Tanaiste Micheal Martin has accused Sinn Fein of “infecting a new generation of young people”.
Speaking to reporters in Co Tipperary, where Fianna Fail is holding its annual think-in, Mr Martin said there is “huge incompatibility” between his party and Sinn Fein.
He said Sinn Fein has been “very slow to bring closure to many victims of Provisional IRA violence”.
The Fianna Fail leader said a recent documentary on the murder of Thomas Niedermayer by the republican paramilitary group was “sobering”.
He added: “It reminds us of the need for Sinn Fein not to triumphalise the horrible deeds they did.
“They still try to triumphalise it, they still try to justify it. The problem with that is that you’re infecting a new generation of young people.
“We need to take all of that out of our politics and move on.
“And if we expect others to do it, then I think Sinn Fein have an obligation to do that, and they’re showing no evidence – in fact they’re doubling down, and that’s a view I have.”
Read more:
- Who were the Provisional IRA? An explainer
- Who are Sinn Fein?
Asked about these comments, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told reporters in Belfast that he agreed with the Tanaiste.
“I think we need, as a country, to have an honest appraisal about what happened in the past,” he said.
“I don’t think it is ever right for people to whitewash history or to glorify things that happened in the past that hurt a lot of people, and that doesn’t just apply to Sinn Fein.”
Mr Martin was responding to a question from reporters about whether his position on entering into a coalition with Sinn Fein in the future has softened.
He said: “As far as we’re concerned, we believe there’s huge incompatibility with Sinn Fein on range of policies – the most important one being, in my view, the enterprise model of our economy, which I believe Sinn Fein would undermine.”
In addition, he accused Sinn Fein of being “anti-enterprise” and “anti-European”.
“Also, in terms of the climate agenda, I think they’ve been particularly two-faced on that and lacking any genuine commitment and they’ve sought to play politics with it.”
Sinn Fein has been asked for comment.
