COLUMN: How does a video of Paschal Donohue eviscerating Sinn Féin resurface?

Social media is a funny thing!

This week a video emerged on the X platform (formerly Twitter) of Paschal Donohue eviscerating Sinn Féin in the Dáil.

It was posted as though it happened yesterday, and truth be told, I was suckered in by it and listened to all of it on X.

What was most revealing was that after a deep dive, the video was actually posted by RTÉ News in July of 2022.

Users on social media praised the speech with one saying: “Might be the best speech of the administration.”

Columnist for the Sunday Independent, David Quinn, said: “In fairness, this is excellent”. All of the replies were current, only hours old.

But no one seemed to notice, or care to notice, that the speech itself was over a year old.

RTÉ News had tweeted it on July 12, 2022 with the words: “Minister for Finance Paschal Donohue has said Sinn Féin want more rental accommodation to be built but ‘demonise landlords’, and want to make progress on climate change but are ‘against any measure’...needed to do it.”

The reality is that the substance of the speech is actually very strong. Being in opposition must be the easiest job in the world.

And Paschal Donohue, the then Minister for Finance, was quick to point that out.

We routinely run press releases from opposition TDs in Tipperary holding the Government to account.

And that’s the most important job of being in opposition.

It is a fundamental part of our democratic structure and it’s important that as a newspaper we report on local opposition criticising Government policies.

But Paschal, in this instance, holds the opposition to account.

The Fine Gael heavyweight delivered some strong blows as Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald feigned to be distracted by her phone.

With Sinn Féin outperforming Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the polls, the bashing of the current Government and its parties is rampant and perhaps in many cases, justifiably so given the Government’s many failures.

But Deputy Donohue’s remarks matter for all voters as it also shines a light, albeit a Fine Gael light, on Sinn Féin.

It is in a sense, an important counter-argument for voters to hear.

Deputy Donohue is referencing a speech made by Deputy McDonald during a motion on Confidence in the Government.

Among her many remarks, the Sinn Féin party leader said: “Sinn Féin tabled its motion of no confidence in the Government opposite because we believe that change is needed now more than ever. House prices continue to soar beyond the reach of ordinary workers and families. The dream of owning a home has become an impossibility for an entire generation. Rents keep going up and up.

“A new Government on the side of renters would take action now to cut rents through a tax credit and legislate to ban rent increases for three years but the Taoiseach’s do-nothing Government sits on its hands and turns a blind eye. Under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, so many are denied the medical care that they badly need. Our hospitals are chronically overcrowded and we have a never-ending trolley crisis.

“Strike three against the Government is on the cost-of-living crisis. Households across the country are at breaking point and the threat of poverty is now very real, not only for those on low and fixed incomes, but for middle-income households too.”

In response, Deputy Donohue said: “What was also conspicuously lacking in that speech was what was not mentioned. There was no mention of Covid, the war in Ukraine, the economy and the value of jobs, and, shamefully, Brexit.

“That kind of approach might work when leading an opposition and when one is more interested in the content of a social media video than the content of policy, but it will not work if one is looking to lead a country. It points to the greater void at the heart of Sinn Féin policies. Sinn Féin wants more rental accommodation to be built, yet it demonises landlords and anyone who seeks to provide it. It wants to make progress on climate change, yet it is against any measure, particularly difficult measures, that are needed to achieve it. It wants to abolish the local property tax in Ireland, yet it wants to hike the tax in the North. Sinn Féin wants to make progress on the cost-of-living challenge. One week it is in favour of targeted measures and the next week it is in favour of broad measures.

“Has there ever been a darker act of humour in recent Irish politics than Sinn Féin publishing a Private Members’ Bill to control social media trolls? Has there ever been a darker moment of irony when the party brought that measure forward?

“It is a party that is negative on Europe, indifferent to investment and always sees income in our country as something to be spent and never earned. Her speech showed no recognition of the challenges this country faces.

“The Government knows there is much to do. We know we have much to achieve.

“This is an historic Government composed of different politicians and three different parties, but we are united in our view as to how we can make progress, progress that we will make.”

The question still remains however, how did this video - which arguably paints Fine Gael in a positive light - suddenly reappear on social media and garner huge engagement?

Maybe it was an innocent reposting...