Sinn Fein and the 2011 Irish Election; a re-written post.

Hello,

This is a re-written version of a post I did earlier. Originally it was a briefly done, humorous piece. I thought it also raised an important point and so I wanted to re-do it properly.

Still though, anyone who gets bored easily by politics will probably want to skip this one.

Until recently Gerry Adams, the President of Sinn Fein, was the British MP for Belfast West. He resigned his post a few weeks ago in order to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming Irish Parliamentary elections.



At the last Irish General Election, the party lost one of its five seats in the Irish Parliament (the Dail). This time round though, things are different. Though The Economist was openly questioning its survival, in 2007 the long Irish economic boom that had transformed it into the 'Celtic Tiger' was still, just about, going.

How times change. Barely two years later (April 2009) the respected economist Paul Krugman wrote this article in the New York Times that the worst case scenario for the United States was that it could 'turn Irish'. Between December 2007 and May 2010 the unemployment rate in the Republic has trebled, according to the OECD.

Which is where Mr. Adams and his party come in. Witness this electoral broadcast:

Now admittedly the probable next Taioseach - Enda Kenney of the main opposition Fine Gael party - has publicly stated that he lead his party into coalition with Sinn Fein. However, in that report the Irish Times put Sinn Fein's poll ratings at 10%. Their political commentator, Deaglan De Breadun, has urged us to admit that Sinn Fein are not going away. 'It will be suprising' he wrote in an analysis piece on Friday 'if they don't make it to double-figures in this election'.

Why is any of this important? Firstly because SF are attempting, it seems, to make more of themselves than simply being the party of Irish unity. Secondly, because they have never stopped being the party of Irish unity. Witness this from their manifesto. 

Sinn Fein becoming a presence in the politics of Eire could have ramifications for a long time to come.