Even though I’m in Berlin I thought you’d like this press release:
Details
Date: Tuesday, June 10 2008
Time: 1.30pm
Location: Merrion Street entrance to Leinster House.Photo Opp: Two male YFG members wearing lifelike face masks will dress as Mary Lou McDonald (in a Spice Girls Union Jack dress) and Gerry Adams in a Union Jack Tuxedo. They will hold a 6X4 foot sign emblazoned with “No EU = Britain Runs Our Economy”.
Have they totally lost the plot? They are out republicaning the republicans and have decided to dress in drag and demean Mary Lou by equating her with Ginger Spice? Given Fine Gael’s gimp-mask-wearing style cow-towing to Maggie Thatcher and the British Governments all through the few years they were in power, this anti-British sentiment is a bit rich.
It gets just that litte bit better as they start going all anti-Unionist. The proddyGaels will not like this:
PRESS / PHOTOCALL NOTICE:
SF prefer dependence on Britain to a stronger EU- YFG
35 years of saying “NO” would make Paisley proud
Young Fine Gael (YFG) has called on voters to reject the anti-European messages of Sinn Fein when they cast their votes on the Lisbon Treaty next Thursday.
“Sinn Fein has said they are pro-Europe. When you consider they opposed EEC membership in the first place in 1972, and have made persistent vicious attacks against the EU since then, this claim is completely laughable,” according to YFG President Barry Walsh.
“In 1972, prior to joining the EEC, Ireland’s economy was completely dominated by Britain:
* Interest rates were dictated by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer
o Currency levels were handed to us by the British Government
o Our agriculture sector worked hard to provide the UK market with cheap food
o Our biggest export to Britain was our young people, who worked hard to build up THEIR economy and infrastructure.
o We were the 2nd poorest country in Europe“Since then however, we have broken free of their stranglehold:
o 1 million jobs have been created
o Our biggest exports, to the Single Market of 500 million people, are now our food and technology products
o €58 billion in funding has flowed into Ireland from the EU budget
o We are now the 2nd richest country in Europe.“So it is clear that if the Irish people had listened to Sinn Fein in 1972, or at any referendum since then, we would still be in the economic doldrums and dependent on Britain. Perhaps this is the plan ‘B’ they are so anxious we vote for.
[…] Post about an amazing press release about a YFG press stunt. I wish I was there to see it. […]
in fairness the Mary Lou McDonald “Shinner Spice” meme has been going around for years, since the last election. it’s quite funny too if you ask me….
Wow! Totally wow! I hope that YFG are very proud of themselves for this. No longer are they just attacking the people with questions about why they should vote yes, they have now gone and turned a completely non-party issue into a major anti-party stunt. Such behaviour belongs in the world of professional satire not within the bounds of independent political decision making. I thought that Fianna Fáil’s ignorant and dogmatic attitude on this was bad but this stunt is simply immature and groundless, and exactly the type of activity that is losing more and more support for the yes vote but more worrying is that it is further clouding any possible comprehension of the treaty by those who still don’t know the factual meaning of it. There’s so much playing of the man in this game that I don’t think that there’s even a ball on the pitch!
“Given Fine Gael’s gimp-mask-wearing style cow-towing to Maggie Thatcher and the British Governments all through the few years they were in power.”
I do not agree with the above comment.
I seem to recall CJ Haughey presenting Maggie Thatcher with a Georgian silver teapot at their first meeting.
The Anglo Irish Agreement signed by FG Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald and Margaret Thatcher in 1985 introduced a form of joint rule. It smashed the Unionist veto. It soon concentrated Unionist minds. Unionists began to realise that they would have to share power with Nationalists if this agreement were to be replaced.
Incidentally Peter Barry TD (FG) was Minister for Foreign Affairs and was heavily involved in the negotiations, which resulted in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. He became a hate figure for Unionists.
So because Charlie Haughey gave a gift to Maggie that equates to FG not being cow-towers? Right. Why is every FG argument about what others have done?
The BULK of my post was about the FG approach, which secured the Anglo Irish Agreement. The British certainly did not consider Peter Barry to be a shrinking violet. He took a very hard line with the Unionists and the Thatcher Government. The Anglo Irish agreement smashed the Unionist veto. That was the work of an FG led Government. Similarly the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973, which established the power-sharing executive of UUP, Alliance and SDLP, was the work of the FG/Labour Coalition Government.