Monday, August 10, 2009

Tabula Rasa for Sinn Féin?





Today I will be watching the Sinn Féin “activist meeting” in Navan with much interest (see here).


Sinn Féin at the moment is in turmoil, left reeling after the local elections and European elections didn’t go to plan.

People will sneer and make jibes towards Sinn Féin, but I have always found that at a local level, Sinn Féin councillors and TDs do work considerably harder than some of their counterparts.


The potential is there for Sinn Féin to grow, although there seems to be a division between the more socialist- and republican- leaning elements in the party.


Sinn Féin has been left without a genuine leader in much of the South. After Mary Lou McDonald lost her MEP seat, senior party members like Aengus O’Snodaigh has failed to fill Mary Lou’s place in the Dublin publics’ eye.

Grassroots-level Sinn Féiners like Christy Burke and former Wexford councillor John Dwyer have expressed discontent with the upper echelons of Sinn Féin, and this schism needs to be addressed if Sinn Féin is to progress.


Another topic up for discussion is the party position on Lisbon II. While I don’t think the “No” position is in doubt, it will still be interesting to see what the debate throws up

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