Every politician has days when their personal beliefs collide with their obligations as a party member and today is one of those days for me. It is no secret that I want to change my party policy on fox hunting; that is on the record. However, as a member of a political movement, I am not a solo act. Grandstanding over an issue I feel very strongly about might feel righteous for a day, but it weakens us in the struggles that change and improve the lives of our constituents. Let us be clear: fox hunting is abhorrent, cruel, savage and barbaric with no regard for animal welfare. I genuinely do not know why it is called a sport. Calling it a sport implies that both sides have a chance, but if the fox escapes the hunt and gets back to its den, the bloodthirsty redcoats send their hounds in to invade the fox's home, its den, dig it out and tear it apart. There is nothing sporting about that. Most people, urban and rural, do not think that is sport and there are lots of rural pursuits that go on. Jesus, I do not want to hear that phrase again; it is too much for me. Some 72% of people support a ban on fox hunting which rises to 75% in working-class areas, our base. However, today I am bound by the Whip, not because I think that banning fox hunting does not matter but because I believe in something bigger than myself. I believe in collective struggle, social justice, equality and a united Ireland. Sinn Féin is a democratic grassroots party and our policy is decided at our Ard Fheis. I have tried to change that party policy several times and I will try again. Sinn Féin does not do free votes. We believe in real solidarity and we walk the hard road together. Before addressing the Bill, I want to speak up for our native Irish foxes. Foxes are not a significant threat to vulnerable livestock and free-range poultry. Domestic dogs - our family pets that were all named during last week's debate - and the hounds used in live hunts are a much bigger threat. Foxes play a really positive role in biodiversity and the ecosystem. The Minister talked about pest control and the fox is a natural pest controller of rats, mice and rabbit populations, and an ally to arable farming. In urban and rural areas, they are the animal kingdom's equivalent to the Tidy Towns, eating dead and decaying birds and roadkill. Urban foxes also play a good part in cleaning up waste outside junk food outlets. However, foxes no longer have a natural predator and are a threat to ground-nesting birds, such as the curlew and the partridge. Having a humane regulated cull for the purposes of conservation is very different from blood sports. I acknowledge the intention behind the Bill and an Teachta Coppinger's animal welfare credentials, which I share. However, the Bill is sorely lacking in practical detail. It appears to ban all fox hunting without clearly defining what kind of hunting it refers to. To be fair, section 2(c) does indicate that trapping and snaring the foxes would be prohibited but is silent on key issues. The Bill does not mention the legitimate humane killing of diseased or injured foxes, for instance. The Bill does not mention poisoning, which is a far more cruel form of killing an animal, resulting in the slow and painful death of the poor fox. There is no clarity on whether farmers could shoot a fox if they come upon it actively attacking wildlife or free-range poultry. The Bill does not even mention banning hunting on horseback with hounds by the tally-ho people who come over here from England ever since fox hunting was banned in Scotland, Wales and England, not to mention our own homegrown hooray Henrys. Also including trail hunting complicates the Bill unnecessarily. It is completely superfluous and not central to the real issue. I accept that hounds on a trail hunt can get scent of a live fox and give chase, but so too can dogs that are out for a walk with their owners or dogs out walking the land with a farmer. The central issue with fox hunting is the cruelty of the chase and the killing of the fox using a pack of hounds. That is the core concern and everything else is political theatre. I am sure we have all seen the emails about mission creep, the slippery slope and the thin end of the wedge. Some people seem to think we will be coming for their fishing rods next. I notice that the Minister, Martin Heydon, tried to add to that scaremongering; his slip is showing. Let me reassure people that this is not a conspiracy. My focus is on cruel bloodsports. I am not after anybody and indeed I had a friend who used to shoot rabbits and eat them because he could not live on the amount of money he receives in social welfare from the Government. I do not have a problem with that. I am not a vegan, I am not a vegetarian, and I am not a hypocrite. Another odd thing is that people keep sending me social media posts directed at Sinn Féin, some of which target me and other Sinn Féin TDs personally. I appreciate engagement, even spirited engagement, but this odd level of focus on Sinn Féin highlights a wider issue. If it were really about getting this Bill passed, the focus would be on where the power lies, namely with the Government, with its overwhelming majority. It is the Government that decides whether legislation is passed or blocked. I do not need other parties to be my social conscience. It is a regrettable tactic for any Opposition party on the left to direct more fire at another rather than at the conservative forces that actually block change. It speaks to something else. It reflects divisive politics about personal purity before progress. The right must love it, because that is how it keeps winning.

Sentiment score: -0.04

It strengthens the status quo and existing power structures. Sinn Féin will continue to confront the system itself while acting collectively as a credible alternative government, but not by attacking other parties of the left. My duty as a Sinn Féin TD is to our local communities, who need us to act as a team to provide an alternative government to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Yes, I disagree with my party policy on this issue. I have said it loud and clear. My party does not expect me to pretend otherwise. I did not join Sinn Féin to rid Ireland of blood sports. Yes, I would love that to be a little benefit on the side, but the principal reason I joined Sinn Féin was to play a part in uniting my country. Item one on my agenda is unity, not to split. I promise my constituents who detest fox hunting as much as I do that this is not over. I will work within my party to banish this relic of British colonialism affecting our native wildlife. To Sinn Féin members and supporters, the vast majority of whom oppose blood sports, I say that we will change things by organising. We will not win by walking away. We will act collectively because we know division is the gift that the right does not even need to ask for in a political system designed to divide us. It is easy to have solidarity in your party name; it takes a bit more solidarity to actually have solidarity in your politics. When we succeed in changing our party policy on fox hunting, we will bring forward a carefully drafted Bill, a Bill that will protect our beautiful, intelligent native Irish fox, ár maidrín rua, ár sionnach álainn.

Sentiment score: 0.35