“I fully expect the political system, journalism, the media and law enforcement to take this matter very, very seriously.”
Fianna Fáil TD Marc Macsharry has said that “Gardaí should be consulted” over claims that Sinn Féin provided its members with fake IDs to pretend they were part of a polling company.
The Irish Independent also reported on Wednesday that an internal training manual included instructions for members of Sinn Féin on how to misrepresent themselves and pose as pollsters when surveying householders.
According to the publication, members would then ask people for their opinions on election candidates and political issues.
On Newstalk Breakfast on Wednesday, Marc Macsharry described the polling as “basic subversion of the public.”
“Provision of fake IDs to proscribe what lies people say on behalf of a political party is not normal political behaviour and I think the Gardaí should be consulted quite frankly on it,” he said.
“I think when we have proof now of a 77-page manual telling, encouraging and training personnel how to lie, providing them with fake official documents or would-be official documents, I think, says a great deal about the organisation.
“It is extremely worrying and I don’t know anybody involved in politics up to now, who would have engaged in such subversion in the modern democratic world.
“We all have come across people looking to elicit things from the public and we know that data is commodity now that people are prepared to pay money for.”
The TD added that he “would be amazed if Gardaí didn’t have a comment to make on this”.
“I think, quite frankly, anybody using fake identification to proscribe a dishonest outcome from the people who they are engaging with is not honest, it is not the sort of wholesome activity that we expect from our establishment and as I said it amounts to basic subversion so I would be amazed if Gardaí didn’t have a comment to make on this,” he continued.
“I am sure the public who are the victims on this would be appalled if they were among those who were surveyed by this fictitious Sinn Féin company.
“I fully expect the political system, journalism, the media and law enforcement to take this matter very, very seriously.
“Sinn Féin has become a quite popular party nationally and if this sort of activity underpins what they are capable of, where are we heading as a country?”
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