Sinn Féin will use its Ard Fhéis to criticise the Government on housing, the cost of living and the energy crisis.
The party conference will take place in the RDS in Dublin this Saturday. The party, which is riding high in the opinion polls, is expected to attract delegates from across the country.
Members will debate on 70 different motions, with the evening closed off with an address from party President Mary Lou McDonald.
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Many of the motions in the programme will see Sinn Féin target the Government on housing, the cost of living and the energy crisis.
However, many of the items that delegates will vote on are reiterations of the party’s alternative budget and proposals over the last number of months.
One motion states that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party’s two years in Government, private sector rents, house prices and homelessness have “reached record highs”.
“Social and affordable housing delivery is way behind target,” it says.
“Government policy is failing and an ever-greater number of single people and families are experiencing acute housing need.”
Sinn Féin will again call for 20,000 public homes to be built in 2023, as well as a three-year eviction ban.
The party will also state that the Government’s response to the energy crisis has been “inadequate”. It will also criticise the Government for rejecting the Sinn Féin proposal to cap energy costs, which Taoiseach Micheál Martin has repeatedly referred to as “signing a blank cheque for energy companies”.
The party will also vote on a motion that would see Sinn Féin develop a “vision for Dublin”. The Ard Fheis will be asked to note the “Dublin Councils and the Gardaí have been unable to prevent rising anti-social and violent behaviour, which has led to a rise in localised intimidation and violence in some parts of the City”.
“Much of the public realm across Dublin has fallen into a state of disrepair,” it says.
It continues: “Children across Dublin are more and more frequently targeted by organised criminal gangs for grooming and recruitment into criminal activity, leaving children and their families exposed to debt bondage, threats, and intimidation, which is inflicting great trauma on working-class communities.”
After a surprise motion last year to soften its stance on the Special Criminal Court, the non-jury court is not mentioned in this year’s Ard Fheis programme.
Sinn Féin will call on the Government to “plan and prepare” for a United Ireland.
Members will also be asked to vote on a motion suggesting that new recruits will be subjected to a one-year probationary period.
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