Poor Timing: Why Sinn Féin’s New Commitment to Reunification Could Not Have Come at a Worse Time for the Party.
A few months ago, Sinn Féin appeared to be on the up and up. They had won a record number of seats in the British general election, had a majority at Stormont, won the largest number of seats in local Northern Irish elections and, despite a slump in the polls as well as faltering results in the Irish local and European elections, had an optimistic outlook for the Irish general election. Now, however, the picture could not seem to get any worse, threatening to derail the party’s new commitment to a united Ireland.
Sinn Féin hosted its annual conference on September 28th, where they announced a renewed commitment to a united Ireland. It is no surprise that Sinn Féin wants a united Ireland, as that has been one of the party’s main priorities. What is surprising, however, is what the party has promised to do about it. As it stands right now, Northern Ireland falls under the remit of the Department of Foreign Affairs which has been described as an “insult to the citizens in the North” by Rose Conway-Walsh TD at the recent conference. Sinn Féin has now promised to change this. Party President Mary Lou McDonald took to the stage and declared that “be in no doubt, unity referendums are coming” as well as promising to create a “minister for reunification at the Department of An Taoseach.” This is a huge step for Sinn Féin and shows that they believe that they have a serious chance at becoming at least a major player in post-election Irish government, despite what one TD called a “setback” in recent Irish local and European elections. They also have concrete plans which they believe will be popular to the electorate. The conference provided party leadership a vital opportunity to rally members before the general elections, to try and move on from recent setbacks and look towards the future.
The momentum gathered from the conference hardly lasted. The party has been rocked in recent weeks after former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle pleaded guilty to a series of child sex offences. It then emerged that two other Sinn Féin press officers had provided McMonagle with job references while he was under police investigation. Sinn Féin has denied that it ever gave permission for these references to be provided, but it is now facing criticism for not alerting McMonagale’s new employer that he was under investigation by the Police. Michelle O’Neill, First Minister of Northern Ireland and Sinn Féin Vice-President, has now apologised for what she calls a “serious omission” in allowing references to be provided for McMonagle without party authorisation or approval. The situation is unlikely to simply vanish from the news cycle too, with the Oireachtais (the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland) scheduling a debate on Child Protection next week. Sinn Féin’s handling of this has no doubt shaken confidence in the party in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at a crucial time in the run up to Irish General election. They will want to move attention away from this scandal and towards their conference, but because of the uproar and concern that this scandal has created this seems extremely unlikely.
The McMonagle scandal is not the only event that has rocked the party. Sinn Féin are well known for having a genuine sense of party discipline, especially in the Dáil Éireann (Lower house of the Republic of Ireland), so it came as another shock when Kildare South TD Patricia Ryan resigned on the 9th of October a week before the constituency selection convention. Ryan herself offered no statement or comment about her resignation, leaving room for speculation and rumour. According to the Irish Times two “well-placed sources” have alleged that Ryan has felt she had been isolated and pushed to the side of the party in recent months. RTÉ also reported that Ryan had moved on due to “difficulties” faced within the party locally. At a time of huge pressure for Sinn Féin, the resignation of Patricia Ryan under a cloud of uncertainty and rumours of sidelining does not paint a picture of a united party ready to face the electorate.
At their conference, Sinn Féin leadership had the opportunity to re-invigorate their party and show strength to the electorate. With the party re-affirming their commitment to a united Ireland and announcing their plans to achieve it, there was a good chance that they could build on this momentum and look to make gains in the Dáil. Instead of focus placed on their conference promises, people are now focusing on the scandal surrounding McMonagle and to a lesser extent the uneasy resignation of Ryan. Arguably, at best the past week is a serious setback for Sinn Féin’s electoral campaign and promise of a united Ireland, at worst the past week has ruined their hopes for electoral success months before the election and de-railed their short-term vision for a united Ireland. The most recent poll from Politico, published on September 19th, shows Sinn Féin with 19% of the vote share tied with Fianna Fáil and six percent behind Fine Gael. It is not unreasonable after this past week to imagine that Sinn Féin leadership will be nervous to view the results of the next poll.
Image courtesy of Sinn Féin via Wikimedia, © 2018. Some rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.
