´óÏó´«Ã½

Summary

  • Sinn Féin is holding its party ard fheis (annual conference) in Athlone.

  • Party leader Mary Lou McDonald has given a keynote speech.

  • She has addressed housing, healthcare, climate change and the bombardment of Gaza

  • The party won the most seats in the 2022 NI Assembly election and is in opposition in the Irish parliament.

  1. Goodbye and thank you for joiningpublished at 20:06 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Thank you for following our live coverage of Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald's speech at the party's ard fheis (conference) in Athlone.

    For more from our newsdesk in Belfast and our reporters on the ground, read this story and keep an eye on our Sinn Féin topic page.

  2. What have we learned?published at 19:59 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Mary Lou McDonald speaking at the ard fheisImage source, Sinn Fein

    Key points in Mary Lou McDonald's speech:

    • Sinn Féin want to build "a new Ireland" with "Orange and Green reconciled".
    • Housing is the party's number one priority and Sinn Féin wants to ban rent increases for three years.
    • She said the Irish government should "send the Israeli ambassador home".
    • The next government must prepare for constitutional change and introduce a "citizens' assembly on unity", she said
    • She tells delegates there is a "clear choice" between Sinn Féin and the "jaded politics" of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael
  3. ANALYSIS: Starter gun fired but Sinn Féin needs partnerspublished at 19:55 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Enda McClafferty
    ´óÏó´«Ã½ News NI political editor

    It was the perfect location for Mary Lou McDonald to fire the starter gun on her party’s election campaign: Standing in the middle of a race track in a synthetic velodrome flanked by her top team.

    She made a pitch to voters promising big change, prioritising housing, health and the cost of living crisis.

    On the Stormont standoff her message to the government was blunt: Call time on the endless talks with the DUP.

    But if the government doesn’t act then there is little Sinn Féin can do.

    The stand-out moment came when the Sinn Fein president called for the Israeli ambassador to be sent home.

    It was a moment of release for delegates clearly frustrated by the party’s muddled message.

    The next time we see Mary Lou McDonald on an ard fheis stage she could be taoiseach standing alongside Michelle O’ Neill as first minister.

    But that is likely to depend on the party finding political partners in Dublin and Belfast.

    And that's a process that will only start when the finishing line has been crossed.

  4. WATCH: Mary Lou McDonald says there is a 'clear choice' for voterspublished at 19:42 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Media caption,

    Sinn Féin says her party would lead a 'government for change'

  5. 'A clear choice'published at 19:08 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Mary Lou McDonald says Sinn Féin is "on our marks" for the several elections in the next 18 months.

    She says: "There is a clear choice. Between the jaded politics of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael or a government for change led by Sinn Féin. Between devastating Tory austerity or a future of real progress, building public services and prosperity together."

    Talking about Stormont she says the DUP "must end its boycott of government.

    "The British government must stop endlessly indulging this boycott".

    And ahead of the potential election in the Republic she says: "Our ambition is to lead government in the south. A new government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for the first time in a hundred years. Just imagine that."

  6. 'Our generation must write the chapter of unity.'published at 19:05 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Ms McDonald says that to build a new Ireland, government must plan for democratic constitutional change.

    She calls for a citizens' assembly on north-south unity, saying: "The day is coming when everyone on this island will have their say in referendums."

    "Each vote counting equally, no vetoes and no shifting of the goal posts," she continues.

    "Momentum is building, the conversation is live, history is happening now. Irish unity is the very best opportunity for the future."

  7. 'Send the Israeli ambassador home'published at 19:03 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill, Palestinian ambassador to Ireland Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid and party leader Mary Lou McDonaldImage source, Sinn Féin
    Image caption,

    Palestinian ambassador to Ireland Dr Jilan Abdalmajid also addressed the ard fheis

    Mary Lou McDonald calls on the Irish government to send the Israeli ambassador home.

    She says there needs to be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and calls Gaza "a graveyard of children". She says Israeli actions are "barbaric, hateful, cowardly".

    She says: "This is a moment of reckoning for world leaders, for the European Union, a test of commitment to human rights, peace, democracy. We ask, where is the protection of international law for every child killed in Gaza?"

    "Israel must stop its slaughter in Gaza. Hamas must release all hostages. Ceasefires must be called.

    "Only a peace process, dialogue, international law can deliver peace and Palestinian freedom."

  8. Responding to climate changepublished at 18:50 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Mary Lou McDonald says the climate crisis is real, the clock is ticking and the damage caused by recent flooding across Ireland shows the impact of climate change.

    She talks about the ecological catastrophe on Lough Neagh, saying that it "urgently requires a response based on public ownership".

    She says a government is needed with "the drive to achieve energy independence" and calls for "off-shore wind, solar, and green hydrogen which will spearhead Ireland’s energy revolution".

    She calls for "pace and scale, a planning system that’s fit for purpose, and strategic investment in our infrastructure".

  9. 'Cut the cost of healthcare'published at 18:42 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    The Sinn Féin President says the "government has thrown in the towel on health".

    She tells delegates the Irish government "left a €1.3bn hole in the health budget" last month (£1.1bn, $1.4bn).

    "And now, while the system creaks, a stop has been put to the recruitment of vital staff," she continues.

    "We have a plan to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time. To cut the cost of healthcare. To invest in more beds, more frontline staff, to increase capacity in diagnostics and surgical theatre space, so that no child is left to wait and wait in agony for the spinal procedure that could change their life."

  10. 'Ban rent increases for three years'published at 18:41 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Ms McDonald says housing is Sinn Féin's "number one priority".

    Under the current government, she says, "home ownership has collapsed for an entire generation".

    "We need a new government to bring energy, pace, and the plan to fix housing."

    A Sinn Fein government, she says, would "build genuinely affordable homes, build enough of them, get the targets right, increase capital expenditure. Cut rents, giving a month’s rent back to every renter, and ban rent increases for three years."

  11. 'A new Ireland'published at 18:37 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Mary Lou McDonald addressing the party conference from a podium
    Image caption,

    More than a thousand party members are at the ard fheis in Athlone

    Ms McDonald says her party wants to "build a new Ireland".

    "A nation home for all. A unified nation of confidence and compassion, talent and ingenuity, claiming our future, our rightful place among the nations of the world.

    A new Ireland. The Orange and Green reconciled. No place for racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or sectarianism. Where there is no them, only us."

  12. Watch the speech livepublished at 18:33 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    You can watch Mary Lou McDonald’s conference speech by hitting the play icon at the top of this page.

  13. What do we expect her to say on NI issues?published at 18:14 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill (left) and President Mary Lou McDonald at Belfast City Hall as results continue to come in for the Northern Ireland local electionsImage source, PA
    Image caption,

    Mary Lou McDonald is seen here with the party's deputy leader, Michelle O'Neill, in Belfast

    The stalemate at Stormont is likely to be one of the key topics addressed in Ms McDonald’s speech.

    The executive has not met since February 2022 and there is no functioning legislative assembly because of the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) protest against post-Brexit trading rules.

    The DUP is in talks with the government about resolving this, however, there is no indication of an imminent return to Stormont.

    After the results of last year’s assembly election, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill would be entitled to the role of first minister.

    Many people are struggling in Northern Ireland with inflation and the cost of living, while there has also been a crisis in policing in recent months. These subjects could also feature.

  14. Who is Mary-Lou McDonald?published at 17:36 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald at the Sinn Fein Ard FheisImage source, PA Media
    Image caption,

    Ms McDonald has led Sinn Féin for five years

    Born on the southside of Dublin, the TD for Dublin Central took up the position of Sinn Féin president in 2018, succeeding Gerry Adams.

    She led the party in the 2020 general election in the Republic of Ireland when it increased its vote significantly, returning the highest number of first preferences.

    The party entered opposition after Fianna Fáil, a party Ms McDonald initially joined at the start of her political career, formed a coalition government with Fine Gael and the Green Party.

  15. Welcomepublished at 17:08 Greenwich Mean Time 11 November 2023

    Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of Sinn Féin President Mary-Lou McDonald’s address to her party’s ard fheis (annual conference).

    You will be able to watch her speech in Athlone live by pressing play at the top of this page. It will also be available via catch-up afterwards.