Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

This is the new direction we need to see. However, the signs are not good. Already we hear about belt tightening and tough decisions. Health cuts are again hurting the old, the sick and the disabled. In what is supposedly one of the richest states in the world, classes are being taught in converted toilets. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul reports levels of demand on its services not seen since the 1980s. Are we to return to the so-called tough decisions of that era when the weakest in our society were hit most?

I urge the incoming Taoiseach to chart a new course. His talents and energy are undoubted and I wish him well. He has the leadership of his party and command of an apparently stable Government. We in Sinn Féin have worked with him in the peace process and he is now clearly in prime position to set a fresh agenda on all the issues that affect our people on a daily basis. If such a new direction was, indeed, forthcoming, Sinn Féin would revisit its voting position with regard to this Government, but until then we cannot support the Fianna Fáil nominee for Taoiseach.

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