A recent photograph from the special Sinn Féin Ard Fhéis as an enthralled audience listens to a speech by Mary Lou McDonald.
Middle in bottom row is “Deborah from Dublin”.
After listening to Mary Lou for several hours (and it seemed longer) , the entire Sinn Féin audience went to South Korea to teach North Korean cheer leaders.
The message from Sinn Féin is that Mary Lou McDonald “is brilliant…so she is” and better than Gerry Adams “who was also brilliant …so he was and a visionary, peacemaker and statesman”.
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I think you are being a bit hard both on Mary Lou McDonald and on her supporters. Surely you must agree she has had an impressive start to her time as President and that she is able to build upon and expand the support base that Gerry Adams built up?
Actually a week is much too short a time to judge her. I have nothing personal against Mary Lou. But I don’t like SFs way of doing business and she would be much better advised to change the style of leadership rather than continue the manner of Gerry Adams.
How much independence she has to act will be how I will judge her.
There are inevitably good days and bad days for any political party and I think DUP had a good week and SF had a bad week.
Obviously as a republican, socialist and nationalist, I don’t like to see my side defeated and humiliated as we have been this week.
SF (collective leadership) should have seen that coming….there is no way DUP could deliver.
Understandably SF want to spread the pain and say UUP, SDLP and Alliance have also been let down.
That’s true but to a very limited extent. SF and DUP have for the most part strutted around Stormont like they own it. And this week DUP proved that they do own it.
You never seem to acknowledge that sometimes SF gets it wrong. All parties get things wrong and obviously SF will have some good days ahead.
To be honest Deborah, you weaken SFs position by not acknowledging this basic fact.
This Blog….republican, socialist and nationalist with a heavy SDLP leaning has some credibility because I often call out SDLP when they get it wrong……….and they have been doing that for years.
Politics will always be like a pendulum. But you should really step up and say “you know what John……you are right about this. we should have done better but youre wrong about that”.
And Jim Gibney is 2nd left front row, Chris Donnelly is back left, Brian Feeney is 3rd right front row, and Jude Collins………well, he’s on propaganda duty. Jarlath Kearney and Robin Livingstone just couldn’t get a seat.