 Hello, and welcome to People's Dispatch. Today, we are joined by Mairead Farell, who is an MP for the Sinn Féin Party in Galway. She's here to speak with us about the current political situation in Ireland. On May 5, the north of Ireland went to the polls. They elected the members of the Legislative Assembly. They were pretty shocking, or maybe not so shocking, results for the Sinn Féin Party. Since then, the north of Ireland has been in a bit of a political stalemate. There's been a lot of back and forth negotiation. She's here with us today to break that down what's been happening and also reflect on the general political situation in the country. Thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be virtually with you. Great. Well, let's get right into it. So on May 5, there were these, as I mentioned, historic elections. Can you tell a little bit about what happened and what does this mean for the north of Ireland? Well, I suppose just for a little bit of background and for people's understanding, what occurred 100 years ago was the partition of our country. And as a result, then, there's the north and the south that people would have heard of or the north of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that people would have heard of. So in the north, really, the way the north was set up was that there would always be a unionist majority within the north. And that would be that they wanted to keep the union with Britain. So you wouldn't have a nationalist, or what we would describe ourselves as a Republican, which is separate to, I suppose, the US Republic and the Irish Republic was a separate thing, to be the head of the assembly. And so it's really, really historic that Michelle O'Neill is now the first minister-designate. So on the 5th of May, the people came to the polls, and they voted, and they really voted in their droves for Sinn Féin and for having Michelle O'Neill as first minister. So what we would say is that that state was set up so that somebody like Michelle O'Neill would never have the opportunity of being first minister. So what it says for equality and for access to everything is that now there is no job that is outside of the reach of the nationalist community. That's certainly significant. And following these results, it's been a bit difficult of how to move forward. It seems like there's a bit of a stalemate. Maybe there have been advances. Can you kind of catch us up to speed on what's been happening since then? Yes, of course. So basically what happened then was, so the DUP had been in the role of this first minister within the assembly. So for people to understand, it is the de-hunt system that is used in the assembly post the Good Friday Agreement. So that means that people from a variety of parties would have ministerial roles and that. But this position of first minister had been the role, the position of the DUP. So obviously that changed come the election. But what we've had since is that the DUP have refused to nominate for the position of speaker. So I'm not sure if that's what you have over there. But the position of speaker would mean that there could be the functioning and the running of the assembly. Even before the executive, which would be the ministers and the first and deputy first minister, would be elected. So they refuse to do that. And they refuse that on the grounds that they feel that the protocol isn't working. So the protocol coming out of the back of Brexit. And of course, Dave Longman's saying that there's been issues in that. But this was the agreement that had been come to. And really what we are saying very clearly is that, as we all know, the cost of living crisis is really bad. It's really, really impacting on our communities. And we need to have the assembly up and running to assist in that. Definitely. And just in a broader sense, I think we've seen with the growth of Sinn Fein not only in the north, but across the republic. You yourself were elected in 2020, now part of the parliament. Can you talk a little bit about this impressive growth? What is it reflecting that Sinn Fein was founded over 100 years ago, but is really in the past decade gaining this strength in the parliament across the country seems to be rising in popularity. What's behind this? Well, I think what people are realizing is that the way politics has been done and the way politics was done for so many years isn't actually the way it has to be. So we're very much running on a mandate of change, that things can actually be more equal, that the way things run at the moment, it doesn't have to be that way. And one thing that we often talk about is that people don't have the access to a lot of different things, that there just isn't that equality. So at the moment, for example, we're very much campaigning on the cost of living crisis. So we're talking about the likes of that, that any additional supports that are brought by government, that they need to be targeted to those most at need. You don't do a blanket targeting, that you do do a target at those who are most in need. But even before this cost of living crisis, I'm aware that the inflation crisis is outside of our governments, they can't control that and they can't do everything. But they can do something and they can have it targeted. But even before that, we did have some of the highest costs of living in Europe. We had the highest rents in Europe. So we have had a situation for years that there's a severe housing crisis. So that means that most people that come into my office here, my constituency in Galway, they're coming because they have nowhere to live. The rents are far too high. They can't pay them. They can't save to buy a house. And now we have a situation where there are so few properties to rent that a lot of people are going homeless. So it's really at a really bad crisis point. And it would be our view that the government haven't acted enough and haven't acted quickly enough to deal with those crisis. And in some senses, I feel that the government are tone deaf on these issues. So it's the issues that are really impacting on the day-to-day lives of ordinary workers and families. And that is what the government have not been able to get. No, I think that's exactly right. And we're really seeing how this cost of living crisis is sort of upending politics across Europe. And then finally, I just wanted to ask, you're a young woman from a revolutionary, in a sense, party. Can you talk a little bit about your path into politics and this new face of Sinn Fein? What does this mean for the future? Well, I suppose I would see when I hear the term new face or new generation, I roll my eyes. But I suppose, look, I believe in United Ireland. And I suppose my background would be that I always had a quite an interest in Irish history. So I always had a keen interest in that from a young teenager. I would have always read about that. And then I did my leaving start. So I finished my secondary school education in 2008, obviously, at the height of the crisis and was very little prospects for people my age. And that really brought me an interest in economics. And I ended up studying economics at degree and master's level as well. And that, Sinn Fein spoke to me. They spoke to me. They spoke to that generation that were just being what Irish government after Irish government has relied on, emigration, so that they don't have to deal with the crisis that it faces. But I think for me, it's that fundamentally, fundamentally, I don't believe the way society is run at the moment is the most equal. I think there's so many people that are left behind. And I think that when people say to you, what is the point in life? The point in life is to make, for me, is to make life in the world better for others, for the people that we share and the world with. And I think Sinn Fein is the best vehicle to do that. Thank you so much. Those are really amazing reflections. It was great to speak with you. We'll definitely be following the situation across the Republic of Ireland. Maybe United Ireland on the horizon. Absolutely. And yeah, thanks so much for joining us. And keep watching People to Start.