Why Sinn Fein get treated better by the media then any other party

One of the many things that shiners like to speak of is that the media is against them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The media gives Sinn Fein by far the least grilling of any party. I’m sure there are many out there who don’t believe me. And think the Media are unfair to Sinn Fein. That they are “demonising them” that they are “biased” “Paisleyite” and “West Brits”.

But lets look at a few points.

1. Sinn Fein do not consider murdering a member of the Garda Siochana (Irish Police for any foreign readers) wrong. 2. They do not consider the Irish Army as the legitimate army of the state. 3. They do not believe that people of certain ethnic backgrounds have the right to private property. 4. They consider people convicted of training FARC guerrillas heroes 5. They do not recognise the police service of a neighbouring state. 6. They support foreign terrorist organisations 7. Their armed “wing” the IRA committed the largest bank robbery in the history of theses Islands 8. Their armed “wing” tried to cover up the murder of Robert McCartney. Then offered to execute the killers.

So firstly I will deal with point 3. In the Irish Times today with zero comment. It said that at its Ard Feis Sinn Fein decided that “Lands owned by "British aristocratic landlords" in the State should be seized by compulsory purchase orders,” This is the kind of policy Hitler started bringing into Germany against the Jews. This policy is that if someone is of “British aristocratic” ethnicity they don’t have the right to private policy. Considering that Ireland has not been British for 85 years or so. It is highly unlikely that these people who own the land were not born under Irish Rule. But Sinn Fein think that due to their ethnic background they have less rights. This is a fascist policy if there ever was one. Yet do we see the papers criticise them. No. It is a side note in the general Sinn Fein backslapping in the media.

Now such things have been discussed in the media such as the Northern Bank and Robert McCartney but the level of coverage and condemnation that Sinn Fein received was a kin to what Former Minister Michael Lowery got. So lets weigh up the differences. Michael Lowery got a house extension done as payment for a business dealing. Without paying tax. The IRA robbed €38 million. Are these even remotely similar. Why are they dealt with similarly. Michael Lowery appears in the media more then the North bank. Michael Lowery evaded tax in 1996. The Northern Bank raid was just over a year ago. At this rate the Northern Bank raid will be like a myth in 8 years time. The offer from the IRA to execute the killers of Robert McCartney shows that these people have zero respect for Irish morals. People including Sinn Fein talk about the corruption in Fianna Fail. Yet few journalists are asking the questions where is all the IRA’s money going. How is Sinn Fein so well financed? Much of the corruption in Fianna Fail was found out by Frank Connolly. Do I have to spell out why he found corruption in Fianna Fail and not Sinn Fein.

So why does the media act this way. Are they scared. Are they afraid that they will walk down one dark alley to many so day? I think the reason is that Sinn Fein is still seen as a marginalised terrorist party. That they should be encouraged towards peace. This is all well and good. We don’t want to frighten such organisations away from peace. But this is no longer applicable. Sinn Fein are a party that wish to enter into government and “say” they want to pursue purely peaceful politics. This means they should no longer get an easy ride from the press. No longer should the party be not viciously chastised for not recognising the Army of the state. They believe that the murder of a member of the Gardai is “unfortunate”. They say this and people say that is a bad attitude to take. You might think the media’s reaction to Ms Ferris saying it was bad imagine the reaction if Trevor Sergeant said it. Really sit down and think about this.

Seriously clear your mind.

I’ m not joking. Clear your mind.

Is it clear?

Good. Now imagine you are watching Prime Time or the Political Party. Trevor Sergeant is being interviewed. He talks about the Kyoto treaty and Bio Fuel. Then he is asked about the murder of Gerry McCabe. He replies that it was “unfortunate”. Now imagine the reaction of the supposedly anti-Sinn Fein press. Got that imagine in you head.

Now compare that to what happens when Gerry Adams says it. Would the presses reaction be remotely similar. I think not.

Another motion that Sinn Fein support is the removal of the offences against that state. Now I will let Richard Waghorne explain why that is bad. Are the media going to ask Sinn Fein why they want to weaken our defences against terrorist organisations. When the latest IMC report said the likes of the CIRA and RIRA are recruiting. I guess the next few days will tell us that.

Britain is our most important ally. Tony talks to Bertie as much if not more often then he talks to George W. You would think that what ever the make up of the next future government. Whether it is Enda and David. The British Irish Link is going to be very strong. Britain is our largest export partner. Yet Sinn Fein still consider that the British people were legitimate targets. Why is this not been questioned.

The reason I think the media treat Sinn Fein with more leniency then any other party is because they hold every other party to a higher standard. And that attitude had some merit. They were after all not really a democratic party. Yet now they are in the position where they maybe in power. The media can no longer not hold them to the higher standard of the other parties. When they say they move on policing in the North they should not be congratulated for saying “might” they should be vilified for not supporting the rule of law. The era of uneven Sinn Fein coverage needs to end. We need the media to expect Sinn Fein to have the same morals and integrity as every other party.