Leader of Sinn Féin

President of Sinn Féin
Incumbent Gerry Adams, TD since 13 November 1983
Inaugural holder	Edward Martyn
Formation	28 November 1905
Website	Gerry Adams, TD

The leader of Sinn Féin (alternatively known as the Uachtarán Shinn Féin or President of Sinn Féin) is the most senior politician within the Sinn Féin political party in Ireland. Since 13 November 1983, the office has been held by Gerry Adams, following the resignation of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh as leader of the party.^[1]

The deputy leader of Sinn Féin is Mary Lou McDonald.^[2]

The leader of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland is Michelle O'Neill.^[3]

Background

The post of the President of Sinn Féin was officially created in 1905 when Arthur Griffith founded the party. Edward Martyn, a cultural activist and playwright was selected as the first president at its first annual Ard Fheis on the 28 November 1905. Unlike other Irish political parties, most notably Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the President of Sinn Féin does not have the power to dismiss or appoint their deputy and to dismiss or appoint parliamentary party members to front bench positions. These decisions are taken by the Ard Chomhairle (National Executive).

In the Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn Féin is in government under a power-sharing agreement with the Alliance Party, Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Ulster Unionist Party. The President of Sinn Féin does not act as the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, If the President is not a member of the Assembly, then an MLA of the party is appointed as Leader in the North to replace him or her.

Until 2010, Sinn Féin did not have enough TDs to qualify for group speaking rights in Dáil Éireann. If the President is not a member of Dáil Éireann, then a TD is appointed in his or her place to act as the leader of the parliamentary party. Since 2011, the President of Sinn Féin has served as the Second Leader of the Opposition and chairs the second opposition front bench.^[4]

Two of the fourteen leaders of Sinn Féin have been elected to a public office while serving as leader. Éamon de Valera was elected as an MP in the House of Commons and a TD in Dáil Éireann. However, he did not take his seat in either legislature as per party policy. De Valera’s predecessor, Arthur Griffith helped increase party support following the 1916 Easter Rising. When the party split due to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, both De Valera and Griffith joined opposing sides with De Valera leading the Anti-Treaty faction, while Griffith joined the Pro-Treaty faction, which later became Cumann na nGaedheal. De Valera’ successor John J. O'Kelly was one of four leaders who served for brief periods of time as Sinn Féin’s party membership declined in favour of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

In 1937, Margaret Buckley became the first female President of Sinn Féin. During her thirteen years as leader, she vastly improved the relations between the IRA and the party. She was succeeded by Paddy McLogan and Tomás Ó Dubhghaill who both helped rebuild party support in the aftermath of World War II. Tomás Mac Giolla became president in 1962 and served for over eight years as leader of the party. When the party split, Mac Giolla remained leader of Official Sinn Féin. Official Sinn Féin was later renamed the Workers' Party. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was elected as the new leader of the Provisional Sinn Féin in 1970. Ó Brádaigh's presidency was shaped by relentless violence between republican and loyalist paramilitaries and the British security forces. He was one of the republican representatives which met with the British representatives in hope of ending the Troubles.

Ó Brádaigh's resigned in 1983, due to dissatisfaction among party activists in Northern Ireland. Vice President Gerry Adams became the fourteenth President of the party in 1983. He is currently the longest serving president in the party’s history. During his presidency, the IRA declared a ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Party support rose as Sinn Féin became the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland. In 2011, Gerry Adams left the Northern Ireland Assembly and won a seat in Dáil Éireann. He is the first president since 1926 to also sit in Dáil Éireann. On January 23, 2017, Michelle O'Neill was selected as the leader of Sinn Féin in the North, replacing Martin McGuinness.

Presidents

1905–26

No.	Name (Birth–death)	Portrait	Constituency	Term of office		Comments
1	Edward Martyn (1859–1923) County Galway		None	1905	1908
2	John Sweetman (1844–1936) County Dublin		None (Served as MP for East Wicklow from 1892–95)	1908	1911
3	Arthur Griffith (1872–1922) County Dublin		None (Later served as MP & TD for East Cavan, MP for North West Tyrone, TD for Fermanagh and Tyrone and TD for Cavan)	1911	1917
4	Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) New York		MP for Clare East (1917–22) TD for Clare East (1918–21) MP for Down (1921–29) TD for Clare (1922–26)	1917	1926	Leader of Fianna Fáil (1926–59)

1926–present

No.	Name (Birth–death) Place of birth	Portrait	Constituency	Term of office		Comments
5	John J. O'Kelly (1872–1957) County Kerry		None (Served as TD for Louth from 1918–21 and TD for Louth–Meath from 1921–23)	1926	1931
6	Brian O'Higgins (1882–1963) County Meath		None (Served as MP for Clare West from 1918–22, TD for Clare West from 1918–21 and TD for Clare from 1921–27)	1931	1933
7	Fr. Michael O'Flanagan (1876–1942) County Roscommon		None	1933	1935
8	Cathal Ó Murchadha (1880–1958) County Dublin		None (Served as TD for Dublin South from 1921–22 and 1923–27)	1935	1937
9	Margaret Buckley (1879–1962) County Cork		None	1937	1950	First female leader of an Irish political party
10	Paddy McLogan (1899–1964) County Armagh		None (Served as MP for South Armagh from 1933–38)	1950	1952
11	Tomás Ó Dubhghaill (1917–1962) County Dublin		None	1952	1954
(10)	Paddy McLogan (1899–1964) County Armagh		None (Served as MP for South Armagh from 1933–38)	1954	1962
12	Tomás Mac Giolla (1924–2010) County Tipperary		None (Later served as TD for Dublin West)	1962	1970	Leader of Official Sinn Féin (later the Workers' Party) (1970–88)
13	Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (1932–2013) County Longford		None (Served as TD for Longford–Westmeath from 1957–61)	1970	1983	Leader of Republican Sinn Féin (1986–2009)
14	Gerry Adams (born 1948) County Antrim		MP for Belfast West (1983–92; 1997–2011) MLA for Belfast West (1998–2010) TD for Louth (2011–present)	1983	Incumbent

Vice Presidents

The Deputy leader of Sinn Féin is usually a senior politician within Sinn Féin.

Unlike other political party leaders, the leader of Sinn Féin does not have the power to appoint or dismiss their deputy. The position is elected by members of the party at the Ardfheis. The Vice-President has a seat on the Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) Officer Board.

1905–83

President		Vice-President (Birth-death) County of Birth		Portrait	Took office	Left office	Vice-President (Birth-death) County of Birth		Portrait	Took office	Left office
	Edward Martyn		Arthur Griffith (1872-1922) County Dublin		1905	1908		John Sweetman (1844-1936) County Dublin		1905	1907
								Bulmer Hobson (1883-1969) County Antrim		1907	1910
	John Sweetman	None (1908-1911)
	Arthur Griffith							Thomas Kelly (1868-1942) County Dublin		1910	Unknown
			Jennie Wyse Power (1858-1941) County Wicklow		1911	Unknown
	Éamon de Valera		Fr. Michael O'Flanagan (1876-1942) County Roscommon		1917	1923		Arthur Griffith (1872-1922) County Dublin		1917	1922
			Kathleen Lynn (1874-1955) County Dublin		1923	1927		P. J. Ruttledge (1892-1952) County Mayo		1923	1926
	John J. O'Kelly		Mary MacSwiney (1872-1942) London		1927	Unknown		John Madden (died 1954) County Mayo		Unknown
	Brian O'Higgins							Unknown
	Fr. Michael O'Flanagan		Margaret Buckley (1879-1962) County Cork		1933	1937		John J. O'Kelly (1872-1957) County Kerry		1933	1934
								Liam Raul (died 1945) County Dublin		1934	1935
	Cathal Ó Murchadha							Liam Raul (died 1945) County Dublin and Tom Maguire (1892-1993) County Mayo		1935	1937
	Margaret Buckley
			Seamus Mitchell		1937	Unknown		Padraig de Paor		1937	Unknown
			Criostóir O'Neill		Unknown			Unknown
	Paddy McLogan		Tomás Ó Dubhghaill (1917-1962) County Dublin		1950	1952		Michael Traynor (born 1917) County Antrim		1950	1954
	Tomás Ó Dubhghaill		Margaret Buckley (1879-1962) County Cork		1952	1960
	Paddy McLogan							Tomás Ó Dubhghaill (1917-1962) County Dublin		1954	1962
	Paddy McLogan		Tony Magan (1911-1981) County Meath		1960	1962
	Tomás Mac Giolla		Michael Traynor (born 1917) County Dublin		1962			Rory O'Driscoll		1962	1963
			Larry Grogan (1899-1979) County Louth		1962	1969
								Seán Caughey (-2010) County Antrim		1963	1965
							None (1965-1966)
								Joe Clarke (1882-1976) County Dublin		1966	1972
			Cathal Goulding (1922-1998) County Dublin		1969	1970
	Ruairí Ó Brádaigh		Larry Grogan (1899-1979) County Louth		1970	1971
			Dáithí Ó Conaill (1938-1991) County Cork		1971	1978
								Máire Drumm (1919-1976) County Down		1972	1976
								Joe Cahill (1920-2004) County Antrim		1976	1978
			Gerry Adams (born 1948) County Antrim		1978	1983
								Dáithí Ó Conaill (1938-1991) County Cork		1978	1983

1983–present

Following the election of Gerry Adams as the 14th President of Sinn Féin, the position of co-vice presidents was removed. Instead, a single vice-president was elected at the 1983 Ard Fheis to serve in place of the two former vice-presidents.

President		Vice-President (Birth–death) County of Birth		Portrait	Constituency	Term of office		Notes
	Gerry Adams		Phil Flynn (born 1940) County Louth		None	1983	1985
			John Joe McGirl (1921–1988) County Leitrim		Councillor for Ballinamore (Leitrim County Council)	1985	1988	Contested the 1987 general election for Sligo–Leitrim
			Pat Doherty (born 1945) Glasgow		MLA for West Tyrone (1998–2012) MP for West Tyrone (2001–present)	1988	2009
			Mary Lou McDonald (born 1969) County Dublin		MEP for Dublin (2004–2009) TD for Dublin Central (2011–present)	2009	Incumbent	Dáil Spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform

Parliamentary party leaders

Electoral history

Note: Only includes elections contested by persons who were President of Sinn Féin at time of contesting election.

See also

• History of Sinn Féin
• Leader of Fianna Fáil
• Leader of Fine Gael
• Leader of the Labour Party

Notes

References