Despite calling for a vote of no confidence in Justice Minister Helen McEntee, Sinn Féin has not provided any “alternatives” on how to restore order, according to one journalist. 

The main opposition has called for a vote of no confidence in Ms McEntee, due to take place this Tuesday, following riots in Dublin on November 24th.

The latest Independent/Ireland Thinks poll, however, found that more than half of people don’t want Ms McEntee to resign as her approval rating increase by nine points to 39%. 

While the majority (49%) are not satisfied with her performance, Ms McEntee has a higher approval rating than both Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, who both dropped in approval by 3% to 38% each. 

Independent.ie reporter Gabija Gataveckaite told The Anton Savage Show Sinn Féin hasn’t “provided enough alternatives” to the Government’s current approach on law and order. 

“Perhaps they can say they have alternatives on housing and taxes, but when it comes to issues of justice and law and order, Sinn Féin don’t have enough alternatives,” she said.  

Daily Mail Executive Editor John Lee said Sinn Féin don’t have any “legitimacy” when it comes to tackling criminal behaviour. 

“They have had links with criminality until very recently and they were the political wing of a terrorist group,” he said.  

“That’s not ancient history."

Future leadership

Ms Gataveckaite agreed with Mr Lee’s assessment, but said Ms McEntee still faces some trouble if the vote of no confidence fails.  

“We're talking about the future, what are some of the future senior Fine Gael members are going to do,” she said.  

“I don’t think this will bode very well for her leadership – we don’t know what she wants to do, but she’s an ambitious person.” 

Response from McEntee 'strong'

Former Immigrant Council of Ireland Chair John Cunningham said, despite the recent chaos in Dublin’s city centre recently, this country “does function well”. 

“McEntee’s response was really strong and positive,” he said.  

“We have to acknowledge that. 

“The bottom line is you really hope there is articulate intelligent conversation going on about what to change.” 

The Independent poll also found that Sinn Féin remains the most popular party in the country, although it dropped three points to 28%. 

Support for Fine Gael remains unchanged at 21%, while support for Fianna Fáil increased by one point to 19%. 

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