Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What I have to say is no reflection on the Minister. Austerity is hitting Northern Ireland just as it is hitting southern Ireland. One might say we should welcome the fact that the Irish Government thinks about Northern Ireland and is concerned about the good people living there, as successive Governments through the decades stood idly by and looked away while the people in the North of Ireland were being politically abused by a sectarian administration. The only time there was mention of Northern Ireland in the Dáil through the decades was if something happened that might have an impact on southern Ireland. There was nothing done to provide support or understanding for those who were living under the yoke of political abuse. Now, when Northern Ireland is mentioned it is not because of concern about the citizens there but because the Government and Fianna Fáil are trying to gain political advantage by wrongly arguing that Sinn Féin supports, promotes and administers austerity in the North of Ireland.

It is particularly ironic when the Taoiseach and Tánaiste come out with this verbiage as the same Taoiseach and Tánaiste aided and abetted a Tory leader who came to Belfast to try to force austerity on the population of Northern Ireland. They nodded like the little dashboard puppies while the Tories were trying to force Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party to accept austerity.

See this speech in context