Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin (Irish for "we ourselves", pronounced "shin fain"; abbreviate to SF) is an Irish republican party. It is currently the second largest party in Northern Ireland and the third largest in the Republic of Ireland. It advocates unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. [1] Its supporters, or suspected ones, are often referred to facetiously as "Shinners" by their opponents.
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[edit] Political philosophy
Its political positioning and ideology is considered to be left-wing nationalist, advocating varying forms of welfare and the establishment of an Irish equivalent to the British National Health Service. Interestingly, the party supports the principle of Jus soli.
[edit] Links with the Provisional IRA
Sinn Féin is closely associated with the Provisional IRA, with the Irish Government alleging that senior members of Sinn Féin such as Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris, have held posts on the IRA Army Council.
Sinn Féin organiser Danny Morrison at the party's Ard Fheis (Annual Conference) in 1981, 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?"
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".
In Dáil Éireann, three former members of the IRA are TDs. These include Gerry Adams, Martin Ferris and Dessie Ellis.
[edit] Notable members
Notable figures include current party president Gerry Adams, and Martin McGuinness, current Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and an unsucessful candidate in the 2011 Irish presidential election.[2]
[edit] Abstentionism
Sinn Féin operates a policy of 'abstentionism' regarding the UK parliament in Westminster: it contests parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland, but if a candidate wins, they refuse to take their seat in the House of Commons, as they will not swear the necessary oath of allegience to the British Crown. This does not stop them, however, from claiming parliamentary expenses, including having an office provided for their use in Westminster.
Its splinter, Republican Sinn Fein is even more abstentionist, refusing to stand for either Westminster or the Dail Eireann.
[edit] Splits
In common with the sour Brendan Behan joke about the first item on the agenda being the split, a number of splits have occured in the party.
- 1970. SF split into Provisional and Offical wings. Officials later became the Workers' Party of Ireland, dropped the republicanism and later merged with the Labour Party. Provisionals kept the name.
- 1986. Following a decision to take up seats in Dail Eireann, a walk out occured led by Ruairi O'Braidagh and 20 of his followers who set up Republican Sinn Fein.
- 1998. 32 County Sovereignty movement formed after decision to support the Good Friday Agreement. Largely the political wing of the Real IRA.