Gerry Adams applauds “the peaceful and democratic nature” of Catalonia’s pro-independence process

Dublín (ACN).- Sinn Féin’s leader, Gerry Adams, praised “the peaceful and democratic nature” of Catalonia’s pro-independence aspirations and applauded the “positivity of the campaign” to call a referendum. “That’s a matter of the people there to strategize on, but certainly the right to a referendum is a very modest and very simple demand and it's one which the parties in government have been mandated to do,” he told the CNA. Thus, he called on the Spanish Government “to do the right thing” and lamented some of their recent actions, especially the prosecution of the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell and other Catalan officials “for doing their job”. Adams met with Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, this Wednesday in the Irish Parliament and reaffirmed his “sympathy” for Catalonia’s political aspirations and praised the “bonds” between the two communities.

Catalans “should have the right to decide their future,” said Adams. “We believe that people should have the right to a referendum; our internationalist position is that people have the right to self-determination,” he told the CNA.

Adams also criticized the Spanish State’s use of the courts to block the pro-independence debate in Catalonia. He insisted that not only he but also Sinn Féin’s International Affairs spokesperson, Seán Crowe, “had raised the actions of the Spanish State” especially regarding the prosecution of Forcadell and other Catalan officials “for doing their job”. “We are against that,” he declared.

On the other hand, he praised Catalonia’s political aspirations and the way the Catalan executive is trying to comply with them. “We applaud the positivity of the campaign, we applaud the peaceful and democratic nature and we think the Spanish government should do the right thing.”

Although he admitted that how to continue with the referendum roadmap is “for people there to strategize on” he considered that “the right to a referendum is a very modest and a very simple demand and it's one which the parties in government have been mandated” to do.

Adams met with Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, this Wednesday in the Irish Parliament. Romeva traveled to Dublin to attend the first event of the 'Oireachtas Friends of Catalonia' group, which was created by MPs and senators representing Ireland's main political parties.