Sinn Féin

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Sinn Féin
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"Sinn Féin" logo
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Leader	Gerry Adams MP MLA
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Founded	1905 (original party), 1970 (Provisional Sinn Féin, see history below)
Headquarters	44 Parnell Square Dublin 1 Republic of Ireland also: 53 Falls Road Belfast, Six Counties (Northern Ireland)[1] BT12 4PD
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Political Ideology	physical force Irish republicanism (linked with the Provisional Irish Republican Army), socialism
International Affiliation	none
European Affiliation	none
European Parliament Group	EUL-NGL
Colours	Green
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Website	http://www.sinnfein.ie
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See also	Irish politics Irish political parties Irish elections UK politics UK political parties UK elections
^ Irish republicans, including Sinn Féin, use the term "Six Counties" to refer to Northern Ireland. See Northern Ireland naming dispute.

The name Sinn Féin (pronounced [ʃɪn feɪn] in English, [ʃiːɲ fʲeːnʲ] in Irish), which means "ourselves" or "we ourselves" (not as sometimes incorrectly translated, "ourselves alone" or "we alone") has been applied to a series of political movements since 1905 in Ireland, each of which claims or claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905.

Modern Sinn Féin

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 demobilized Provisional IRA. The question of whether Sinn Fein is in fact the political wing of the provisional IRA remains disputed. Both organisations advocate a United Ireland and avowedly socialist values with a nationalist slant. Sinn Fein 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 and largest pro-Belfast Agreement political party in Northern Ireland, having recently displaced the previously dominant nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in national elections. It currently has 5 Northern Ireland (gaining one in the United Kingdom general election of 2005) MPs in the House of Commons (out of 18 Irish MPs) and 24 MLAs (out of a Northern Ireland Assembly membership of 108, making it the joint second largest, behind the Democratic Unionist Party with 33 seats and alongside the Ulster Unionist Party who also have 24). It is a much smaller political force in the Republic of Ireland, where it currently has 5 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 (MEP) out of 16 Irish MEPs, one from either side of the Irish border; 1 out of 3 in Northern Ireland, and 1 out of 13 in the Republic. Its MEPs sit as part of the left wing European United Left - Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament.

Sinn Fein 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. This claim is often seen as hypocritical as the DUP has many unofficial links with loyalist paramilitary groups

Though the goals of the Sinn Féin and the IRA are often similar, both groups maintain that they are entirely separate and independent from one other. Sinn Féin is regarded by many as the political wing of the IRA; people holding this view often refer to "Sinn Féin/IRA".

Sinn Féin and other militant republicans typically refer to Northern Ireland as the Six Counties, as the region is made up of the six counties which did not join the Irish Free State when it formed in 1922, remaining part of the United Kingdom despite the wishes of a large minority.

Leaders and splits

• 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 nGaedheal

In 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 Ó Murchadha (1935-1937)
• Margaret Buckley (1937-1950)
• Pádraig Mac Lógáin (1950-1953)
• Tomás Ó 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), usually referred to as Provisional Sinn Féin. This wing is now generally known as Sinn Féin.

• Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (1970-1983)

In 1986, Ó Brádaigh left Sinn Féin and set up Republican Sinn Féin

• Gerry Adams (1983-present)

History

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 Joseph 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 partionist parliament.

Early days

Arthur Griffith, Founder (1905) and Third leader (1908 - 17)

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 nGaeilge) 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.

Though Sinn Féin had a high name recognition factor among voters it attracted minimal support. 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 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 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 now) 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 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 Beaslaí 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%[2]. 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 Áireacht (ministry) headed by a Príomh 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 Príomh Áire (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

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Éamon de Valera, Fourth leader of Sinn Féin (1917–26)

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 the 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 Fail 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 Stíofáin and Ruairí Ó 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

Main article: Official Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin recent history

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Gerry Adams, Leader of Sinn Féin (1983–present)

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. It legalised 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, the Democratic Unionist Party and the shortlived Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin only achieved the support of the majority of the nationalist community in 2004, eight 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 of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and a northern leadership under Gerry Adams, saw Ó 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 abandon abstentionism (i.e., the refusal to accept the legitimacy of, and to participate in, the parliament of the 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, following what was called the Armalite and the ballot box strategy of 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.

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Martin McGuinness

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 "the armalite in one hand and the ballot box 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 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 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, Ógra 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 Peace Process

The 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. The IRA returned to bombing for a few months after Sinn Féin were again excluded.

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 Queen's University in 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's insistence on photographic evidence of the decommissioning, as had been demanded by Ian Paisley, resulted in the failure of the arrangement.

The robbery of £26.5 million from the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 further scuppered chances of a deal. In the aftermath of the row over the robbery, a further controversy erupted when, on RTE'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. Justice Minister Michael Mc Dowelll, who had put the question to him, refused to comment on whether he considered the violence of the "Old IRA," in killing spies and British agents during the Anglo-Irish War, similarly criminal. He did say, however, in response to McLaughlin's question, that he considered Bobby Sands a criminal. Politicians from the Republic, along with the Irish media strongly attacked McLaughlin's comments, although most ignored McDowell's

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 withdraw the parliamentary allowances of the five Sinn Féin MPs elected in 2001. These

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. [3]

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 twelve" 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 the 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 five 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.

The party expelled Denis Donaldson, a party official, in December 2005. Donaldson stated publicly that he had been an agent of the British government 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 Brith government. [4]

Parties with origins in 1916-21 Sinn Féin

• 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

Further reading

• 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