Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Voters in these constituencies are trying to cope with an unfair family home tax and they are dreading water bills in the new year. The water is not even fit to drink in Roscommon. They are trying to cope with unacceptably high levels of unemployment and the scandal of mass emigration. The Government should think about the deep damage that is being done to communities and families and our sense of ourselves. Almost 500,000 people have left the State over the past eight years. Only Sinn Féin candidates, if elected, will be part of a strong and growing party in the House and in the North voting against unfair cuts and austerity budgets, committed to the abolition of the property tax, opposing water charges, defending our public services and building peace and the political processes on this island.

I will ask voters in Dublin South West and Roscommon-South Leitrim to vote to make the change and to vote for Cathal King and Martin Kenny. They are both long-standing councillors who are deeply rooted in their communities. They are republican activists of great quality who are totally committed to what our party is trying to do across the island. We will seek a mandate for budget resources to be targeted at job creation, stimulating economic growth across all the regions and ending the scourge of mass emigration. We will also seek a mandate for the adoption of a housing policy, which delivers the necessary social housing stock to meet the needs of those languishing on waiting lists. We will continue our opposition to further cuts in the health budget. I was in Roscommon, a beautiful part of the country, in the past two weeks and we will defend rural communities and rural dwellers. We will seek a mandate for radical political and institutional reform which addresses the lack of accountability and transparency within the Oireachtas, Departments and in the policing and justice system. We will argue for increased funding for mental health provision and the resolution of the Government's continuing medical card debacle. We will also - and this is acutely important - seek the strengthening of the peace process and a united Ireland.

Sinn Féin's platform is for a clear, workable and fair alternative to the way the Government is doing business and for a fair recovery, which benefits all citizens. We will also fight these campaigns to win and to bring another two Sinn Féin Deputies to join our Oireachtas team if that is the wish of the electorate in these constituencies.

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