Leader’s address to Sinn Féin Ard Fheis 2024

Sinn Féin’s annual conference took place last weekend in Athlone. We publish Mary Lou McDonald’s address in full.

INTRODUCTION

We come from Ireland’s thirty-two counties to Athlone, our eyes on the future.

From Dublin to Derry, Waterford to Tyrone, we want to end partition and unite our country.

We believe in Ireland and our people.

We are republican activists in the tradition of Connolly and Markievicz, Sands and O’Farrell, McGuinness and O’Hare.

We aspire, we dream, we reach for a new Ireland, for the republic.

‘Our demands most moderate are, we only want the Earth’.

That is why we step forward, never backing down, to lead from the front.

The General Election is coming.

If you are through with bad government, waste of public money, failure to deliver, if you believe in an Ireland where workers, families and communities come first, we want you to know that when the election comes, Sinn Féin is ready.

A NEW GOVERNMENT THAT PUTS WORKERS AND FAMILIES FIRST

Ireland’s story is shaped by determination to overcome and belief in a better tomorrow.

In our people, we have everything we need to achieve a great future.

We need a government capable of harnessing that potential.

We want to lead that government, bringing the voices of ordinary people to the corridors of power, putting your needs on the Cabinet table.

Give us that chance.

Because there is one certainty.

Workers and families cannot afford another five years of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil running the show.

PALESTINE

Ireland recognises the Palestinian state, stands with the Palestinian people.

We call for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, for an end to the genocide.

Children are being slaughtered.

Israel must be sanctioned.

Ireland must act.

The transportation of Israeli munitions through Irish airspace is illegal and unacceptable.

Government can’t say one thing in the glare of TV cameras and something very different behind closed doors.

The blocking of the Occupied Territories Bill and the Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill must end now.

Palestine cries out for peace, for justice, for freedom.

COMMUNITY AND IMMIGRATION

Family is where we learn decency, compassion, how to be a good neighbour.

Families depend on a secure home, healthcare, affordable childcare, decent work with decent pay, the right to retire with your pension at sixty-five.

We need a government that really gets this and understands that even in the best of families there can be tension, in the best of societies too.

We’re a welcoming country.

We dig deep when people need help.

Racism is repulsive, it must be faced down.

It will be faced down.

During the summer we launched our plan on international protection.

Community, fairness, and common sense must be at the heart of how we manage immigration.

The system must be resourced, applications dealt with quickly and fairly.

IPAS Centres must not be located in working class communities struggling to survive. That’s not reasonable or fair.

We will always stand up for communities.

MAKING HOUSING AFFORDABLE

We have the plan to end the housing crisis – build affordable housing.

The average age of a first-time buyer is now thirty-nine.

Over four years – the price of a new home in Dublin increased by one hundred grand.

Average new rent now almost €2,000 per month.

A record number of people homeless. 4,419 of those are children. Shameful.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael don’t get that half a million euro for a home isn’t affordable.

Let’s face it folks, when they’re building a bicycle shed for three hundred thousand euros, they’re hardly building affordable homes.

Our plan makes housing affordable, brings home ownership back into the reach of working people.

We will deliver the largest housing programme in the history of the state.

300,000 homes, 50,000 of them affordable homes at prices from €250,000.

75,000 social houses to get families off council waiting lists.

We’ll cut rents.

Stop rip-off rent increases.

Tackle dereliction and the scourge of homelessness.

And we’ll stop land hoarding in the midst of a housing crisis.

That’s the scale of ambition needed.

We tell our young people that if you work hard opportunity will come.

For over a decade that promise has been broken.

The housing crisis has driven young people to Perth, Boston, Toronto, denied them their chance to stay, denied more their chance to come home.

‘A Home of Your Own’ is the plan to restore that hope for a generation, to transform housing in Ireland.

Give us the chance and we’ll get the job done.

DELIVERING AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE

I was once that parent juggling work with two small children.

I understand the crucial role of early years educators and childcare professionals.

They must be paid fairly.

We’ll deliver the pay increase they deserve.

Parents fork out a fortune in childcare fees.

All Fine Gael offers you is a soundbite.

Sinn Féin offers you a plan to make childcare affordable.

Childcare for €10 a day per child.

We can deliver that by September 2025.

A plan that builds capacity, increases spaces in local facilities, extends leave to fifty-two weeks for parents to care for babies in their first year.

Crucial steps towards public provision.

It’s time to get childcare right.

No spin. No soundbites. Action.

TRANSFORMING HEALTH

Children with scoliosis and spina bifida left in agony, waiting years for operations is a scandal.

In 2017, Simon Harris made a promise to these children.

He broke that promise.

So, no more delay.

These children must get the care they need now.

Our hospitals are overcrowded, emergency departments in crisis, over 800,000 people on treatment waiting lists.

There is a human cost to this.

People have paid with their lives.

Young Aoife Johnston paid with her life. We send our solidarity to Aoife’s heartbroken parents, Carol and James.

The emergency at University Hospital Limerick shows a government unable to fix what’s broken.

We will deliver a second A&E for the Midwest.

We have a plan to fix our health and mental health services.

Cutting the cost of healthcare, delivering free GP care, more medical cards, safely staffing our hospitals, supporting our ambulance service.

We are the party to deliver universal healthcare within a decade, providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

STRONG, SAFE COMMUNITIES

You have the right to walk the streets safely.

But after nearly 14 years of Fine Gael in Justice, Garda numbers have dropped, Community Gardaí cut, Garda stations closed.

That’s their track record.

As a proud Dubliner, I am sick of the government line that our city is safe having abandoned it to open drug dealing, criminal gangs, and anti-social behaviour.

That’s the reality in Dublin, and elsewhere.

It’s time to get real, to turn the tide back in favour of communities, to put enough Gardaí on our streets.

We will commence the most ambitious recruitment drive ever, starting with the recruitment of 1,000 new Gardaí.

As women and girls we have the right to be safe – anytime, anywhere.

Ending the scourge of Domestic and Gender based violence demands genuine zero-tolerance, and change in the Justice system.

Strong, safe communities are built from the grassroots up.

So we must invest in youth work, community development, local services, and infrastructure.

We pledge to put €1 billion of the Apple Tax into communities left behind by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

THE USC

If Pearse Doherty was introducing the Budget on Tuesday, it would be a Budget to deliver immediate, lasting benefits to workers and families.

To help ordinary people with the cost of living, making housing affordable, delivering childcare for €10 a day, increasing the minimum wage, eliminating student fees.

We’ll cut the USC for every worker, abolishing it on the first €45,000 of your income.

That means average workers will pay no USC.

Every Budget is a choice.

We choose to back you and your family.

CARING AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

We choose to back people with disabilities to live full lives as equal citizens with access to work, education, services, and independent living.

The UN optional protocol on the rights of people with disabilities must be ratified.

Our Budget provides the most substantial package of support for carers ever presented in a single Budget.

Carers show extraordinary dedication.

For too many there’s no recognition from the state.

Caring is work, done with love, saving the state billions.

It’s unfair that Carers Allowance is means tested.

So I want to be very clear.

In government, Sinn Féin would abolish the means test for Carers Allowance.

To Ireland’s carers, we see you, we hear you, we recognise you, but above all else, we thank you.

WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY

Money is hard earned. Taxes are paid in good faith. Public money must be used wisely.

Or at least that’s how I see it!

Not this government though.

Don’t mind his spin, the Taoiseach himself greenlighted the contract that’s costing you billions for the most expensive hospital in the world. He sat in government that presided over a security hut for €1.4 million, and the infamous bicycle shed, used €10 million of your money trying to stop us receiving €14 billion in Apple Tax.

And all the while children wait for spinal surgery, assessment of needs, for school places and supports.

This can’t continue – obscene waste and chronic need – and I can tell you, I won’t tolerate either.

CLIMATE ACTION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSFORMATION

Sinn Féin is ambitious for renewable energy and energy independence.

We will invest in infrastructure, and planning, back renewable projects – wind energy, solar, green hydrogen.

We need an all of society response to climate change.

A renewable energy transformation.

People want to respond to the climate and biodiversity crisis.

So, let’s empower them, communities, urban and rural, and compensate our farmers for the big part they will play.

THE NORTH

Although the elections in the summer didn’t match our expectations, we’re joined tonight by a team of new Sinn Féin councillors, two new Sinn Féin MEPS, and in the north, we made history electing seven Sinn Féin MPs.

The North’s political institutions are back.

Michelle O’Neill is the First Minister For all.

The programme for government focuses on delivering improvements in people’s lives.

The British government must now act to fund services, infrastructure, and progress.

Casement Park must be delivered.

We seek an era of transformation, beyond Tory division and austerity.

We acknowledge the courageous family of Pat Finucane.

After thirty-four years, they’ve won a public inquiry.

They must have truth and justice.

So too must other families, like that of Seán Brown.

We stand with them.

A UNITED IRELAND

We can unify Ireland.

We need a mature, respectful conversation about constitutional change.

Be in no doubt – Unity referendums are coming.

By end of this decade, people north and south must have their say.

The Dublin and London governments can’t continue to tread water.

It’s time to plan and prepare.

That means a green paper on Irish Unity, a Citizens Assembly, a Minister for reunification at the Department of An Taoiseach, a new government with a clear-cut commitment to holding referendums.

Each generation walks their own length of this journey.

Today, we hold the compass and the map.

We decide the direction we take, for this generation and those to come.

So, let’s work for it, believe in it, make Unity happen.

TÍR GAN TEANGA, TÍR GAN ANAM

Tá Sinn Féin dáiríre faoi chultúr na hÉireann.

Ní cultúr coilíneach cúngaigeanta caol, ach cultúr nua-aimseartha, ionchuim-sitheach, spleodrach na nGael, a spreagann An Cailín Ciúin agus buachaillí bríomhara Kneecap Bhéal Feirste.

Tuigeann aos óg ár linne tábhacht ár dteanga, mar a thuig laochra 1916, réabhlóid na bhfilí a spreagann Sinn Féin gach lá ar son Éireann “ní amháin saor ach Gaelach”;

Poblacht na nEalaíon atá bunaithe ar infheistíú cuimsitheach, uaillmhianach san ealaín, sa teanga agus i slánú na Gaeltachta.

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE

In life you have your ups and your downs.

Times when you need someone to put an arm around you.

Over the last year, I have felt that kindness in my own life.

I’m an optimist.

An Irish Republican.

A mother who wants the best for her children, and for yours.

When I need inspiration, I remember who raised me, who I am.

One of four raised by my mother on her own, who worked to pay rent and bills, to make sure we had every chance in life.

I was raised to never give up, to stand by the things I know to be right.

I am more determined, Sinn Féin is more determined than ever to build a better, fairer, united Ireland for everyone.

We are not giving up.

And you, the working people of Ireland, families, carers, communities who deserve so much better, young people who deserve so much more, don’t you give up either.

Don’t let those who have run this state for over a hundred years have their own way again.

They told us that a nationalist would never lead government in the North.

They were wrong.

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE

Hold tightly to your hope, your belief, our dream.

The dream of Easter 1916, sustained by generations of believers who faced the hard road and never, ever gave in.

The realisation of that dream now falls to us.

CONCLUSION – VOTE FOR HOPE, AMBITION, AND DELIVERY

The General Election is coming.

The countdown is on.

A choice to be made.

You can turn the page, call time on the crises in housing, healthcare, and the cost of living.

I ask you to vote for that hope, ambition, for delivery.

Say goodbye to government for the vested interests, vulture funds, and the cosy club.

Vote for a government for working people.

For you, your family, your community.

With your support, if you give us the opportunity, that’s the government Sinn Féin will deliver.

This is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Let’s seize it with both hands.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh agus An Phoblacht Abú.

Urgent Appeal