Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has criticized the leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for refusing to meet them for government formation talks.
She was addressing a crowd of up to 500 people gathered at Dublin’s Liberty Hall for the party’s second public meeting aimed at drumming up support for the party to be in Government.
Ms McDonald received a standing ovation before addressing the crowd.
She said: “Sinn Féin wants real change and I know all of you here want real change.
“For the first time ever, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael did not win a majority of votes … that represents a seismic change.
“They are trying everything to keep Sinn Féin and everyone who voted for them out of power. That is a very deliberate tactic.”
She added that she had a message for Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin.
She said: “I say this: we respect your mandate and now it is time that you respect ours.
“I think it is very clear that we will talk to everybody because that is what adults do. I say to them, listen to the voices of the electorate and understand this – the vote for change was a vote to get Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael out of government and not to put them back in.
“This is not a one-off event – the conversation will continue. I hope Leo Varadkar and the lads get over their fear of public meetings. I read somewhere that it was said that Sinn Féin are the barbarians at the gate. Well newsflash, the barbarians are through the gate.”
Ms McDonald has said the party will not be taking part in demonstrations or protests against Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
People Before Profit is holding a demonstration on Saturday March 7 calling for a change to Ireland’s government.
When asked by a member of People Before Profit in the audience if she would take part in the demonstration, Ms McDonald said: “You don’t need our permission to go and organize and protest. I would say this to you – the focus of our work is on negotiations with other parties and, of course, talking to all of you and engaging with you.
“We need to have conversations with all of you but also detailed conversations with other parties, and then it comes down to numbers because this is a numbers game, it is about policy but it is also about political will.”