{"id":312456,"date":"2026-02-23T04:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T04:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/312456\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T04:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T04:46:14","slug":"mcdonald-defends-sinn-fein-stance-opposing-participation-in-e90bn-eu-loan-to-ukraine-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/312456\/","title":{"rendered":"McDonald defends Sinn F\u00e9in stance opposing participation in \u20ac90bn EU loan to Ukraine \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is \u201cno shortage\u201d of countries willing to fund Ukraine\u2019s<\/a> military efforts, Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> leader Mary Lou McDonald<\/a> said on Sunday as she defended her party\u2019s opposition to the State\u2019s participation in an EU<\/a> loan for the war-torn country. <\/p>\n

The \u20ac90 billion loan is to support Ukraine as it resists the Russian<\/a> invasion. Of the overall total, \u20ac30 billion is for general financial support and \u20ac60 billion is for military equipment. <\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in has been criticised over its opposition to the initiative, which was approved in the European Parliament, where the party\u2019s two MEPs voted against it. <\/p>\n

Hungary \u2013 whose prime minister, Viktor Orban<\/a>, is seen as an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> \u2013 has in recent days moved to block the loan. <\/p>\n

During an interview on RT\u00c9 Radio 1<\/a>\u2019s This Week programme, McDonald was asked why Sinn F\u00e9in opposed the support package for Ukraine. She said her party stands \u201cin solidarity with Ukraine against Putin\u201d and his \u201cillegal invasion\u201d but that \u201cspending tens of billions more of taxpayers\u2019 money on more and more weaponry is not the way to resolve this conflict … The full international effort has to be around diplomacy, peacemaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Sinn F\u00e9in backs humanitarian support for Ukraine and sanctions against Putin. <\/p>\n

Ukraine, she added, has \u201cno shortage of countries\u201d willing to fund the military effort, but the Republic is a neutral country.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of principle and policy, we do not support, and we have never supported the creeping militarisation of the European Union, which has now turned to a gallop.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Sinn F\u00e9in leader was also challenged on a tribute she posted to Brendan Bik McFarlane on the X social media platform. <\/p>\n

McFarlane \u2013 who died last year<\/a> \u2013 was imprisoned in Northern Ireland for his part in a 1975 IRA attack on a pub in the Protestant Shankill Road in Belfast, which killed five people. <\/p>\n

McDonald wrote on X that McFarlane \u201cdedicated his life to the pursuit of freedom, unity, peace and equality … It was a life well lived, a life that shaped a legacy that will inspire generations to come.\u201d <\/p>\n

During the interview, McDonald was asked why she would use such language as Sinn F\u00e9in sought a united Ireland that was welcoming to Unionists. <\/p>\n

\u201cUnionists are indispensable to the building of a new Ireland and Irish unity and Unionists are entitled to remember their dead as well,\u201d she replied. <\/p>\n

McDonald said \u201cwe have contested history\u201d and came through long years of conflict. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople suffered on all sides, and people suffered at the hands of the IRA, too. I acknowledge all of those things.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would also say that in the journey to peace, many, many Republicans were very significant figures in making that possible and sustaining that peace and Bik McFarlane was one of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald also criticised the Government over the issue of special needs assistants (SNAs) in schools. A controversial review of SNA allocations was paused last week after criticism from teachers, parents and unions, but questions remain over what this will mean for the provision of posts in some schools from September. <\/p>\n

She argued that the pause has \u201cfuelled concerns\u201d and said the Government needs to \u201cgo into reverse and make it absolutely clear that schools will have the SNA supports that they require\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"School SNA row teaches Government a valuable lesson<\/p>\n

Separately, Sinn F\u00e9in announced last week that its politicians would not attend St Patrick\u2019s Day<\/a> events in the White House next month due to the Trump administration\u2019s backing of Israel<\/a> during the war in Gaza<\/a>. <\/p>\n

US ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh later said in a statement that \u201cannouncing a boycott of an event for which invitations have neither been extended nor finalised is premature\u201d. <\/p>\n

McDonald said Sinn F\u00e9in was \u201chonour-bound to take a position of principle on this\u201d as there is \u201ca genocide occurring in Gaza … Our position on it is well known in the United States and our reason for not attending events in the White House is equally known and I think understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the ambassador\u2019s comments about invitations not having been issued, McDonald added: \u201cThe invitations for these events always come out in the week ahead of them. That\u2019s normally the practice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is \u201cno shortage\u201d of countries willing to fund Ukraine\u2019s military efforts, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2244,61,60,3658,43,3415,9688,1841],"class_list":{"0":"post-312456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-sinn-fein","14":"tag-ukraine-crisis","15":"tag-viktor-orban"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}