Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The campaign for the elections to the United Kingdom Parliament has started. Could I ask that all of Northern Ireland be represented in Westminster because at present Fermanagh-South Tyrone, Mid-Ulster, and West Belfast are not? Sinn Féin is playing a valuable role in Stormont. It has the Speaker, the Deputy First Minister and many other Ministries. It represents Ireland, both North and South, in the European Parliament and it has a valued presence in the Dáil and the Seanad. Much has changed since the St. Andrews Agreement and the Good Friday Agreement. Sinn Féin will note that the Scottish National Party, SNP, is polling strongly, not on a policy of abstention but to get a stronger say for Scotland in Westminster. Sinn Féin has strong views, for instance on welfare spending, compared with the Conservative Party in the UK. It should bring those views to Parliament. I heard of the recent reassessment in Westminster, for example, of the role of Daniel O’Connell. There has been a radical recent assessment of his work on the disenfranchised and underprivileged. As parliamentarians, should Sinn Féin not participate in all the parliaments to which it may be elected?