Mayo Sinn Féin accuse Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of trying to 'buy the electorate'

A SINN Féin General Election candidate has accused the main Government parties of trying to 'buy the electorate' and hopes that the Mayo electorate are 'not easily bought'.

Charlestown-based councillor Gerry Murray hit out at the 'giveaway' budget announced by the Government before the election and claimed that recent announcements for funding for sport clubs and organisations was a tactic to buy votes.

Speaking at the Sinn Féin Mayo manifesto launch alongside party President Mary Lou McDonald and party colleague Rose Conway-Walsh TD, he said that the people of Mayo deserve better from their government than what they have been given.

“They are trying to buy the electorate and I hope the people of Mayo are not that easily bought. But that is the name of the game and worked for them for decades. I hope the people in this county will transcend that and see that what we need is much bigger and much better,” he said.

Echoing the words of Michael Davitt when he was asked what was the success of the land league,Cllr Murray said that it was because Davitt appealed 'to not people's sense of self sacrifice but to their sense of self interest'.

“It is in the interest of Mayo and the people of Mayo to vote for a Sinn Fein led government.

“This is about more than bricks, mortar and tarmac, it is about building a better life in Mayo. For far too long our essential services have been underfunded, understaffed and underresourced.

“Mayo has waited far too long and promised critical infrastructure that never materialised. As this manifesto shows, Sinn Fein is committed to breaking this cycle of neglect and delivering the transformative investment that our county so badly needs and so badly deserves.

“The people of Mayo deserve better. Myself and Rose Conway-Walsh will buck the trend of what we have seen in this county for the last 100 years,” he said.

Cllr Murray is the only Sinn Féin representative on Mayo County Council and claimed that since Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil went into government together, their councillors have started to attack the council executive for the faults of the Government.

“The old game in Mayo County Council was that Fianna Fáil would attack Fine Gael when they were in power and Fine Gael would attack Fianna Fáil when they were in power. The last five years have been very amusing in that they cannot attack the Government because they are both part of the Government.

“What Fianna Fail and Fine Gael started to do was attack the executive of the council. Sometimes you would swear the Chief Executive of the council was the Taoiseach in terms of the attack. They have been playing this fake game of opposition...when things go wrong it is not the Government who they blame but the civil servants they blame.

“Hopefully on November 29 the public will wake up to the type of shadow boxing going on locally and nationally and call their bluff and vote for a Sinn Féin led government,” he added.