When they are operating in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein often describe themselves as a party representing ‘Nationalists’ and ‘Catholics’, often using the the political and religious terms interchangeably to loosely represent those of Gaelic origin.
In the Republic however, both are dirty words to the increasingly desperate party.
The party decries anyone as ‘racist’ who identifies as Nationalist in the South, unless of course that person happens to the direct their Nationalism to the Palestinian, Cuban or Venezuelan causes.
To an even greater extent, Catholicism is as viciously opposed as Protestantism ever was by the party in the North, if not more.
Last year, a number of Sinn Fein politicians attended a ‘No Nuns’ rally outside the Dail, blaming nuns for the inability of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to provide an adequate health system.
There was also the incident where a Sinn Fein politician organised a picket of a Catholic Church in Ballyfermot, a tactic pioneered by paedophile Loyalist Davy Tweed at the Church of Our Lady in Harryville, Ballymena in the 1990s.
In another incident, Sinn Fein members, including a sitting councillor, were involved with picketing a Rosary Rally in Limerick, then creating an anti Catholic smear story about the event.
Now, Sinn Fein have once again outdone themselves, by blaming the Catholic Church, not Fine Gael nor the bankers, for the housing crisis in Ireland.
Wexford Councillor Davy Hynes was attending a meeting on housing with the County Council when he bizarrely pointed the finger at the church for the housing crisis:
He asked ‘What would Jesus do’ and said:
Have the churches ever been approached, I mean they have a lot of buildings around the place. Jesus always talked about feeding the hungry and looking after the poor. It seems to me that opening their doors would be in line with what the church should be doing.
This crisis is getting worse by the week. There’s no end to it. We’re seeing children left homeless. At the end of the day, young children are being victimised here because of a situation that is completely outside of their control and because of decisions that are being made by people in plush offices up in D4.
The ignorant comments are not unusual for Irish politics, which seems to have some of the lowest quality discourse from public representatives in any modern country, but are particularly galling in light of the church’s work in this area.
On Christmas Day, the church fed 3,000 people in Dublin through the Knights of Columbanus initiative at the RDS.
Groups such as the Fr. Peter McVerry Trust provide not just material support and accommodation to those in need, but also assist the government with providing long term solutions.
There are other groups such as Focus Ireland, which has donated over ten million euro worth of land to the country’s hapless government.
There is also the Capuchin Day Centre and Morning Star Hostel in Dublin, which are amongst many feeding large numbers made homeless or needy by the liberal regime each day.
Wexford County Council raised the blood libel against the church again this week, with Independent Councillor Leonard Kelly asking:
In terms of a lack of available emergency accommodation, there are a number of empty properties owned by the church. Did we ever reach out to the in relation to forming some kind of partnership to provide emergency beds?
This issue is a favourite of Kelly’s, who is a long term critic of the church.
Ironically, the same individual actually called for a ‘separation of church and state’, while here he is demanding that the church solves the job of politicians like him!
Apparently it is not good enough for the church to give free land for a hospital to the incompetent politicians, but it is good enough for them to give property for homeless people.
He also urged the church to help politicians to solve the migration crisis currently facing Ireland:
Kelly also wrote of how the church had no role to play in public life in Ireland.
The church authorities are bound to help those in need and to do what is right, but at this stage, it is an embarrassment to the entire church to see politicians who blame the church for everything then get to have clergy answering to their every whim.
The same politicians who call for the church to give up lands, schools and hospitals should not be the ones who then get to decide church policy on the same ills created by the policies of said politicians.
