AS SOON as the Northern Ireland Assembly election results were announced on Saturday confirming that Sinn Fein was now the biggest party, the US, UK and Irish governments swung into action.
They urged Sinn Fein and the minority political parties in Northern Ireland to re-establish a devolved administration at once.
Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O’Neill however beat them to the punch by immediately stating that the party will be at Stormont today, ready to form an executive. In her acceptance speech, O’Neill said: ‘The executive needs to be formed immediately. The people cannot wait. People struggling with the cost of living are relying on us to get on with things and do our jobs.
‘I have written to all party leaders proposing that we come together on Monday at Stormont and get down to business. Our collective task is to work together to solve the problems facing this society.’
She said ‘other parties’ need to be ready to form an executive and that there should be ‘no excuses’ or ‘time wasting’.
‘Today, ushers in a new era which I believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships in this society on the basis of fairness, on the basis of equality and on the basis of social justice,’ she continued.
She continued: ‘My commitment is to work through partnership, not division. We will work with those who serve all other political perspectives, we will show respect and we expect to be shown respect.’
There was no mention in her speech about a referendum on a United Ireland. Sinn Fein is set to immerse itself in bread and butter politics, pushing aside the huge issue of Irish unity in favour of united action with the other reformist parties.
Previous to this statement, a ‘spectre’ had been more than troubling the imperialist powers.
This was that after Sinn Fein ran the current Dublin government close in the last general election in the Republic, and the movement is currently the favourite to win the next one, that they will soon be facing the nightmare prospect of Sinn Fein governments in both the Republic and the Six Counties organising a referendum to bring in a United Ireland, which Irish people have been fighting for since the foundation of the northern statelet.
Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing executive for several months after the DUP collapsed the institutions as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol – part of the Brexit deal.
Pressure will now have to be applied to the DUP to rejoin the power sharing executive.
The UK’s Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said he would be meeting party leaders over the coming days and would urge them to restore the Stormont institutions, starting with the nomination of an assembly speaker within eight days.
On Saturday, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would respect the result of the election. However, he insisted there needed to be changes made to the protocol.
The US State Department has lectured the parties. ‘Critical and immediate challenges concerning the economy, health, and education are best addressed through the collective efforts of a devolved government chosen by and accountable to its people,’ State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said.
Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said it was ‘incumbent’ on all elected representatives to deliver on their mandate through the nomination of a first and deputy first minister.
Martin said a new power-sharing executive was ‘vital for progress and prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.
‘It is now incumbent on all political parties and elected representatives to deliver on their mandate, through the nomination of a first and deputy first minister and the formation of a new executive to serve the interests of all of the people of Northern Ireland,’ said Martin.
Sinn Fein is now plainly ditching the struggle for a referendum to unite Ireland in favour of waging the economic struggle alongside the various Unionist parties.
However, such is the crisis of British and world capitalism that workers are facing huge attacks on their, wages, working conditions and basic rights as the UK-US axis moves to make war on Russia, and in the process raises the prices of food and fuel to levels not seen since the super-inflation of the 1930s.
In this situation, working class revolutionary action is needed, not just an alliance to try and force the bosses to pay decent wages and offer better jobs and housing.
There will certainly not be billions of pounds available to satisfy the requirements of the Irish and UK workers. The only answer to this crisis is to build a section of the International Committee of the Fourth International in Ireland to lead the Irish socialist revolution.
It is too late for Sinn Fein to try and introduce normal trade union-type politics in Ireland. What is actually required is the organisation of the Irish and British socialist revolutions.