John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tonight's Private Members' motion is linked to a €4 million donation provided to Sinn Féin which, according to the estate of William Hampton, is "for the political party in the Republic of Ireland known at this time as Sinn Féin". I really believe Sinn Féin has some real questions to ask itself and a chance to look at its moral compass, if one even exists, and decide what it will do with a €4 million donation.

If the spotlight had not been shone on this matter and if it had disappeared into the ether what would have become of it? It would have been laundered across the Border to infiltrate and influence political outcomes in this country. The money would have been swapped across the Border, as has been done on countless occasions, to undermine the democratic process. If this money is used in the Republic of Ireland, either directly or indirectly, it is quite simply subversive. Whether it goes to research or cash in hand for canvassers, extra office staff or election campaigns, it is subversive money that has come across the Northern Irish Border and has been laundered across it. For this reason, the spending of this cash, and all Sinn Féin cash, needs to be totally and utterly transparent.

This counts the same for all of the republican sympathisers, the armchair republicans in the United States who might find it difficult to point to the island of Ireland on a geographical map. They donate vast sums of money every year to the Sinn Féin Party. The €4 million donation, as far as I am concerned, is only the tip of the iceberg. It is only the tip of a deep, dark and corrupt pit of money that the Sinn Féin Party uses. It is time to shine a light on these dark corners of our democracy and illuminate what is actually happening and how a select group of people in Belfast are directing it to undermine and influence the political situation here in this very Oireachtas.

I have spent the past few months listening to the concept of an all-Ireland approach to Covid and I firmly agree with this and with cross-border co-operation. However, the rank hypocrisy occurs when it is a €4 million donation into Sinn Féin's back pocket. When it comes to cash in hand there is no mention whatsoever of all-Ireland approaches, no mention of cross-border co-operation and no empathy with the everyday struggles people are facing. This is when Sinn Féin ceases to be a 32-county political party and becomes a six-county United Kingdom political party for the purposes of laundering money into the Republic of Ireland. This is the real irony of this entire situation. This is the legacy of Sinn Féin. It is a united Ireland party when it suits it for political record and a United Kingdom party when it comes to getting cash under the table. Unfortunately, where I come from, on the Border between Louth and south Armagh, we know all too well about money laundering be it fuel, cash or credit union robberies. Subversive elements have tormented communities on both sides of the Border. It was subversive laundering and the criminality of money that allowed someone who was described as a good republican by the former leader of the Sinn Féin party to live a charmed existence protected by his very own golden circle.