Vote Sinn Féin
As we enter the last week of campaigning before the nationwide European
elections on 10 and 11 June and the 26-County local elections on 11 June,
Sinn Féin activists can be justifiably optimistic.
Throughout the island, Sinn Féin has the real chance of making gains,
increasing the overall republican vote and winning extra seats in the
process. This optimism is based on a record of hard work and strong
campaigning over many years.
In the European elections, major strides will be made, with Mitchel
McLaughlin holding the best chance of picking up a second nationalist seat
in the Six Counties. The crisis in the peace process and the apparent
desire of Bertie Ahern to drag the 26 Counties into the Partnership for
Peace without so much as a referendum on the issue have dominated the
European campaign.
Sinn Féin has stood on its principles with regard to both issues, the same
principled stand that is reflected in the party's work in local areas on
vital issues like the drugs crisis, service charges, housing, and
transport.
Sinn Féin is different because its candidates seek to make change, not
gravy or glory. That is why it makes sense to put Sinn Féin first on the
ballot paper.
Sadly, this election is being played out against the background of the
search of eight families for the bodies of relatives executed by the IRA in
the 1970s. Sections of the media have attempted to use the genuine grief of
the families to score political points. This is unfortunate. At a difficult
time, when the IRA's gestures should be seen in the context of a painful
process of conflict resolution, some elements seem more concerned with
driving wedges and increasing bitterness than with building a real peace.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)