Sinn Féin 'like politics for slow learners', says Taoiseach
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Sinn Féin changing policies on issues such as the Special Criminal Court is like "politics for slow learners", the Taoiseach has said.
Speaking exclusively to the in Iceland this week, Leo Varadkar said that he will not speak to Mary Lou McDonald's party about a coalition, regardless of the Dáil arithmetic after the next election.
Mr Varadkar said that while that Sinn Féin's evolution on the Special Criminal Court and its dropping of pledges to withdraw from the EU Common Defence Arrangement Pesco and Nato’s Partnership for Peace project were "welcome", he had more fundamental questions about the Opposition party.
The Taoiseach said that while he speaks to Mary Lou McDonald about the North and other issues, "we're not going to talk about forming a coalition".
Earlier this month in the Dáil, the Taoiseach called on the Sinn Féin leader to answer questions about Sinn Fein’s “finances and links to organised crime”.
"I've made that very clear — it's not just about their past," he told the .
"There are [those] concerns that we have... but also about their economic and European policies in particular that we think will be major departure from what made our country successful — being pro-business, being pro-European, being pro-free trade.
"I do think the policy changes that they are making in recent times are significant.
"Watching Sinn Féin, it is like politics for slow learners sometimes. I think it was Seamus Mallon who famously described the Good Friday Agreement as Sunningdale for slow learners because Sinn Féin finally accepted democracy and peace and power sharing and consent.
"And it does seem that they're finally starting to accept that we shall be a member of the European Union, that we should have a Special Criminal Court.
"But I think we have a long way to go. And particularly when it comes to home ownership. The other policies that are against home ownership, their economic policies, their tax policies, and then behind that, the other murkier questions that are unresolved."