Sinn Féin – ag caint ar dhá thaobh an bhéil i ngach aon rud. (For those who are not SF members this Irish sentence translates as “Sinn Féin – Talking from both sides of their mouth, in all things”).
Sinn Féin presents itself as the uncompromising defender of Palestinian rights. It lectures the Irish Government about neutrality, condemns military cooperation and attacks anyone it considers insufficiently “pure” on matters relating to Gaza.
Yet when Sinn Féin councillors had an opportunity to oppose the expansion of Moyola Precision Engineering; latter a County Derry company involved in the international F-35 fighter-jet supply chain, all seven abstained. Their abstentions allowed the planning application to pass.
The F-35 Lightning II is not an ordinary passenger or transport aircraft. It is an advanced stealth combat jet manufactured by Lockheed Martin and designed for air strikes, surveillance, electronic warfare and air-to-air combat. Israel operates a customised version called the F-35I “Adir.”
Yes, the F-35 has a shared multinational supply chain, so it may not be possible to trace an individual component made in Northern Ireland to one specific Israeli aircraft. But that does not erase the central fact; the factory participates in the same global programme that supplies and maintains F-35 aircraft operated by Israel. Components are pooled across the programme rather than manufactured exclusively for one country.
Sinn Féin and Ms Boylan MEP, cannot have it both ways.
It cannot pose as morally superior on Palestine, lecture everybody else about neutrality and militarisation, and then stand aside when a company involved in the F-35 weapons programme seeks to expand in a council it dominates.
When speeches are easy, Sinn Féin is loudly principled. When jobs, investment and an actual votes are involved, those principles suddenly become an abstention.
That is not neutrality. It is not leadership. It is political hypocrisy.
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