Sinn Féin’s Darren O’Rourke has accused Fianna Fáil candidate Thomas Byrne of attempting to pull the wool over the eyes of the electorate.
O’Rourke said:
“Fianna Fáil scripted the austerity policies that are now crippling hard working people. Fine Gael and Labour are implementing them.
“The Fianna Fáil candidate in this by-election has been making a lot of noise about alternatives and change. And that would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that it was his party that caused this mess in the first place. It is clear that Fianna Fáil is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the electorate in their attempt to reinvent themselves.
“What Thomas Byrne forgets is that he was a government TD in the era of Bertie and Cowen; in the era of the tribunals, bank bailouts and golden handshakes. He backed the Fianna Fáil leadership every step of the way and voted for every cut, every charge and every austerity measure brought in by that government.
“Thomas Byrne can talk about alternatives and change all he likes but the reality is that he cannot run away from the economic ruin his party caused.
“Sinn Féin is the only party outside the cosy political consensus. We are the only party with the policies to get the economy back on track in a way that is fair.
“Meath East has felt the full force of the failed austerity policies of Fianna Fáil. Unemployment, cuts to public services and the mortgage crisis have crippled ordinary working people.
“This constituency does not need more of the same. It needs new ideas, a new voice and real representation.”