Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by apologising for the absence of my colleague, Deputy Gerry Adams.

This Friday, 9 May, marks the EU celebration of Europe Day. It marks the date of the Schuman Declaration in 1950 which proposed the pooling of French and West German coal and steel industries and which led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. The people of this state voted to join what was then the European Economic Community on 10 May 1972. Two weeks after Europe Day, on 23 May, Irish people will enter polling stations and decide who they want to represent their interests in the European Parliament. As with the last election, the feeling being expressed on the door step is that the people want change. Some say they are tired of our representatives being bullied and blindly submitting to the wishes of the bigger EU countries. It is most worrying that many do not appear to even know who their MEPs are. That is part of the disconnect and difficulty we need to overcome. Irish people are fed-up with the continuation of EU-enforced austerity policies, while the Government and its MEPs continue to vote for and champion these crippling policies.

The electorate was promised seismic shifts and game changing deals on banking debt, both inside and outside the House. They were told that this would mean the separation of banking debt from sovereign debt and that in future bank crises the ESM would directly recapitalise banks and that the sovereign would not be expected to take on a bank bailout. An tUachtarán Higgins has said on numerous occasions that there is a flaw in the economic model and the social and political mores of EU leaders, but the Government and its MEPs continue to champion them. Voters across the island have a real choice on 23 May between sitting MEPs who have supported the European institution's austerity policies at every turn or Sinn Féin candidates who have consistently set out a real political, economic and social alternative. I believe the people of Ireland need to send a strong and clear message about their desire for change on 23 May.

Sinn Féin's policies towards the European Union have always been focused on critical engagement. Where measures are in the interests of the Irish people and the peoples of Europe, we support them and seek to further them. However, where they are not in the interests of the people, we have opposed them and campaigned to change them. We want to work with everyone to create an inclusive Europe which reflects the needs and aspirations of all its peoples, not just the few. We will not, however, support a drive for further centralisation of powers in the hands of an unelected EU bureaucracy. Irish citizens do not want to live in a province of a European super-state in which technocrats take decisions with no accountability. Sinn Féin has been consistently critical of the European project's federalist character and the profound lack of democracy at its core. We do not support a European Union in which a small number of large member states take it upon themselves to dictate economic, security or other policy to smaller states. I know that, if elected, Sinn Féin's EU election candidates will work to secure EU investment for job creation, a deal on legacy banking debt, a real alternative to austerity, the protection of workers' pay and conditions, action on climate change, Irish neutrality and promote Irish unity and EU support for a Border poll. We support a Europe of equals, a social Union in which all states act together in common cause and interest.

The European project was created to build solidarity between European countries and avoid continued inter-state violence and war. Europe directly experienced two World Wars, the carpet bombing of civilian areas, the flattening of towns and cities, with whole communities nearly wiped out through genocide, fascism and division, yet we moved beyond this towards reconciliation. EU countries may not be facing the threat of fighting each other, but we are seeing the unemployment, homelessness, emigration and food queues that are reminiscent of those dark days. There is a growing awareness that cutting expenditure and increasing taxes will not get the European Union out of this disastrous financial position. The European Anti-Poverty Network, EAPN, reported that the incidence of poverty in the European Union had increased by over 6 million since 2010 to 124.5 million people, despite the target being to reduce it by at least 20 million by 2020. What is needed is a focus on job creation, growth and protecting the most vulnerable in our societies. Unilateral austerity will continue to drive the European Union into a destabilising abyss from which it might never recover. As the European Union faces into the heart of this crisis, what we need is greater solidarity between EU citizens, not the strong versus the weak model being promoted.

As we approach Europe Day, it is extremely important that we do not forget about the escalating crisis in Ukraine where the situation has gone from bad to worse. Incidents in the past week signal that it may be sliding into civil war. The violence and instability have drastically spread from eastern Ukraine to other parts of the country. On Friday 42 protesters were killed in the multi-ethnic south-western Black Sea port city of Odessa after clashes between pro-Russian and pro-EU groups. This included the murder of 38 pro-Russian protesters by - according to media reports- extreme right-wing Ukrainian nationalists when the trade union building in which they were taking shelter was torched. The last seven days have been the deadliest since the separatist uprising began and have transformed the conflict by hardening positions and reducing the room for peace. As we remember Europe Day and how Europe came together from the ashes of the Second World War to rebuild and revitalise itself through peace, solidarity and co-operation, we must also remember Ukraine.

The geopolitical posturing and advances for self-interest by the European Union and Russia in Ukraine must stop now. It sounds simplistic, but a radical change in approach which places Ukrainians at the heart of their future political and economic decision-making, free from outside pressure and intimidation, is the only way to ensure peace and stability will return to Ukraine.

This Friday, 9 May, marks the celebration of Europe Day. There will be celebrations in some parts of Europe, although I do not know how much celebrating there will be in this part of the world. The celebration of Europe Day has never really been on my agenda, but there have been hugely positive gains from being involved in the European Union. Given its historical background, it can play a major and positive role in trying to bring about peace and reconciliation around the world. That is the direction many people in Ireland, particularly after the conflict we have been through, want to see the European Union taking. They want to see it moving forward and member states working together in solidarity to try to bring peace, stability and economic prosperity to peoples around the world.

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