'Lend Sinn Féin your vote if you want a change of government,' says Pearse Doherty
photo: During Us">said Doherty Wed, 27 Nov, 2024 - 17:16
Sinn Féin is urging voters who would not normally support the party to vote for its candidates on Friday, as part of efforts to remove Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael from government.
Pearse Doherty called on voters who may not support the party but want to see a change of government to back Sinn Féin, saying it is the only option to lead a coalition without either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
Speaking outside Government Buildings on Wednesday, Mr Doherty said that support for the Sinn Féin has grown in recent weeks, pointing to polling carried out during the campaign to support this.
“But there are also people out there who don’t support Sinn Féin, but who definitely don’t want Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government,” Mr Doherty said.
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“Therefore, lend us your vote. We will put them out of government. You give us the support, you support our candidates, we will put them out of government.”
The strategy is similar to one employed by Fine Gael in 2011, where they famously called on Fianna Fáil supporters to lend their vote to the party.
Mr Doherty said that Friday’s election was about “breaking the mould” and removing both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil from government for the first time in 100 years.
He insisted it was possible to achieve, but requires those who don’t necessarily support Sinn Féin to “give us that chance”.
Pressed on Sinn Féin’s path to power and whether it requires one of either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, Mr Doherty said the momentum in the campaign has shifted.
“There’s clearly a change that has taken place on the ground. We’re seeing some of that reflected in the polls, in terms of Fine Gael’s vote collapsing,” Mr Doherty said.
Asked if Sinn Féin would do a deal with Fianna Fáil, Mr Doherty said that Sinn Féin’s priority was securing as many seats as possible first, with the party running 71 candidates.
He said that he wanted to see both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on the opposition benches, and refused to speculate on whether Sinn Féin would work in a confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fáil.
Mr Doherty was asked how his party would respond to an economic shock and if it would scale back on its promises.
He said that Sinn Féin would instead use existing buffers built in, highlighting that his party plans to accumulate €3bn in surpluses each year. Reserves within the two investment funds — the Future Ireland Fund and the Climate and Nature Fund — would also be tapped into.
The outgoing Donegal TD said that Sinn Féin will not introduce austerity measures, while also being willing to borrow to invest in key infrastructure projects.
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