No Room For Dissent In Sinn Fein?

9:54 pm in Northern Ireland: Politics by Levee

Yes, folks. I know I’ve been laying the boot into Sinn Fein lately. It’s not as if I’m alone in doing that.

After all, it does seem that the British Government is pulling out all the stops to make life easier for the party. We’ll shortly be welcoming back our old “On The Run” muckers. The Northern Bank and McCartney investigations appear to be on a go-slow. Sean Kelly walking the streets after a very shady re-arrest. Etcetera, etcetera.

Anyway, it was with some amount of glee that I read about Francie Molloy being suspended from the ‘thought-police’ party this week. Molloy, as you probably all know, opposed the review of public administration in Northern Ireland. Well, not all of it. He was in favour of 15 councils instead of 7. That’s still a reduction from the 26 councils we currently have.

Gerry Adams crushing dissent

Molloy’s concerns were that the 7 council model would be an effective re-partitioning of Northern Ireland and that the proposed reforms represented a “sectarian headcount”. And then he was suspended.

Now, I’ve long held that Sinn Fein are a control-freak kind of political party (almost like Mr. Blair’s crowd). You don’t make up your mind, it is made up for you. And never deviate from the position as you have been told it. The suspension of Francie Molloy adds weight to this notion.

Sinn Fein supporters should look at this issue carefully. Why should Molloy be silenced? What is wrong with voicing an alternative opinion? Surely this is healthy?

Ask yourself – when was the last time a Sinn Fein member publicly opposed the official party line?