Sinn Fein: The Trojan Horse of good Government

The insulting comments made by DUP MLA Gregory Campbell last month on the Irish language undoubtedly let himself and his party down - the party's opposition to the Irish language act has prevented society developing a unified culture in the North. However the response of Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams reveals much more about the parties in government at Stormont.

'The point is to actually break these bastards - that's the point. And what's going to break them is equality. [...] that's the Trojan horse of the entire republican strategy is to reach out to people on the basis of equality.' 

The message here from the Sinn Fein leader exposes what many have acknowledged for some time with his party. Their main target is electoral supremacy and building an equal society in the North is merely a front. Whilst their partners in leadership, the DUP have made no effort to present themselves as a 'party for the people' promoting welfare and social development - SF have consistently put themselves across as a left wing party looking to build a better society in this part of Ireland.

Quotes here however add to what is already a litany of corruption from the party. They were exposed last year for housing trade offs with the democratic unionists, used to maintain their respective electoral dominance in Newry & South Armagh and North Belfast. Clearly it is acceptable for these parties to ignore the needs of local people in order to retain electoral supremacy.

Further to this, the party were also recently exposed to have set up questionable means of payment to their constituency offices, allowing money to flow into the coffers of party members in 'research' companies where research does not seem to have taken place through their assembly expenses claims. Education minister John O'Dowd then claimed that 'the only audit that matters to Sinn Fein are the voters(sic)'. This ignorance of the importance of following public procedure in order to save the taxpayer money is another indication of the party's lack of interest in proper governance.

The admission of the Party President along with the multiple incidents of corrupt behaviour surely should have set off alarm bells. The continuation of a toxic ‘two communities’ housing strategy, total ignorance over necessary budgetary changes, combined with the refusal to implement a policy of integrated education – as stipulated in the Belfast Agreement – leads us to the conclusion that Sinn Fein is not a party who is trying to build a better, more equal society. It is a party which cares only for the weight of its own pockets and maintenance of its own vote.

Feminism and equality: The Private Sphere

The sex discrimination act of 1975, and the progress that women in the workplace have made since has done a great deal to address gender inequality in the UK. Women now make up over 47% of the workplace, a 10% rise since the act was introduced. We have increasing parity of esteem between people of various and no gender in society today. But how can the next step be taken?

Much of feminist thought centres on the politics of the personal - of accessing the things in private life which a society run by men always ignored. I think we can all agree on the massive value conferred on us by those who fed, cared for and reared us as children, and provided for our family within the home. The role of the carer, traditionally occupied by women in the past caused difficulties, and continues to create difficulties for women who wish to enter public life. Notably in recent months, UKIP leader Nigel Farage declared that women are of less value than men in the workplace as they may leave full time employment due to pregnancy or childcare needs. I would contest that the value is stored somewhere else, and that in order to balance personal value in the public sphere, we must do so in the private.

Provision of childcare allowances by government go some way to alleviating the perceived need for women to look after children, but the stigma of the female parent as holding primary responsibility for childcare still holds many driven and intelligent women back. Another solution could be to look at equality again, but in the private sphere of childcare. In UK law, the father of a child ONLY has parental responsibility if he cosigns the birth certificate as either a married or unmarried partner, or applies for parental responsibility through the court system. The mother has these rights automatically. I would contest this is incorrect, unfair, and damaging to gender equality.

Similarly, in cases of family breakdown, the mother takes primacy in custody arrangements, with access granted to the father based on her wishes. This attachment of the role of carer to the mother helps to perpetuate gender roles and entrench inequality. By treating parents as equals, and debating custody from this new standpoint, we increase the responsibility of all gender roles in private life and allow for real equality.

Were we to change such a law, and take primary custody and responsibility away from mothers, placing the responsibility for a child (once born) in the hands of both parents - this could help to alleviate the poisonous stigma attaching women to the private sphere and preventing their growth in public life. By placing responsibility in the hands of fathers to take part in childcare, to be an equal partner in private and public life we could bring families and gender equality into the 21st century.

Families today come in various shapes and sizes, and by addressing inequality in family life we can better address the inequalities which remain in public life. By giving fathers parity of esteem in custody arrangements, and in doing this conferring upon them the responsibilities of equal parenthood we can better achieve gender equality for all.

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