carolyn.farrar@donegalonsunday.com
The Fine Gael whip has rejected claims that his party would not respect the Sinn Féin mandate, though Sinn Féin maintained that Fine Gael's refusal to enter into negotiations with them led to the party's new alli
ance with Fianna Fáil. Labour Clr Frank McBrearty Jr. also said that negotiations between his party and Fine Gael broke down this week.
Fine Gael Clr Terence Slowey said the Fianna Fáil-Sinn Féin-Labour agreement came as a surprise. He said Fine Gael had been interested in bringing about an all-inclusive pact and called the claims that Fine Gael would not negotiate with Sinn Féin "absolutely untrue."
Fine Gael "met with all parties in good faith," Clr Slowey said.
The new alliance includes Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour and independent Clr Seamus Ó Domhnaill.
Fianna Fáil Mayor Brendan Byrne and Clr Pádraig MacLochlainn, Sinn Féin's group leader on the council, said that it was Fine Gael's intransigence that led to the new pact.
Clr MacLochlainn said Sinn Féin was not invited into negotiations for power-sharing following the last council election in 2004. This time, he said, "we entered into negotiations seeking a fair allocation of posts for the party." This year's local elections marked the second consecutive time that Donegal voters elected four Sinn Féin candidates to the county council. It became clear to the party that Fine Gael was advocating for a pact that would exclude Sinn Féin, Clr MacLochlainn said.
"We then worked with those parties that respected our mandate," he said, adding that "it was clear to us that Fine Gael was not serious about sharing power with Sinn Féin at all."
Mayor Byrne said that "if some party chose to exclude themselves, if they wouldn't sit with other parties, it is a matter for themselves. Now is a time for change," he said. "It is a time for inclusivity. that is what we've done here."
Clr MacLochlainn said that as a result of the agreement, Donegal will see its first Sinn Féin mayor in two years' time, and will see a Sinn Féin deputy mayor in a coming term. He said the party was pleased with the agreement. Clr MacLochlainn said the new pact will not affect Sinn Féin's standing as an opposition party.
"As an opposition party we will be fighting against government and challenging the government inside and outside this chamber," he said.
But Fine Gael's Clr Slowey said the agreement puts Sinn Féin in a difficult position. "The party that has spent the last five years criticising the government is now propping up a lame duck Fianna Fáil party, with Labour supporting this mixed marriage," he said.
Clr Ó Domhnaill, the independent in the pact, said he will be able to stay independent within the group and said he talked over the decision with his team before agreeing to join.
