February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
When asked about the current crisis involving Sinn Fein and criminality, the newly installed European Union ambassador to the U.S. replied, “We are having mafia-influenced politics being introduced into the Dail.”
Bruton’s remarks came in the wake of a particularly difficult period for Sinn Fein, in which the party, and its president, Gerry Adams, have been put on the defensive. In recent weeks, political opponents linked the party to what they claim was an IRA robbery of the Northern Bank in Belfast. Subsequent police raids are said to have uncovered an IRA money-laundering operation in the Republic. And the party recently condemned IRA members who were involved in the Jan. 30 stabbing death of Robert McCartney outside a Short Strand bar.
In his “McLaughlin Group” appearance, Bruton referred to Sinn Fein’s political ambitions in the Republic as being “dangerous.”
“They want to be in government or they want to hold the balance of power in the Dail, and that would be very, very dangerous for Ireland,” he said.
The former Fine Gael leader said an increase in Sinn Fein’s power would mean a reversal for Ireland’s economic fortunes.
“If you had a situation where you had politicians in power in Ireland where behind them there was a secret army, like the IRA, which was really calling the shots, and that the people that you were talking to had to refer back to this other entity, this secret entity, I think you wouldn’t have the sort of confidence to attract investment into Ireland that you’ve had,” he said.
The host of the show, John McLaughlin, is known as a politically conservative journalist who asks rapid-fire questions and frequently does not wait for answers. McLaughlin initially asked if Bruton concurred with Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s assertion that the IRA and Sinn Fein were one in the same.
The ambassador concurred.
McLaughlin then asked Bruton: “What’s going to happen to Adams? He’s going to defend himself against the charge, as he’s already doing? Will the law step in here? Is he going to go to jail or worse?”
Bruton replied that Sinn Fein would have to break from the IRA or the IRA would have to dissolve in order to achieve legitimacy as a political party committed to exclusively democratic means.
Meanwhile, Sinn F