Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin
Secretary-General	Dawn Doyle
Founder	Arthur Griffith
President	Gerry Adams TD
Vice-President	Mary Lou McDonald TD
Assembly Group Leader	Raymond McCartney MLA
Slogan	"Building an Ireland of Equals"
Founded	Original: 28 November 1905 Current: 1970
Headquarters	44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland
Newspaper	An Phoblacht
Youth wing	Sinn Féin Republican Youth
Membership  (2012)	7,000[1]
Ideology	Irish republicanism Democratic socialism[2]
Political position	Left-wing
European Parliament group	European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colours	Green
Dáil Éireann	14 / 166
Seanad Éireann	3 / 60
House of Commons (NI Seats)	5 / 18 (Abstentionist)
European Parliament (Republic of Ireland)	0 / 12
European Parliament (Northern Ireland)	1 / 3
Northern Ireland Assembly	29 / 108
Local government in Northern Ireland	138 / 582
Local government in the Republic of Ireland	127 / 1,627
Website
www.sinnfein.ie
Politics of the Republic of Ireland Political parties Elections Politics of Northern Ireland Political parties Elections

Sinn Féin (/ʃɪn ˈfeɪn/ shin-FAYN)^[3] is an Irish republican political party in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves",^[4][5] although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone".^[6] Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party. Sinn Féin is led by Gerry Adams, and has elected representatives in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.^[7] The party in its present form has historically been associated with the Provisional IRA.^[8]

Sinn Féin is currently the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, where it has four ministerial posts in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive, and the fourth-largest party in the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland. In the 2009 European Parliament election the Sinn Féin candidate in Northern Ireland, Bairbre de Brún, topped the poll, a first for the party in any Northern Ireland election. Sinn Féin also received a plurality of Northern Ireland votes in the 2010 United Kingdom general election, although the Democratic Unionist Party won more seats. It is the third biggest political party on the island of Ireland with a popular vote of 398,915 when both the 2011 general election in the Republic of Ireland and the 2011 Assembly election in Northern Ireland are taken into account.

History

Pre-1970

Sinn Féin was founded on 28 November 1905, when, at the first annual Convention of the National Council, Arthur Griffith outlined the Sinn Féin policy.^[5] That policy was "to establish in Ireland's capital a national legislature endowed with the moral authority of the Irish nation".^[9] Sinn Féin contested the Leitrim North by-election of 1908 and secured 27% of the vote.^[10] Thereafter, both support and membership fell. At the 1910 Ard Fheis (party conference) the attendance was poor and there was difficulty finding members willing to take seats on the executive.^[11]

In 1914, Sinn Féin members, including Griffith, joined the anti-Redmond Irish Volunteers, which was referred to by Redmondites and others as the "Sinn Féin Volunteers". Although Griffith himself did not take part in the Easter Rising of 1916, many Sinn Féin members, who were also members of both the Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, did. Government and newspapers dubbed the Rising "the Sinn Féin Rising".^[12] After the Rising, republicans came together under the banner of Sinn Féin, and at the 1917 Ard Fheis the party committed itself for the first time to the establishment of an Irish Republic. In the 1918 general election, Sinn Féin won 73 of Ireland's 105 seats, and in January 1919, its MPs assembled in Dublin and proclaimed themselves Dáil Éireann, the parliament of Ireland. The party supported the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence, and members of the Dáil government negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty with the British Government in 1921. In the Dáil debates that followed, the party divided on the Treaty. Anti-Treaty members led by Éamon de Valera walked out, and pro- and anti-Treaty members took opposite sides in the ensuing Civil War.^[13]

Pro-Treaty Dáil deputies and other Treaty supporters formed a new party, Cumann na nGaedheal, on 27 April 1923 at a meeting in Dublin where delegates agreed on a constitution and political programme.^[14] Cumann na nGaedheal governed the new Irish Free State for ten years. It merged with two other organisations to form Fine Gael in 1933.^[15] Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin members continued to boycott the Dáil. At a special Ard Fheis in March 1926 de Valera proposed that elected members be allowed to take their seats in the Dáil if and when the controversial oath of allegiance was removed. When his motion was defeated, de Valera resigned from Sinn Féin and on 16 May 1926 founded his own party, Fianna Fáil—taking most Sinn Féin deputies with him.^[16] De Valera's resignation meant also the loss of financial support from America.^[17] The Sinn Féin party could field no more than fifteen candidates,^[18] and won only six seats in the June election, a level support not seen since pre-1916.^[19][20] Vice-President and de facto leader Mary MacSwiney announced that the party simply did not have the funds to contest the second election called that year, declaring "no true Irish citizen can vote for any of the other parties".^[20]

An attempt in the 1940s to access funds which had been put in the care of the High Court led to the Sinn Féin Funds Case, which the party lost and in which the judge ruled that it was not the direct successor of the Sinn Féin of 1917.^[21] At the Westminister 1959 general election, the Sinn Féin vote dropped almost 60% from the 1955 number 152,000 to 63,000.^[22] In the 1960s, Sinn Féin moved to the left. It became involved in campaigns over the provision of housing and social services during the sixties. It also adopted a "National Liberation Strategy" which was the brainchild of Roy Johnston. In 1967 the Garland commission was set up to investigate the possibility of ending abstentionism. Its report angered many within the party, notably Seán Mac Stíofáin and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.^[23]

1970–83

The Sinn Féin party split in two at the beginning of 1970. At the party's Ard Fheis on 11 January the proposal to end abstentionism and take seats, if elected, in the Dáil, the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the Parliament of the United Kingdom was put before the members.^[24] A similar motion had been adopted at an IRA convention the previous month, leading to the formation of a Provisional Army Council by Mac Stíofáin and other members opposed to the leadership. When the motion was put to the Ard Fheis, it failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority. The Executive attempted to circumvent this by introducing a motion in support of IRA policy, at which point the dissenting delegates walked out of the meeting. These members reconvened at another place, appointed a Caretaker Executive and pledged allegiance to the Provisional Army Council. The Caretaker Executive declared itself opposed to the ending of abstentionism, the drift towards "extreme forms of socialism", the failure of the leadership to defend the nationalist people of Belfast during the 1969 Northern Ireland riots, and the expulsion of traditional republicans by the leadership during the 1960s.^[25] At the October 1970 Ard Fheis delegates were informed that an IRA convention had been held and had regularised its structure, bringing to an end the 'provisional' period.^[26] By then, however, the label "Provisional" or "Provo" was already being applied to them by the media.^[27] The opposing, anti-abstentionist party became known as "Official Sinn Féin".^[28] It changed its name in 1977 to "Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party",^[29] and in 1982 to "The Workers' Party".^[30]

Initially, because the "Provisionals" were committed to military rather than political action, Sinn Féin's membership was largely confined, in Danny Morrison's words, to people "over military age or women". A Belfast Sinn Féin organiser of the time described the party's role as "agitation and publicity".^[31] New cumainn (branches) were established in Belfast, and a new newspaper, Republican News, was published.^[32] Sinn Féin took off as a protest movement after the introduction of internment in August 1971, organising marches and pickets.^[33] The party launched its platform, Éire Nua (a New Ireland) at the 1971 Ard Fheis.^[34] In general, however, the party lacked a distinct political philosophy. In the words of Brian Feeney, "Ó Brádaigh would use Sinn Féin ard fheiseanna to announce republican policy, which was, in effect, IRA policy, namely that Britain should leave the North or the 'war' would continue".^[35] Sinn Féin was given a concrete presence in the community when the IRA declared a ceasefire in 1975. 'Incident centres' were set up to communicate potential confrontations to the British authorities. They were manned by Sinn Féin, which had been legalised the year before by Secretary of State, Merlyn Rees.^[36]

After the ending of the truce another issue arose—that of political status for prisoners. Rees released the last of the internees but introduced the Diplock courts, and ended 'Special Category Status' for all prisoners convicted after 1 March 1976. This led first to the blanket protest, and then to the dirty protest .^[37] Around the same time, Gerry Adams began writing for Republican News, calling for Sinn Féin to become more involved politically .^[38] The prisoners' protest climaxed with the 1981 hunger strike, during which striker Bobby Sands was elected Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone as an Anti H-Block candidate. After his death on hunger strike, his seat was held, with an increased vote, by his election agent, Owen Carron. These successes convinced republicans that they should contest every election.^[39] Danny Morrison expressed the mood at the 1981 Ard Fheis when he said:

"Who here really believes we can win the war through the ballot box? But will anyone here object if, with a ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in the other, we take power in Ireland?".^[40]

This was the origin of what became known as the Armalite and ballot box strategy. Éire Nua was dropped in 1982, and the following year Ó Brádaigh stepped down as leader, to be replaced by Adams.^[41]

1983–present

Under Adams' leadership electoral politics became increasingly important. In 1983 Alex Maskey was elected to Belfast City Council, the first Sinn Féin member to sit on that body.^[42] Sinn Féin polled over 100,000 votes in the Westminster elections that year, with Adams winning the West Belfast seat previously held by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).^[42] By 1985 it had fifty-nine seats on seventeen of the twenty-six Northern Ireland councils, including seven on Belfast City Council.^[43]

The party began a reappraisal of the policy of abstention from the Dáil. At the 1983 Ard Fheis the constitution was amended to remove the ban on the discussion of abstentionism, so as to allow Sinn Féin to run a candidate in the forthcoming European elections, although in his address Adams said, "We are an abstentionist party. It is not my intention to advocate change in this situation."^[44] A motion to permit entry into the Dáil was allowed at the 1985 Ard Fheis, but without the active support of the leadership, and Adams did not speak. The motion failed narrowly.^[45] By October of the following year an IRA Convention had indicated its support for elected Sinn Féin Teachtaí Dála (TDs) taking their seats. Thus, when the motion to end abstention was put to the Ard Fheis on 1 November 1986, it was clear that there would not be a split in the IRA as there had been in 1970.^[46] The motion was passed with a two-thirds majority. Ó Brádaigh and about twenty other delegates walked out, and met in a Dublin hotel to form Republican Sinn Féin.^[47]

Multi-party negotiations began in 1994 in Northern Ireland, without Sinn Féin. The Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in the autumn of 1994. The John Major-led 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 later let them in on the basis of the ceasefire.^[48]

The talks led to the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998 (officially known as the Belfast Agreement), which set up an inclusive devolved government in the North, and altered the Southern government's constitutional claim to the whole island in Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland. Republicans opposed to the direction taken by Sinn Féin in the peace process formed the 32 County Sovereignty Movement in the late 1990s.^[49]

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.^[50] Donaldson was found fatally shot in his home in County Donegal on 4 April 2006, and a murder inquiry was launched.^[51] In April 2009, the Real IRA released a statement taking responsibility for the killing.^[52]

When Sinn Féin and the DUP became the largest parties, it was clear 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.^[53]

On 2 September 2006 Martin McGuinness publicly stated that Sinn Féin would refuse to participate in a shadow assembly at Stormont, asserting that his party would only take part in negotiations that were aimed at restoring a power-sharing government within Northern Ireland. This development follows a decision on the part of members of Sinn Féin to refrain from participating in debates since the Assembly's recall this past May. The relevant parties to these talks were given a deadline of 24 November 2006 to decide upon whether or not they would ultimately form the executive.^[54]

The 86-year Sinn Féin boycott of policing in Northern Ireland ended on 28 January 2007 when the Ard Fheis voted overwhelmingly to support the PSNI.^[55] Sinn Féin members will sit on Policing Boards and District Policing Partnerships.^[56] There has been some opposition to this decision from people such as former IRA prisoner Gerry McGeough, who stood in the 2007 Assembly Elections against Sinn Féin in the assembly constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone.^[57]

Links with the IRA

Sinn Féin is the largest group in the Republican wing of Irish nationalism and is closely associated with the Provisional IRA, with the Irish Government alleging that senior members of Sinn Féin have held posts on the IRA Army Council.^[58] However, the SF leadership has denied these claims.^[59] The US Government also alleged that Sinn Féin and the IRA were linked.^[60][61][62]

A republican document of the early 1980s states, "Both Sinn Féin and the IRA play different but converging roles in the war of national liberation. The Irish Republican Army wages an armed campaign... Sinn Féin maintains the propaganda war and is the public and political voice of the movement".^[63]

The British Government stated in 2005 that "we had always said all the way through we believed that Sinn Féin and the IRA were inextricably linked and that had obvious implications at leadership level".^[64]

The robbery of £26.5 million from the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 further scuppered chances of a deal. The IRA were blamed for the robbery^[65] though Sinn Féin denied this and stated that party officials had not known of the robbery nor sanctioned it.^[66] Because of the timing of the robbery, it is considered that the plans for the robbery must have been laid whilst Sinn Féin 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.^[67][68]

On 10 February 2005, the government-appointed Independent Monitoring Commission reported that it firmly supported the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Garda assessments that the IRA was responsible for the Northern Bank robbery and that certain senior members of Sinn Féin were also senior members of the IRA and would have had knowledge of and given approval to the carrying out of the robbery.^[69] 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.^[70] The IMC 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.^[71]

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.^[72]

On 20 February 2005, Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 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 which they later denied.^[73][74]

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 Lord Mayor of Belfast, was told by relatives of McCartney to demand that Maskey "hand over the 12" IRA members involved.^[75] The McCartney family, though formerly Sinn Féin voters themselves, urged witnesses to the crime to contact the PSNI.^[76][77] Three IRA men were expelled from the organisation, and a man was charged with McCartney's murder.^[78][79]

Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern subsequently called Sinn Féin and the IRA "both sides of the same coin".^[80] The ostracism 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.^[81]

On 10 March 2005, the British House of Commons in London passed 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 without significant opposition. 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.^[82]

In March 2005, Mitchell Reiss, the United States special envoy to Northern Ireland, condemned the party's links to the 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".^[83]

Organisational structure

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), cúigí (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 (National Executive) and also includes the chairperson of each cúige. The Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle meets at least once a month. It directs the overall implementation of Sinn Féin policy and activities of the party.^{[citation needed]}

The Ard Chomhairle also oversees the operation of various departments of Sinn Féin, viz Administration, Finance, National Organiser, Campaigns, Sinn Féin Republican Youth, 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, fifteen 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 thirty per cent of Ard Chomhairle members are women.^{[citation needed]}

The Ardfheis (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.^{[citation needed]}

Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) Officer Board

2010–2011:^[84]

• President: Gerry Adams
• Vice-President: Mary Lou McDonald
• Chairperson: Declan Kearney
• general secretary: Dawn Doyle
• Director of Publicity: Sean Mac Brádaigh
• Treasurers: Rita O'Hare and Maurice Quinlivan

Ard Chomhairle (Sinn Féin Leadership) Members elected at the Ard Fhéis 2012

Six Men

• Pearse Doherty
• Alex Maskey
• Conor Murphy
• Seán Murray (Irish republican)
• Eoin Ó Broin
• Daithí Doolan

Six Women

• Jennifer McCann
• Caitríona Ruane
• Kathryn Reilly
• Rose Conway-Walsh
• Noeleen McPóilín
• Joanne Spain

Front Bench

Leadership history

Name	Dates	Notes
Edward Martyn	1905–1908
John Sweetman	1908–1911
Arthur Griffith	1911–1917
Éamon de Valera	1917–1926	Resigned from Sinn Féin and formed Fianna Fáil in 1926
John J. O'Kelly (Sceilg)	1926–1931
Brian O'Higgins	1931–1933
Fr. Michael O'Flanagan	1933–1935
Cathal Ó Murchadha	1935–1937
Margaret Buckley	1937–1950
Paddy McLogan	1950–1952
Tomás Ó Dubhghaill	1952–1954
Paddy McLogan	1954–1962
Tomás Mac Giolla	1962–1970	From 1970 was president of Official Sinn Féin, renamed The Workers' Party in 1982
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh	1970–1983
Gerry Adams	1983–present

Policy and ideology

Most of the party's policies are intended to be implemented on an 'all-Ireland' basis which further emphasises their central aim of creating a united Ireland.

Sinn Féin is considered a democratic socialist or left-wing party^[85] In the European parliament, the party aligns itself with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) parliamentary group. The party pledges support for minority rights, migrants' rights, and eradicating poverty. Although it is not in favour of the extension of legalised abortion (British 1967 Act) to Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin state they are opposed to the attitudes in society which "pressurise women" to have abortions and "criminalise" women who make this decision. The party does state that in cases of incest, rape, sexual abuse, or when a woman's life and health are at risk or in danger that the final decision must rest with the woman.^[86]

Sinn Féin is considered to be Eurosceptic,^[87][88] and urged a "No" vote in the referendum held in Ireland in 2008 on the Lisbon Treaty.^[89]

Social and cultural

Sinn Féin's main political goal is a united Ireland. Other key policies from their most recent election manifesto are listed below:

• The 18 Northern Ireland MPs that sit in the Parliament of the United Kingdom to be allowed to sit in the Dáil Éireann as full Deputies as well,^[90]
• Ending academic selection within the education system,^[91]
• Support for a 'Minister for Children',
• Diplomatic pressure to close Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant (in Britain),
• Sinn Féin proposes a draft Irish Language Bill for the North (Northern Ireland),^[92] a Bill that would give the Irish Language the same status that the Welsh language has in Wales,
• 'Plastic bag levy' to be extended to Northern Ireland,
• To further Irish language teaching in Northern Ireland,
• It supports same-sex marriage and thus wants to see an end of the ban preventing this.^[93]

Economy

• Increase in Capital Gains tax and DIRT,
• A cap of public sector pay at three times the Average worker's wage,
• A cap of the salaries of TDs and government ministers,
• Standardisation of discretionary tax reliefs,
• Greater state investment in the economy,
• Abolishing mortgage interest tax relief for landlords and property based tax reliefs,
• Establishment of a government fund to aid small and medium enterprises,
• An 'all-Ireland' economy with a common currency and one tax policy,
• Greater investment for those who are disabled.^[94]

Health

• An 'All-Ireland-Health-Service' akin to the National Health Service of the United Kingdom,
• Cap on consultants pay,
• Abolishment of prescription charges for Medical card patients,
• Expansion of primary care centres,
• Gradual removal of subsidies of private practice in public hospitals and the introduction of a charge for practitioners for the use of public equipment and staff in their private practice,
• Free breast screening (to check for breast cancer) of all women over forty—presumably in both Northern Ireland and the Republic,^[95]

International relations

Sinn Féin supports the creation of a 'Minister for Europe' – likely to be used in the Dáil. Support of independence of the Basque Country from the Kingdom of Spain. The party opposes the US blockade of Cuba.^[96] Sinn Féin are against "the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel."^[97][98]

Electoral performances

Northern Ireland

Election	Body	Share of votes	Seats	Share of seats
1982	Assembly	10.1%	5/78	6.4%
1983	Westminster	13.4%	1/17	5.9%
1987	Westminster	11.4%	1/17	5.9%
1992	Westminster	10.0%	0/17	0.0%
1996	Forum	15.5%	17/110	15.5%
1997	Westminster	16.1%	2/18	11.1%
1998	Assembly	16.7%	18/108	16.7%
2001	Westminster	21.7%	4/18	22.2%
2003	Assembly	23.5%	24/108	22.2%
2005	Westminster	24.3%	5/18	27.8%
2007	Assembly	26.2%	28/108	25.9%
2010	Westminster	25.5%	5/18	27.8%
2011	Assembly	26.9%	29/108	26.8%

Note: Sinn Féin elected members did not take their seats in any body except the post-1998 Assembly.

1982–92

In the 1982 Assembly elections, Sinn Féin won five seats with 64,191 votes (10.1%). The party narrowly missed winning additional seats in Belfast North and Fermanagh and South Tyrone. In the 1983 Westminster elections eight months later Sinn Féin increased its support, breaking the hundred thousand vote barrier for the first time by polling 102,701 votes (13.4%).^[99] Gerry Adams won the Belfast West constituency with Danny Morrison only 78 votes short of victory in Mid Ulster.

The 1984 European elections proved to be a disappointment with Sinn Féin's candidate Danny Morrison polling 91,476 (13.3%) and falling well behind the SDLP candidate John Hume.

By the beginning of 1985 Sinn Féin had won their first representation on local councils due to three by-election wins in Omagh (Seamus Kerr, May 1983) and Belfast (Alex Maskey in June 1983 and Sean McKnight in early 1984). Three sitting councillors also defected to Sinn Féin in Dungannon, Fermanagh and Derry (the last defecting from the SDLP).^{[100][101][102]} Sinn Féin succeeded in winning 59 seats in the 1985 local government elections. Originally the party had predicted winning only 40 seats. However the results continued to show a decline from the peak of 1983 as the party won 75,686 votes (11.8%).^[102] The party failed to gain any seats in the 1986 by-elections caused by the resignation of Unionist MPs in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, partly this was due to an electoral pact between Unionist candidates, however the SF vote fell in the four constituencies they contested.^[103]

In the 1987 election Gerry Adams held his Belfast West seat but the party elsewhere failed to make breakthroughs and overall polled 83,389 votes (11.4%).^[104] The same year saw the party contest the Dáil election in the Republic of Ireland, however they failed to win any seats and polled less than 2%.

The 1989 local government elections saw a drop in support for Sinn Féin.^[105] Defending 58 seats (the 59 won in 1985 plus two 1987 by-election gains in West Belfast minus three councillors who had defected to Republican Sinn Féin in 1986) the party lost 15 seats. In the aftermath of the election Mitchell McLaughlin admitted that recent IRA activity had affected the Sinn Féin vote.^[106]

In the 1989 European elections, candidate Danny Morrison again failed to win a seat, polling at 48,914 votes (9%).

The nadir for SF in this period came in 1992, with Gerry Adams losing his Belfast West seat to the SDLP and the SF vote falling in the other constituencies that they had contested relative to 1987.^[107]

1992–2001

In the 1997 British General Election, Gerry Adams regained his Belfast West seat. Martin McGuinness also won a seat in Mid Ulster. In Irish elections the same year the party won its first seat since the 1957 elections with Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin gaining a seat in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency. In the Irish local elections in 1999 the party increased its number of councillors from 7 to 23.

2001–present

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 elections, winning four Westminster seats to the SDLP's three.^[108] The party continues to subscribe, however, to an abstentionist policy towards the Westminster British parliament, on account of opposing that parliament's jurisdiction in Northern Ireland, as well as its oath to the Queen.^[109][110]

Sinn Féin increased its share of the nationalist vote in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 Assembly elections, with Martin McGuinness, former Minister for Education, taking the post of deputy First Minister in the Northern Ireland power-sharing Executive Committee. The party has three ministers in the Executive Committee.

In the 2010 General Election, the party retained its five seats,^[111] and for the first time topped the poll at a Westminster Election in Northern Ireland, winning 25.5% of the vote.^[112] All Sinn Féin MPs increased their share of the vote and with the exception of Fermanagh and South Tyrone, increased their majorities.^[111] In Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Unionist parties agreed a joint candidate,^[113] this resulted in the closest contest of the election, with Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew holding her seat by 4 votes after 3 recounts and an election petition challenging the result.^[114]

Republic of Ireland

Dáil Éireann/Seanad Éireann

Election	Share of votes	Seats (of 166)	Share of seats
1982.1 !1982 (Feb)	1.0%	0	0.0%
1982.2 !1982 (Nov)	N/A	N/A	N/A
1987	1.9%	0	0.0%
1989	1.2%	0	0.0%
1992	1.6%	0	0.0%
1997	2.5%	1	0.6%
2002	6.0%	5	3.0%
2007	6.9%	4	2.4%
2011	9.9%	14	8.4%

The party had five TDs elected in the 2002 Republic general election, an increase of four from the previous election. At the general election in 2007 the party had expectations of substantial gains,^{[115][116][117]} with poll predictions that they would gain five^[118] to ten seats.^[119] However, the party lost one of its seats to Fine Gael. Seán Crowe, who had topped the poll in Dublin South–West fell to fifth place, with his first preference vote reduced from 20.28% to 12.16%.^[120]

On 26 November 2010, Pearse Doherty won a seat in the Donegal South–West by-election. It was the party's first by-election victory in the Republic of Ireland since 1925.^[121] After negotiations with the left wing Independent TDs Finian McGrath and Maureen O'Sullivan, a Technical Group was formed in the Dáil to give its members more speaking time.^[122][123]

In the 2011 Irish General Election the party made gains. All its sitting TDs were returned with Seán Crowe regaining the seat in Dublin South–West he lost in 2007. In addition to winning long time targeted seats such as Dublin Central and Dublin North–West the party gained unexpected seats in Cork East and Sligo–North Leitrim.^[124] It ultimately won 14 seats, the best performance for the party's current incarnation. The party went on to win three seats in the Seanad election which followed their success at the General Election.

Local government

Sinn Féin is represented on most county and city councils. It made large gains in the local elections of 2004, increasing its number of councillors from 21 to 54, and replacing the Progressive Democrats as the fourth-largest party in local government.^[125] At the local elections of June 2009, the party's vote fell by 0.95% to 7.34%, with no change in the number of seats. Losses in Dublin and urban areas were balanced by gains in areas such as Limerick, Wicklow, Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny and the border counties .^[126] However three of Sinn Féin's seven representatives on Dublin City Council resigned within six months of the June 2009 elections, one of them defecting to the Labour Party.^[127]

European elections

In the 2004 European Parliament election, Bairbre de Brún won Sinn Féin's first seat in the European Parliament, at the expense of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). She came in second behind Jim Allister, then of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).^[128] In the 2009 election, de Brún was re-elected with 126,184 first preference votes, the only candidate to reach the quota on the first count. This was the first time since elections began in 1979 that the DUP failed to take the first seat, and was the first occasion Sinn Féin topped a poll in any Northern Ireland election.^[129][130]

Sinn Féin made a breakthrough in the Dublin constituency. The party's candidate, Mary Lou McDonald, was third in terms of first preference vote. She polled 14.32% or 60,395 votes, close behind the leading Fianna Fáil contender, Eoin Ryan with 61,681 (14.62%). McDonald was elected on the sixth count as one of four MEPs for Dublin, effectively taking the seat of Patricia McKenna of the Green Party.^[131]

At the next European election in 2009, Dublin's representation was reduced to three MEPs. The contest was further complicated by the candidature of Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party and of the former Green MEP, McKenna. A collapse in the vote of the government parties (Fianna Fáil and the Greens) was thought to be enough to re-elect McDonald, who would benefit from the transfers of Higgins and McKenna on their elimination. In the event Sinn Féin's first preferences fell to 47,928 (11.79%), and McDonald slipped to fifth place behind Higgins, who was elected with 22,000 of Sinn Féin's second preference votes.^[132]

In the South constituency their candidate, Councillor Toireasa Ferris, managed to nearly double the number of first preference votes from 32,643 to 64,671^[132] coming third, ahead of the Labour candidate Alan Kelly. However, Kelly managed to garner enough transfers to gain the last seat at the eight count.

Northern Ireland Executive Ministers (from 2011)

Portfolio	Name
Deputy First Minister	Martin McGuinness MLA
Junior Minister at Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister	Jennifer McCann MLA
Agriculture and Rural Development	Michelle O'Neill MLA
Education	John O'Dowd MLA
Culture, Arts and Leisure	Carál Ní Chuilín MLA

See also

• List of political parties in Northern Ireland
• Elected representatives of Sinn Féin
• List of Sinn Féin MPs (for members elected to the British House of Commons)
• Friends of Sinn Féin (an organisation designed to support Sinn Féin's cause with members in the United States, Canada and Australia.)
• Sinn Féin Republican Youth (the youth wing of Sinn Féin)

Notes

References

• Mícheál MacDonncha, ed. (2005). Sinn Féin: A Century of Struggle (in Irish / English). Dublin: Sinn Féin. ISBN 978-0-9542946-2-5. 
• Michael Laffan, The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party 1916—1923 (Cambridge, 1999)
• The Secret Army: The IRA, J Bowyer Bell, Poolbeg Press Ltd. Ireland 1997 (revised Third Edition), ISBN 978-1-85371-813-7.
• Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years, Brian Feeney, O'Brien Press, Dublin 2002, ISBN 978-1-85371-813-7.
• The I.R.A., Tim Pat Coogan, HarperCollins Publishers London 2000, ISBN 978-0-00-653155-5
• Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles 1968–1993, Paul Bew & Gordon Gillespie, Gill & Macmillan, Dublin 1993, ISBN 978-0-7171-2081-9
• The Transformation of Ireland 1900–2000, Diarmaid Ferriter, Profile Books, London 2005, ISBN 978-1-86197-443-3
• Ireland: A History, Robert Kee, Abacus, London (Revised Edition 2005), ISBN 978-0-349-11676-1
• Eyewitness to Irish History, Peter Berresford Ellis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Canada 2004, ISBN 978-0-471-26633-4
• Joe Cahill: A Life in the IRA, Brendan Anderson, O'Brien Press, Dublin 2002, ISBN 978-0-86278-674-8
• Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-3818-9. 
• The Transformation of Ireland 1900–2000, Diarmaid Ferriter, Profile Books, London 2005, ISBN 978-1-86197-443-3.

Further reading

• Gerry Adams, Before The Dawn (Brandon Book, 1996) ISBN 978-0-434-00341-9.
• Tim Pat Coogan, The Troubles (Arrow, 1995, 1996) ISBN 978-0-09-946571-3.
• Tim Pat Coogan, Michael Collins (Hutchinson, 1990) ISBN 978-0-09-174106-8.
• Brian Feeney, Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years (2003) HB: ISBN 978-0-299-18670-8 PB ISBN 978-0-299-18674-6
• Roy Foster, Ireland 1660–1972
• Geraldine Kennedy (ed.) Nealon's Guide to the 29th Dáil and Seanad (Gill and Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 978-0-7171-3288-1.
• F.S.L. Lyons, Ireland Since the Famine
• Brian Maye, Arthur Griffith (Griffith College Publications)
• Dorothy Macardle, The Irish Republic (Corgi edition, 1968) ISBN 978-0-552-07862-7
• Sean O'Callaghan, The Informer (Corgi 1999) ISBN 978-0-552-14607-4
• Patrick Sarsfield O'Hegarty (introduction by Tom Garvin), The Victory of Sinn Féin: How It Won It & how It Used It (1999) ISBN 978-1-900621-17-5
• Peter Taylor, Behind the Mask: The IRA & Sinn Féin ISBN 978-1-57500-077-0
• Robert Kee, The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism (Penguin, 1972–2000), ISBN 978-0-14-029165-0
• Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, the Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary (Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-253-34708-4

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sinn Féin.

Official websites

• Sinn Féin
• Sinn Féin's "Ireland of Equals" website
• Sinn Féin delegation to the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament in Brussels website

Other websites

• Sinn Féin Original website
• Behind The Mask: The IRA & Sinn Féin Companion website to the Frontline documentary about Sinn Féin, which aired on PBS.
• Guardian – Special Report

v t e Sinn Féin   Leadership Presidents Edward Martyn (1905–08) John Sweetman (1908) Arthur Griffith (1908–17) Éamon de Valera (1917–26) John J. O'Kelly (Sceilg) (1926–31) Brian O'Higgins (1931–33) Michael O'Flanagan (1933–35) Cathal Ó Murchadha (1935–37) Margaret Buckley (1937–50) Paddy McLogan (1950–52) Tomás Ó Dubhghaill (1952–54) Paddy McLogan (1954–62) Tomás Mac Giolla (1962–70) Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (1970–83) Gerry Adams (1983–) Vice Presidents Margaret Buckley (1950–60) Tomás Ó Dubhghaill (1951–52; 1954–62) Tony Magan (1960–62) Mick Traynor (1962) Rory O'Driscoll (1962–63) Larry Grogan (1962–69; 1970–71) Sean Caughey (1963–65) Joe Clarke (1966–72) Cathal Goulding (1969–70) Dáithí Ó Conaill (1971–78; 1978–83) Máire Drumm (1972–76) Joe Cahill (1976–78) Gerry Adams (1978–83) Phil Flynn (1983–85) John Joe McGirl (1985–88) Pat Doherty (1988–2009) Mary Lou McDonald (2009–) Chairpersons Seán MacManus (1984–90) Tom Hartley (1990–96) Mitchel McLaughlin (1996–2005) Mary Lou McDonald (2005–09) Declan Kearney (2009–) General Secretaries Joe Cahill Cathleen Knowles Tom Hartley (1984–86) Joe Reilly (1986–88) Lucilita Bhreatnach (1988–2003) Mitchel McLaughlin (2003–07) Rita O'Hare (2007–09) Dawn Doyle (2009–) Directors of Publicity Seán Ó Brádaigh (1960–79) Danny Morrison (1979–90) Rita O'Hare (1990–98) Dawn Doyle (1998–2008) Rosaleen Doherty (2008–)   Elected representatives Dáil Éireann (Sinn Féin Front Bench) Gerry Adams Michael Colreavy Seán Crowe Pearse Doherty Dessie Ellis Martin Ferris Mary Lou McDonald Sandra McLellan Pádraig Mac Lochlainn Jonathan O'Brien Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin Aengus Ó Snodaigh Brian Stanley Peadar Tóibín Seanad Éireann David Cullinane Trevor Ó Clochartaigh Kathryn Reilly European Parliament Martina Anderson Northern Ireland Assembly Cathal Boylan Michaela Boyle Mickey Brady Megan Fearon Phil Flanagan Chris Hazzard Gerry Kelly Seán Lynch Declan McAleer Fra McCann Jennifer McCann Raymond McCartney Rosie McCorley Barry McElduff Bronwyn McGahan Martin McGuinness Daithí McKay Maeve McLaughlin Mitchel McLaughlin Oliver McMullan Alex Maskey Ian Milne Carál Ní Chuilín John O'Dowd Cathal Ó hOisín Michelle O'Neill Sue Ramsey Caitríona Ruane Patrick Sheehan Westminster MPs (Abstentionist) Pat Doherty Michelle Gildernew Paul Maskey Francie Molloy Conor Murphy See also History of Sinn Féin Friends of Sinn Féin Sinn Féin Republican Youth An Phoblacht

Links to related articles v t e Political parties in the Republic of Ireland Dáil Éireann (166) Fine Gael (69) Labour Party (34) Fianna Fáil (20) Sinn Féin (14) United Left (2) People Before Profit Alliance (1) Socialist Party (1) Workers and Unemployed Action Group (1) Independent (23) Seanad Éireann (60) Fine Gael (19) Fianna Fáil (14) Labour Party (11) Sinn Féin (3) Independent (13) European Parliament (12 of 736) Fine Gael (EPP, 4) Fianna Fáil (ALDE, 3) Labour Party (S&D, 2) Socialist Party (EUL–NGL, 1) Independent (ALDE, 1) Independent (NA, 1) Represented at local level Éirígí Fís Nua Green Party Letterkenny Residents Party Republican Sinn Féin South Kerry Independent Alliance Workers' Party Others Catholic Democrats Christian Solidarity Party Communist Party of Ireland Direct Democracy Ireland Irish Republican Socialist Party Socialist Workers Party Politics of the Republic of Ireland Politics portal List of political parties v t e Political parties in the United Kingdom House of Commons (650) Conservative (304) Labour (256, including 28 Labour Co-operative)* Liberal Democrats (57) DUP (8) SNP (6) Sinn Féin† (5) Plaid Cymru (3) SDLP (3) Green (E&W) (1) Alliance (1) Respect (1) Independent (4) vacant (1) House of Lords (780) Labour (221) Conservative (221) Crossbenchers (181) Liberal Democrats (99) Lords Spiritual (25) DUP (2) UUP (2) UKIP (2) Plaid Cymru (2) Green (E&W) (1) Independent Labour (1) Independent Conservative (1) Independent Liberal Democrat (2) Independent Ulster Unionist (1) Non-affiliated (19) Scottish Parliament (129) SNP (65) Scottish Labour (38) Scottish Conservatives (15) Scottish Liberal Democrats (5) Scottish Green (2) Independent (4) National Assembly for Wales (60) Welsh Labour (30) Welsh Conservatives (14) Plaid Cymru (11) Welsh Liberal Democrats (5) Northern Ireland Assembly (108) DUP (38) Sinn Féin (29) SDLP (14) UUP (13) Alliance (8) NI21 (2) Green (NI) (1) TUV (1) UKIP (1) Independent (1) London Assembly (25) Labour (12) Conservative (9) Liberal Democrats (2) Green (E&W) (2) European Parliament (73 of 754) Conservative (ECR, 26) Labour (PES, 13) Liberal Democrats (ELDR, 12) UKIP (EFD, 8; Non-inscrits, 1) Green (E&W) (EGP, 2) SNP (EFA, 2) Plaid Cymru (EFA, 1) Sinn Féin (EUL-NGL, 1) BNP (Non-inscrits, 1) DUP (Non-inscrits, 1) UUP (ECR, 1) We Demand a Referendum (Non-inscrits, 1) British Democratic Party (Non-inscrits, 1) An Independence Party (Non-inscrits, 1) Independent (Non-inscrits, 1) Other national and regional parties Christian Christian Peoples Alliance English Democrats Health Concern Liberal Mebyon Kernow Monster Raving Loony National Front Progressive Unionist Scottish Socialist Social Democratic Socialist Alternative§ Socialist Labour Socialist Workers§ Solidarity§ Notes: *Co-operative Party candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party as "Labour and Co-operative Party" candidates. †Although Sinn Féin have five elected members and have offices at Westminster, they are abstentionist and therefore do not take their seats. §Some candidates stand as "Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition" candidates. Portal:Politics List of political parties by representation Politics of the United Kingdom v t e Active political parties in Northern Ireland Parties with Assembly seats (108) Unionist Democratic Unionist Party (38) Ulster Unionist Party (13) NI21 (2) Traditional Unionist Voice (1) UK Independence Party (1) Nationalist Sinn Féin (29) Social Democratic and Labour Party (14) Other Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (8) Green Party in Northern Ireland (1) Parties that stood in the 2011 local or Assembly elections Unionist British National Party Northern Ireland Conservatives Progressive Unionist Party Nationalist Éirígí Independent Republican Party Irish Republican Socialist Party Workers' Party of Ireland Other Community Partnership (Northern Ireland) People Before Profit Alliance Procapitalism Socialist Party Parties created since the 2011 elections Protestant Coalition v t e Nationalism in the United Kingdom British Nationalism Unionism Fascism Britishness Organisations Britain First British Freedom Party British National Party British People's Party Candour Conservative Party Democratic Unionist Party National Front New Deal Progressive Unionist Party Traditional Unionist Voice UK Independence Party Ulster Unionist Party Cornish Nationalism Organisations Mebyon Kernow Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament English Independence Nationalism Organisations English Democrats Irish Nationalism Republicanism Unification Organisations Sinn Féin Social Democratic and Labour Party Éirígí Irish Republican Socialist Party Republican Network for Unity Republican Sinn Féin Scottish Independence Nationalism Organisations Scottish Green Party Scottish National Party Scottish Socialist Party Solidarity Ulster Loyalism Nationalism Organisations Ulster Third Way Welsh Independence Nationalism Organisations Cymru Annibynnol Plaid Cymru v t e United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 Referendum question "At present, the UK uses the “first past the post” system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the “alternative vote” system be used instead?" Acts Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 Parties Advocating a "Yes" vote Alliance Party of Northern Ireland Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance English Democrats Green Party of England and Wales Liberal Democrats Liberal Party Mebyon Kernow Pirate Party UK Plaid Cymru Scottish Green Party Scottish National Party SDLP Sinn Féin UKIP Libertarian Party Neutral/split Labour Party Socialist Party of Great Britain Monster Raving Loony Party Advocating a "No" vote British National Party Communist Party of Britain Conservative Party Democratic Unionist Party England First Party Green Party in Northern Ireland Respect Party Socialist Party Traditional Unionist Voice Ulster Unionist Party Advocacy groups Advocating a "Yes" vote YES! To Fairer Votes Advocating a "No" vote NOtoAV Print media Advocating a "Yes" vote The Guardian The Independent The Financial Times Daily Mirror Advocating a "No" vote The Sun Daily Mail The Times Daily Express Daily Telegraph The Economist Evening Standard Result Results of the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 Politics Portal