Brendan Ryan (Labour)

No, it is not just for Sinn Féin. It is about what defines democracy. What we in this House and in the other House are asking Sinn Féin to do is establish credentials that it accepts the rules of democracy. If there is zero room for dissent within a political party, then it does not qualify. No political party of which I know in this State has suspended somebody simply for saying he or she does not agree with his or her party. Not even Fianna Fáil, under Charles J. Haughey at its most draconian, did that. As far as I am concerned the capitulation of the British Government and the sinister Mafiosi sense of omerta of Sinn Féin raise fundamental questions.