Sinn Féin
For pre-Arthur Griffith use of the political name, see Sinn Féin (19th century)Sinn Féin (
pronounced in
English, in
Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by
Arthur Griffith in 1905. The name means "ourselves" or "we ourselves". Some popular accounts (for example, the Columbo TV movie from 1978 starring Peter Falk called "The Conspirators" on NBC) claim the name means "alone together," though others clearly dispute the accuracy of this popular translation.
Today, the name Sinn Féin is most commonly associated with a political party that emerged from a 1970 fissure in the
Irish republican movement, also referred to as
Provisional Sinn Féin. A left wing, republican and Irish nationalist political party, this iteration of Sinn Féin is linked to the
Provisional Irish Republican Army. Sinn Féin is established in both the
Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland; in the former it is a somewhat peripheral force with five seats in the
Dáil Éireann while in the latter it is the largest party representing the nationalist community in the
Northern Ireland Assembly and claims the majority of nationalist
Westminster MPs, although these members practice
abstentionism.
Some historians dispute whether there is in fact a single, continuous Sinn Féin. Some merely see a collection of parties descended from each other, as its various leaderships in the 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s split, with other moving to form rival parties, most with new names, some keeping the words
Sinn Féin in their title. The Sinn Féin of Arthur Griffith certainly has very little in common with the party currently in existence. Griffith had sought to re-establish the dual monarchy, which he contended was still legally in existence. This had been set up under the
Constitution of 1782. After
Cumann na nGaedheal and
Fianna Fáil were founded, in 1923 and 1926, only a tiny rump of the
Anglo-Irish War party remained, and this featured very rarely in politics, contesting only a few elections. They appeared in various forms, often radically socialist and militant, and were involved in agrarian politics in the west of the country. The remainder of Sinn Féin was led by
John J. O'Kelly ('Sceilg'). It won 5 seats in the June 1927 election, but disappeared from prominence for a few decades. A number of members sought the support of
Nazi Germany during the
Second World War, most notably
Seán Russell. The party had a brief resurgence at the 1957 General Election, winning four seats. They continued to abstain, regarding the Dáil as a partitionist parliament.
Early days
The Sinn Féin movement crystallised around the propaganda campaign of
Arthur Griffith, a nationalist typesetter, and William Rooney, a republican office clerk, both of whom were extremely active in Dublin's nationalist clubs at the beginning of the 20th century. In his account of the movement's early years the propagandist Aodh de Blácam says that Sinn Féin "was not a party: it was the amorphous propaganda of the Gaelicised young men and women". Griffith was first and foremost a newspaperman with an impressive network of friends in the Dublin printing industry. His propaganda newspapers, the
United Irishman and
Sinn Féin, channeled the enormous energy of the self-help generation into an unorthodox political project based on the
Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy of 1867 and the theories of the German nationalist economist Friedrich List. Tapping into the growing self awareness of an Irish identity which was reflected in movements like the
Gaelic Athletic Association, the
Gaelic League (
Conradh na Gaeilge) and in the founding of the
Abbey Theatre, he created a loose federation of nationalist clubs and associations which competed with John Redmond's Irish Parliamentary Party to embody the aspirations of 20th century nationalists.
Most historians opt for
November 28,
1905 as a founding date because it was on this date that Griffith first presented his 'Sinn Féin Policy'. In his writings, Griffith declared that the
Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800 was illegal and that, consequently, the Anglo-Irish dual monarchy which existed under
Grattan's Parliament and the so-called
Constitution of 1782 was still in effect. Others date the foundation of Sinn Féin to May 1906, when Griffith launched a paper called
Sinn Féin, or to April 1907, when an organisation called the
Sinn Féin League was established (Griffith was opposed to it) or to September 1907 when Griffith incorporated the League into a new Sinn Féin organisation, moving Sinn Féin from an idea to an actual party structure.
[Alvin Jackson, Home Rule: An Irish History 1800—2000 (Phoenix, 2004) p.115.]Though Sinn Féin had a high name recognition factor among some voters it attracted minimal support. In August 1909 it had only 581 paid up members throughout all of Ireland. 211 were in Dublin, while
Sligo had only 2 members, a student and a shopkeeper.
[Michael Laffan, ''The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party 1916—1923 (Cambridge, 1999) p.30.] By 1915 it was, in the words of one of Griffith's colleagues, "on the rocks", so insolvent financially that it could not pay the rent on its party headquarters in Harcourt Street in
Dublin. It was partially rescued by the mistaken belief among the British administration running Ireland from
Dublin Castle that it had been behind the
1916 Rising, an unsuccessful attempt to establish an Irish Republic, the failure of talks in late 1916 between Unionists and Nationlists, presided over by
David Lloyd George, to agree home rule, and the
Conscription Crisis on 1917.
The Easter Rising
Sinn Féin was wrongly blamed by the British for the
Easter Rising, with which it had no association, apart from a desire of separation stronger than
Home Rule — the leaders of the Rising were certainly looking for more than Dual Monarchy. Any group that disagreed with mainstream constitutional politics was branded 'Sinn Féin' by British commentators. The term 'Sinn Féin Rebellion' was also used by the Irish media, the
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), the
Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) and even by a few of those involved in the Rising.
Surviving leaders of the Rising under
Éamon de Valera took over the party. De Valera replaced Griffith as president. It nearly split between its monarchist and republican wings at its 1917
Ard Fheis (conference) until, in a compromise motion, it proposed the establishment of an independent republic, after which the people could decide whether they wanted a monarchy or republic, subject to the condition that if they chose a monarchy, no member of the British Royal Family could serve as monarch.
Sinn Féin was boosted by the anger over the execution of Rising leaders, even though before the executions, the
Roman Catholic hierarchy, the
Irish Independent newspaper (the biggest selling daily newspaper in Ireland then) and many local authorities actually called for the mass execution of Rising leaders. Yet even that public sympathy did not give Sinn Féin decisive electoral advantage, It fought a tough battle with the
Irish Parliamentary Party under
John Redmond, later
John Dillon, with each side winning by-elections. It was only after the
Conscription Crisis, when Britain threatened to impose conscription to boost its
war effort, and the collapse of late 1916 efforts to agree home rule (former
Irish Unionist Party leader
Walter Long undermined efforts by cabinet colleague David Lloyd George to negotiate a deal between the IUP and the Irish Parliamentary Party) that support decisively swung behind Sinn Féin.
First Elections
Sinn Féin won 73 of Ireland's 106 seats in the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland parliament at the
general election in December 1918 and many of the seats it won were uncontested. There were four reasons for this. Firstly, despite being the largest party in Ireland for forty years, the
Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) had not fought a general election since 1910. In many parts of Ireland its organisation had decayed and was no longer capable of mounting an electoral challenge. Other seats were uncontested because of mass support, with other parties deciding that there was no point in challenging Sinn Féin given it was certain to win. Contemporary documents also suggest a degree of intimidation of opponents. (
Piaras Béaslaà recorded one example in a
by-election in
Longford in 1917 where a Sinn Féin activist put a gun against the head of a
Returning Officer and forced him to announce the election of the Sinn Féin candidate even though the IPP candidate had more votes. Potential candidates who were thought of as serious challengers to Sinn Féin candidates were warned against seeking election in some
Ulster constituencies and in
Munster.) Because so many of the seats were uncontested under sometimes dubious circumstances, it has been difficult to determine what the actual support for the party was in the country. Various accounts range from 45% to 80%. The author of the site on elections in the North estimates a figure of 53%.
Another estimate would suggest Sinn Féin had the support of approximately 65% of the electorate (unionists accounting for approximately 20-25% and other nationalists for the remainder). Lastly, emigration was very difficult during the war, which meant that tens thousands of young people were in Ireland who would not have been there under normal circumstances.
On
21 January 1919 Sinn Féin MPs assembled in Dublin's Mansion House and proclaimed themselves the parliament of Ireland,
Dáil Éireann. They elected an
Aireacht (ministry) headed by a
PrÃomh Aire (prime minister). Though the state was declared to be a republic, no provision was made for a head of state. This was rectified in August 1921 when the PrÃomh Aire (also known as
President of Dáil Éireann was upgraded to
President of the Republic, a full head of state.
In the 1920 city council elections, Sinn Féin gained control of ten of the twelve
city councils in Ireland. Only
Belfast and
Derry remained under
Unionist and
IPP (respectively) control. In the local elections of the same year, they won control of all the
county councils except
Antrim,
Down,
Derry and
Armagh.
Sinn Féin subsequently underwent successive splits (1922, 1926, 1970 and 1986), from which emerged a range of parties,
Cumann na nGaedhael, now known as
Fine Gael,
Fianna Fáil and
Official Sinn Féin, later Sinn Féin The Workers Party, later
The Workers Party and then
Democratic Left, which finally joined the Irish Labour party after serving in government with them, and
Republican Sinn Féin.
The Split over The Treaty
Following the conclusion (December 1921) of the
Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations between representatives of the British Government and de Valera's republican government and the narrow approval of the Treaty by
Dáil Éireann, a state called the
Irish Free State was established.
Northern Ireland (a six county region set up under the British
Government of Ireland Act 1920) opted out, as the Treaty allowed.
The reasons for the split were various, though
partition was not one of them - the IRA did not split in the North and pro- and anti-treaty republicans looked to pro-treaty
Michael Collins for leadership (and weapons). The principal reason for the split is usually described as the question of the
Oath of Allegiance to the Irish Free State, which members of the new Dáil would be required to take. It explicitly recognised that the Irish Free State would be part of the
British Empire and many republicans found that unacceptable. The pro-treaty forces argued that the treaty gave "freedom to achieve freedom".
A short but bitter
Irish Civil War (June 1922 – April 1923) erupted between the supporters of the Treaty and its opponents. De Valera resigned as
President of the Republic and sided with the anti-treatyites. The victorious pro-treaty "Free Staters", who amounted to a majority of Sinn Féin TDs and a majority of the electorate, set up the
Irish Free State. The pro-treaty Sinn Féin TDs changed the name of the party to
Cumann na nGaedhael, subsequently merging with the
Centre Party and the
Blueshirts in 1933 to form
Fine Gael.
Having temporarily suspended armed action in the Free State, the movement split again with the departure (March 1926) of its leader
Eamon de Valera, after having lost a motion to abandon abstention if the statement of "Fidelity to the King" were abolished. He subsequently founded
Fianna Fáil with fellow advocates of participation in constitutional politics, and entered the Irish parliament (
Dáil Éireann) the following year, forming a government in 1932.
1970 split into the "Provisional" and "Official" wings
After a number of unsuccessful attempts at armed insurrection, including a naïve link-up to procure weapons in the 1940s between some IRA members and the
Nazis, the party in the 1960s moved to the left, adopting a 'stagist' approach similar to orthodox
Communist analysis. The party came under the influence of a generation of intellectuals who were associated with the
Communist Party of Great Britain's
Connolly Association and sought a decisive break from the confessional politics of the past. The new generation of leaders sought to engage
Ulster's
Protestant workers in an anti-
imperialist popular front.
At the same time a new generation of
Catholics in Northern Ireland benefited from the creation of a welfare state in the UK and were increasingly likely to demand their rights to equality in jobs and housing. The republicans, together with the Communists and a new generation of
social democrats, formed the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association to demand an end to discrimination. NICRA's campaigns - and the violent response of the state - increasingly destabilised Northern Ireland, particularly as
Harold Wilson's Labour government in Britain began to exert political pressure on Stormont for change.
In the end, no reforms were implemented — and in August 1969 Northern Ireland was convulsed by a wave of rioting and sectarian attacks — and
British troops were sent in to support the (largely Unionist)
Royal Ulster Constabulary. The violence, or rather the IRA's minimal response to it, discredited the leftist leadership of the republican movement. At the same time,
certain Fianna Fáil politicians in the Republic, fearful of Communism, were instrumental in financing and arming a splinter group that would be more concerned with mounting violent resistance to the northern government than fomenting island-wide socialist revolution.
The 1970 split occurred when the increasingly leftist-dominated leadership sought to end the historical policy of
abstention and engage in non-violent constitutional politics. Although a majority of delegates supported the leadership, the two-thirds majority needed to change the party constitution did not materialise. The leadership saw the renewed sectarian conflict as "setting worker against worker" and declined to intervene on the traditionally Nationalist side. Disgusted by what they saw as the incompetence of the leadership, the traditionalists led by
Seán Mac StÃofáin and
Ruairà Ã" Brádaigh split from the IRA and Sinn Féin to form the
Provisional IRA and its political wing
Provisional Sinn Féin (both bodies were known as 'provisional' after the formation of a 'provisional' army council by the rebels). The remainder of the party became known as
Official Sinn Féin, and evolved into a political party which became a radical left force in the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s.
The split was violent and periodic bouts of low level warfare were seen in Belfast and elsewhere. Many individual republicans took their time to decide which side of the division they were on.
See
With the Officials' repudiation of violence in 1972, and its move from republicanism to Marxism,
Provisional Sinn Féin became the political voice of the minority of northern nationalists who saw IRA violence as the means of forcing an end to British rule and institutionalised discrimination against nationalists which, in the words of Ulster Unionist leader and
Nobel Peace Prize laureate
David Trimble, had created "a cold house for Catholics"
. The
British government agreed to legalise Sinn Féin in May 1974, legalising the
paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force at the same time to placate angry unionists. However, Sinn Féin never succeeded in attracting the majority of Catholic support while the IRA continued its campaign of violence: most Catholics voted for the
Social Democratic and Labour Party, under
Gerry Fitt and later
John Hume. A small minority voted for the
Alliance Party; small numbers of Catholics also voted for the leading unionist parties, the
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the
Democratic Unionist Party and the shortlived
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.
[Ian Paisley in European Elections regularly attracted votes from the entirely Catholic Rathlin Island, while research showed Catholic support for then-UUP leader, David Trimble. In the 1990s, the UUP had a Catholic candidate, Sir John Gorman, elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly.] Sinn Féin only achieved the support of the majority of the nationalist community in 2004, six years after the
Belfast Agreement.
Nationalist alienation in the aftermath of the deaths of ten Republican hunger-strikers in Long Kesh prison in 1981 gave Sinn Féin a springboard into electoral politics in the North. An internal power struggle, between a southern leadership under
Ruairà Ã" Brádaigh and a northern leadership under
Gerry Adams, saw Ã" Brádaigh and his associates leave to establish
Republican Sinn Féin, which they claimed was the 'true' Sinn Féin. The split was over the decision of a majority of Sinn Féin members to alter party policy on abstentionism (i.e. the refusal to accept the legitimacy of, or to participate in, the parliaments of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland); while the policy of abstentionism towards the Westminster British Parliament was continued, it was dropped in relation to
Dáil Éireann. Under the presidency (from November 1983) of
Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin leaders sought to explore wider political engagement through political agitation and the use or threat of violence. That decision, augmented by the involvement of SDLP leader John Hume in the
Hume-Adams dialogue, and the decision of successive Irish
Taoisigh (prime ministers),
Charles Haughey,
Albert Reynolds,
John Bruton and
Bertie Ahern to initiate and maintain contact with the Sinn Féin leadership, helped produce the Northern Ireland peace process in the 1990s.
Ironically, Adams and company had originally come to dominate the republican movement because of their unwillingness to compromise and their refusal to contemplate a ceasefire. They reassessed their position after it became clear that
British intelligence successes, as well as war weariness meant that a decisive military breakthrough was unlikely and that the violent stalemate would continue.
The new strategy - famously described by
Danny Morrison as "
a ballot paper in one hand and the Armalite in the other" - was also, if subtly, eventually ditched as republicans again came to terms with the limits on their political success that continued "armed struggle" imposed. The very thing that propelled Adams into leadership, his opposition to military ceasefires, now became central to his approach (albeit this time, unlike during previous ceasefires, the IRA would retain their ability to return to violence at short notice).
Sinn Féin is organised throughout Ireland, and membership is open to all Irish residents over the age of 16. The party is organised hierarchically into cumainn (branches), comhairle ceantair (district executives), cúigà (regional executives). At national level, the Coiste Seasta (Standing Committee) oversees the day-to-day running of Sinn Féin. It is an eight-member body nominated by the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle and also includes the chairperson of each cúige. The Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) meets at least once a month. It directs the overall implementation of Sinn Féin policy and activities of the party.
The Ard Chomhairle also oversees the operation of various departments of Sinn Féin, viz Administration, Finance, National Organiser, Campaigns,
Ã"gra Shinn Féin, Women's Forum, Culture, Publicity and International Affairs. It is made up of the following: Officer Board and nine other members, all of whom are elected by delegates to the Ard Fheis, 15 representing the five Cúige regions (three delegates each). The Ard Chomhairle can co-opt eight members for specific posts and additional members can be co-opted, if necessary, to ensure that at least 30 per cent of Ard Chomhairle members are women.
The ard fheis (national delegate conference) is the ultimate policy-making body of the party where delegates - directly elected by members of cumainn - can decide on and implement policy. It is held at least once a year but a special Ard Fheis can be called by the Ard Chomhairle or the membership under special circumstances.
The largest of the modern-day Sinn Féin parties, also referred to as
Provisional Sinn Féin, is the only political party to have seats in the parliaments of both
Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland. Sinn Féin is the largest group in the
Republican wing of
Irish nationalism and is closely associated with the
Provisional IRA. The question of whether Sinn Féin is in fact the political wing of the provisional IRA remains in dispute. Although some party members have also been members of the IRA, both organisations maintain that they are independent from one another. Each advocate a
United Ireland and avowedly
socialist values with a nationalist slant. The
Independent Monitoring Commission which was established to monitor
paramilitary and
terrorist activity in
Northern Ireland however has imposed sanctions against Sinn Fein due to the actions of the IRA. Sinn Féin is currently the third-largest party in Ireland by vote share, although the whole island only votes together at European elections.
Sinn Féin is the largest nationalist political party in
Northern Ireland, having recently displaced the previously dominant nationalist
Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in national elections. It currently has five
MPs (gaining one in the
United Kingdom general election of 2005) in the House of Commons (out of eighteen MPs representing Northern Ireland) and twenty-four
MLAs (out of a
Northern Ireland Assembly membership of 108, making it the joint second largest, behind the
Democratic Unionist Party with thirty-three seats and alongside the
Ulster Unionist Party who also have twenty-four).
It is a much smaller political force, in electoral terms, in the
Republic of Ireland, where it currently has five
TDs (out of 166) in
Dáil Éireann and no members of the Republic's
Seanad Éireann (Senate). Sinn Féin has two
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) out of sixteen Irish MEPs, one from either side of the Irish border; one out of three in Northern Ireland, and one out of thirteen in the Republic. It is the only political party in Europe to be represented by members from different EU states. Its MEPs sit as part of the
left wing European United Left - Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament.
Sinn Féin had two ministers in the now suspended Executive Committee (cabinet) of the Northern Ireland Assembly but has never sat in cabinet in the Republic. In 2005 the
unionist parties indicated that they would not serve in government with Sinn Féin until its relationship with the
Provisional Irish Republican Army was terminated.
Sinn Féin, and other republicans, typically refer to
Northern Ireland as the
Six Counties, due to the early 20th century
political history of the region - part of the
Northern Ireland naming dispute.
Apart from the obvious support of a united Ireland Sinn Fein outlined several other key policies from their most recent election manifesto. Several are listed below:
*The 18
Westminster MP's to be allowed to sit in Ireland's
Dail as full Deputies,
*Ending academic selection within schools,
*Support for a 'Minister for Children' - although failure to outline what he or she would do in office,
*An 'All-Ireland-Health-Service' akin to the
NHS in the
United Kingdom,
*Diplomatic pressure to close
Sellafield nuclear power plant - which some citizens claim to be polluting Irish waters,
*'Plastic bag levy' to be extended to the
Northern Ireland,
*Free
breast screening (to check of
breast cancer) of all women over forty - presumably in both
Northern Ireland and
Ireland,
*Aiding the case for
equal pay,
*An end to 'mass-deportation' of asylum seekers across the
whole of Ireland,
*To further
Irish language teaching in
Northern Ireland,
*Oppose all water charges,
*An 'all-Ireland'
economy with a common currency (again, no further description) and one
tax policy,
*Support for a 'Minister for Europe' - likely to be used in the
Dail, and,
*Greater investment for those who are
disabled.
Sinn Fein seems, as members claim, to be a
democratic socialist party. A vast majority of their policies are intended to be implemented on an 'all-Ireland' basis which further emphasises their central aim of creating a united Ireland.
Officer Board
:*
Gerry Adams - President:*
Pat Doherty - Vice President:*
Mitchel McLaughlin - General Secretary:*
Mary Lou McDonald - Chairperson:*
Margaret Adams - Treasurer:*
Treasa Quinn - Treasurer:*
Dawn Doyle - Director of Publicity
Ard Fheis Elected Members 2005 - 2006
:*
Martina Anderson - Derry:*
Bairbre de Brún - Belfast:*
Dodie McGuinness - Derry:*
Gerry Kelly - Belfast:*
Daithà Doolan - Dublin:*
Martin McGuinness - Derry:*
Francie Molloy - Tyrone:*
Shannonbrooke Murphy - Galway:*
Jacqueline Russell - Leinster:*
Alex Maskey - Belfast:*
Eibhlin Glenhomes - Belfast:*
Aengus Ã" Snodaigh - Dublin
MPs
*
Gerry Adams - MP for
Belfast West*
Martin McGuinness - MP for
Mid Ulster*
Michelle Gildernew - MP for
Fermanagh and South Tyrone *
Conor Murphy - MP for
Newry and Armagh*
Pat Doherty - MP for
West TyroneMEPs
*
Mary Lou McDonald MEP for
Dublin*
Bairbre de Brún MEP for the
Northern IrelandTDs
*
CaoimhghÃn Ã" Caoláin TD for
Cavan-Monaghan*
Aengus Ã" Snodaigh TD for
Dublin South Central*
Sean Crowe TD for
Dublin South West*
Martin Ferris TD for
Kerry North*
Arthur Morgan TD for
LouthÚdarás Na Gaeltachta
*
Gráinne Mhic Géidigh -
DonegalMLAs
*
Gerry Adams -
Belfast West*
Francis Brolly -
East Londonderry*
Willie Clarke -
South Down*
Pat Doherty -
West Tyrone*
Geraldine Dougan -
Mid Ulster*
Michael Ferguson -
Belfast West*
Michelle Gildernew -
Fermanagh and South Tyrone*
Davy Hyland -
Newry and Armagh*
Gerry Kelly -
Belfast North*
Alex Maskey -
Belfast South*
Fra McCann -
Belfast West*
Raymond McCartney -
Foyle*
Barry McElduff -
West Tyrone*
Philip McGuigan -
North Antrim*
Martin McGuinness -
Mid Ulster*
Mitchel McLaughlin -
Foyle*
Francis Molloy -
Mid Ulster*
Conor Murphy -
Newry and Armagh*
John O'Dowd -
Upper Bann*
Patricia O'Rawe -
Newry and Armagh*
Tom O'Reilly -
Fermanagh and South Tyrone*
Sue Ramsay -
Belfast West*
Caitriona Ruane -
South Down*
Kathy Stanton -
Belfast NorthThe move was also hastened by a series of disastrous IRA attacks, including the killing of people attending a Remembrance Day ceremony in
Enniskillen. Multi-party negotiations began in 1994, without Sinn Féin. The
IRA declared a ceasefire in the autumn of 1994. The
Conservative government had asked that the IRA decommission all of their weapons before Sinn Féin be admitted to the talks, but the
Labour government of
Tony Blair let them in on the basis of the ceasefire.
Belfast Agreement
The talks led to the
Belfast Agreement of
April 10 1998 (also known as the
Good Friday Agreement), which set up an inclusive devolved government, and altered the claim to the whole island in
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland. The party has been nominally committed to constitutional politics since then, though the demand that the IRA decommission all of its arms has led to repeated suspensions of the assembly. The IRA started decommissioning arms after a deal was agreed restoring the suspended NI Assembly. The attacks of
September 11th, 2001 in America, and Sinn Féin's criticisms of US foreign policy have led to a decrease in much of its support among Americans previously enjoyed in the US, though this has had no detectable effect on Sinn Féin's policies. The alleged discovery of a spy ring by the
PSNI, which was widely publicised and supposedly linked to the IRA, operating within the Northern Ireland civil service and including Sinn Féin's head of administration at the Assembly, led to the suspension of the Executive and the reinstatement of
direct rule in Northern Ireland by London, a suspension already on the brink of being triggered amid threats of resignation from
First Minister David Trimble over the apparently slow pace of IRA decommissioning. No-one was ever charged in relation to this.
Increase in support
The party overtook its nationalist rival, the
Social Democratic and Labour Party as the largest nationalist party in the
2001 Westminster General Election and Local Election, winning four Westminster seats to the SDLP's three. The party however continues to subscribe to an abstentionist policy towards seats in the Westminster British parliament, as taking the seats they won would require them to swear allegiance to the British monarchy and recognise British jurisdiction over Northern Ireland. The party won 5 TDs in the
2002 Republic general election, an increase of four.
It went on to increase its domination of the nationalist vote in the
2003 Assembly elections, with
Martin McGuinness, previously Minister for Education, in line to take the post of
Deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland Power-Sharing Executive Committee, should the executive be reformed. However the electoral success of the hardline anti-Agreement
Democratic Unionist Party, which replaced the
Ulster Unionist Party as the leading unionist party, is thought to make the prospect of setting up a new executive less likely. Some critics of Sinn Féin allege that the DUP's electoral success, and its resulting threat to the Agreement, was contributed to by the failure of the IRA to decommission its weapons, a decision that seriously undermined the ability of the pro-Agreement
David Trimble to win majority unionist community support. Sinn Féin does not accept that allegation and sees little difference between the two unionist parties.
While Sinn Féin has traditionally been the only Irish party with elected representatives on both sides of the border, Fianna Fáil has recently opened a cumann in
Derry, and recruits members on the campus of the
Queen's University of Belfast.
Latest developments
When Sinn Féin and the DUP became the largest parties of the two communities, it was clear (because of the dual majority required by the Good Friday Agreement) that no deal could be made without the support of both parties. They nearly reached a deal in November 2004, but the DUP had a requirement for visible evidence that decommissioning had been carried out. Sinn Fein then withdrew from talks with the British Government because they refused to provide this visible evidence.
The
robbery of £26.5 million from the
Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 further scuppered chances of a deal. Because of the timing of the robbery it is regarded that the plans for the robbery must have been laid whilst Sinn Fein was engaged in talks about a possible peace settlement. This undermined confidence within the
unionist community about the sincerity of republicans towards reaching agreement. In the aftermath of the row over the robbery, a further controversy erupted when, on
RTÉ's
Questions and Answers programme, the chairman of Sinn Féin,
Mitchel McLaughlin, insisted that the IRA's controversial killing of a mother of ten young children,
Jean McConville, in the early 1970s though "wrong," was not a crime, as it had taken place in the context of the political conflict. Politicians from the Republic, along with the Irish media strongly attacked McLaughlin's comments.
On
10 February 2005, the government-appointed
Independent Monitoring Commission reported that it firmly supported the
PSNI and
Garda assessments that the
Provisional IRA was responsible for the Northern Bank robbery and that certain senior members of Sinn Féin were also senior members of the Provisional IRA and would have had knowledge of and given approval to the carrying out of the robbery - Sinn Féin have argued that the IMC is not independent and the inclusion of former Alliance Party Leader John Alderdice and a British security head was proof of this. It recommended further financial sanctions against Sinn Féin Members of the
Northern Ireland Assembly. The British government responded by saying it would ask MPs to vote to withdraw the parliamentary allowances of the four Sinn Féin
MPs elected in 2001.
Gerry Adams responded to the IMC report by challenging the Irish Government to have him arrested for IRA membership, a crime in both jurisdictions, and
conspiracy.
On
20 February 2005,
Irish Minister for Justice Michael McDowell publicly accused three of the Sinn Féin leadership,
Gerry Adams,
Martin McGuinness and
Martin Ferris TD for
Kerry North) of being on the seven-man
IRA Army Council. Gerry Adams denied this at an address in
Strabane and Martin McGuinness denied the allegations in a TV interview on
RTÉ.
On
27 February 2005, a demonstration against the murder of
Robert McCartney on
30 January 2005 was held in East Belfast.
Alex Maskey, a former Sinn Féin
Mayor of Belfast, was told by relatives to "stop making stupid comments" to the press following Gerry McKay's demand that Maskey "hand over the 12" IRA members involved. The McCartney family want all witnesses to the murder to make statements to the
PSNI. People have been reluctant to do so for two reasons; the traditional mistrust of the police in Northern Ireland by republicans and the nationalist community and fear of reprisal from those alleged IRA members involved. Three IRA men have since been expelled from the organisation but no-one has been charged with the murder. The family of the dead men, though formerly Sinn Féin voters themselves, urged witnesses to the crime to contact the PSNI.
Irish
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern subsequently called Sinn Féin and the IRA "both sides of the same coin." The ostracisation of Sinn Féin was shown in February 2005 when
Dáil Éireann passed a motion condemning the party's alleged involvement in illegal activity. US President
George W. Bush and Senator
Edward Kennedy refused to meet Gerry Adams while meeting the family of Robert McCartney. Senators Kennedy and
Hillary Clinton introduced a motion into the US Senate calling on Sinn Féin to break off links with the IRA.
On
10 March 2005, the
House of Commons in London passed without significant opposition a motion placed by the British Government to withdraw the allowances of the four Sinn Féin
MPs for one year in response to the
Northern Bank Robbery. This measure cost the party approximately £400,000. However, the debate prior to the vote mainly surrounded the more recent events connected with the murder of Robert McCartney. Conservatives and Unionists put down amendments to have the Sinn Féin MPs evicted from their offices at the House of Commons but these were defeated by 358-170 and 357-171 votes respectively.
In March 2005,
Mitchell Reiss, the
United States special envoy to Northern Ireland, condemned the party's links to the Provisional IRA, saying
"it is hard to understand how a European country in the year 2005 can have a private army associated with a political party".
The party expelled
Denis Donaldson, a party official, in December 2005, with him stating publicly that he had been in the employ of the British government as an agent since the 1980s. Mr Donaldson told reporters that the British security agencies who employed him were behind the collapse of the Assembly and set up Sinn Féin to take the blame for it, a claim disputed by the British Government.
Donaldson was found fatally shot in his home in
County Donegal on
4 April 2006.
Raidió na Gaeltachta news on 4 April reported that police had launched a murder inquiry.
On the 22nd May 2006
Mitchel McLaughlin, the Sinn Fein Assembly Member for
Foyle appeared on the
BBC Radio 4 Today Programme. He was asked to explain what exactly Sinn Fein had achieved for its supporters. His answer was:
"The degree of uncertainty and the lack of confidence in the unionist community". This was seen by many as an unusually honest admission by a Sinn Fein member that their strategy in Northern Ireland is based on creating instability within the unionist community.
*
Edward Martyn (1905-1908)
*
John Sweetman (1908)
*
Arthur Griffith (1908-1917)
*
Eamon de Valera (1917-26)
In 1923, a substantial portion of the membership became Cumann na nGaedhealIn 1926, de Valera resigned from Sinn Féin and launched Fianna Fáil*
John Joseph O'Kelly (Sceilg) (1926-1931)
*
Brian O'Higgins (1931-1933)
* Fr.
Michael O'Flanagan (1933-1935)
*
Cathal Ã" Murchadha (1935-1937)
*
Margaret Buckley (1937-1950)
*
Pádraig Mac Lógáin (1950-1953)
*
Tomás Ã" Dubhghaill (1953-1954)
*
Pádraig Mac Lógáin (1954-1962)
*
Tomás Mac Giolla (1962-1970)
In 1970, split into two parties claiming to be the legitimate Sinn Féin:*
Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place), more commonly referred to as
Official Sinn Féin. The party renamed itself Sinn Féin, the Workers Party (1982), before settling on the
Workers Party (1982).:* Sinn Féin (Kevin Street), also referred to as
Provisional Sinn Féin. This wing is now generally known as
Sinn Féin.
*
Ruairà Ã" Brádaigh (1970-1983)
In 1986, Ã" Brádaigh left and set up Republican Sinn Féin.*
Gerry Adams (1983-present)
*
Fianna Fáil*
Fine Gael - came about through merger of
Cumann na nGaedhael with the
National Centre Party and the
Army Comrades Association, to Form Fine Gael in 1933.
*Sinn Féin
*
Republican Sinn Féin*
Workers' Party*
List of Sinn Féin MPs (for members elected to the British House of Commons)
*
Tim Pat Coogan,
The Troubles (Arrow, 1995, 1996) ISBN 009946571X
* Tim Pat Coogan,
Michael Collins (Hutchinson, 1990) ISBN 0091741068
* Brian Feeney,
Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years (2003) HB: ISBN 0299186709 PB ISBN 0299186741
* Roy Foster,
Ireland 1660-1972 *
Geraldine Kennedy (ed.)
Nealon's Guide to the 29th Dáil and Seanad (Gill and Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 0717132889
*
F.S.L. Lyons,
Ireland Since the Famine* Brian Maye,
Arthur Griffith (Griffith College Publications)
*
Dorothy Macardle,
The Irish Republic (Corgi edition, 1968) ISBN 55207862X
* Patrick Sarsfield, S. O'Hegarty & Tom Garvin,
The Victory of Sinn Féin: How It Won It & how It Used It (1999) ISBN 1900621177
* Peter Taylor,
Behind the Mask: The IRA & Sinn Féin ISBN 1575000776
*
Robert Kee,
The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism (Penguin, 1972–2000), ISBN 0140291652
* Robert W. White,
Ruairà Ã" Brádaigh, the Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary (Indiana University Press, 2006.
*
Sinn Féin*
Sinn Féin Ireland of Equals website*
Friends/Cairde Sinn Féin
