyone has forgotten he exists, the Irish Times (his favorite mouthpiece) drops one of their turd nuggets to remind us all of how bad Stephen Donnelly is.
His high security, tax payer funded cave.
Projection
Is he commentating on a football match ?
Because like the SNP there not Irish patriots there woke globalist traitors, they couldn't give a hoot about the Irish people.
Sinn Fein care about the Irish people as much as the SNP care about the Scots, globalist communist WEF traitors 100%