Support for Sinn Féin continues to grow in the southern Irish state. In a poll commissioned for the Irish edition of The Sunday Times Sinn Féin is now standing at 25%, making it the second most popular party, with Gerry Adams now the most popular party leader in the country.

Sinn Féin seminar: Economic Crisis - lessons from Ireland

8pm Tuesday 28 February

Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, House of Commons, London SW1
(Westminster Tube)

Speakers:
Mary Lou McDonald TD, Vice President Sinn Féin
Pat Doherty MP.

By Frances Davis

Almost one year on from the general election in the southern Irish state, which saw the crushing defeat of the Fianna Fáil government and the election of a Fine Gael/Labour coalition, the Irish economy remains in deep crisis. Implementing the same austerity policies as the previous government, the devastating impact on living standards continues, in parallel to the effect of similar Tory policies in Britain.

By Frances Davis

On Thursday night (13 October) Martin McGuinness’ speech to a packed rally in Dublin’s Mansion House demonstrated beyond any shadow of a doubt why the left and progressives everywhere should not only support his bid for the Irish Presidency, but draw inspiration from it.

His speech gave a strong message to all of the detractors and the right wing establishment in the 26 counties, who have done everything possible to malign his candidacy. Far from having anything to hide or regret, he explained how he was not only right to have followed the course he had, but proud of his history.

By Frances Davis

Sinn Féin held its Ard Fheis (Annual conference) over 9-10 September. Described as ‘a conference of firsts’, it was indeed the first time the event had taken place in Belfast at the prestigious Waterfront Hall. The rising confidence and strength of the party was evident, reflected in the breadth of speakers and policies over the two days, and laid out in both keynote speeches of party president Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. Vice President Mary Lou McDonald gave the perspective for ‘reuniting Ireland’.

By Brian Jones

The working class of Greece obviously still faces a huge uphill fight against the savage austerity measures being imposed on them to pay for the crisis created by the Greek capitalist class. The new ‘bailout’ package for Greece agreed by the Eurozone countries only represents the mildest of ameliorations of the terms of the previous such package – 21 per cent effective reduction in the size of debt on Greece’s bonds, reduction of interest rate for bailout funds from 5.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and extension of the period of repayment. But nevertheless it contains a crucial lesson – struggle pays.

By Frances Davis

This week, as Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams’ announced the party’s new Ministerial Assembly team, the party emerged from the fourth consecutive election this year which has seen Sinn Féin’s vote steadily rise – north and south of the border. The 5 May Assembly and council elections in the six counties saw a continuation of a trend in the north – that of an increase in support for Sinn Féin, and of endorsement for the Good Friday Agreement.

By Frances Davis

This year will mark the 30th Anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike, in which Bobby Sands and nine other republican prisoners died in a struggle for political status against the Thatcher government’s brutal policy of ‘criminalisation’. The hunger strike was a critical turning point in the most prolonged struggle against colonialism anywhere in history – the more than 800-year-long struggle against British rule in Ireland. This historic moment in Irish history, which ultimately saw the victory of the hunger strikers’ demands, was indeed, as Fidel Castro described that year, ‘one of the most heroic chapters in human history’.

Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin and elected to the Dáil in the recent Irish elections, draws out the historic turn in the politics of Ireland marked by the 1981 hunger strike and the elections of hunger strikers Bobby Sands (to the Westminster Parliament) and Ciaran Doherty and Paddy Agnew (to the Dublin Dáil). He draws out how this period marked a turn in the politics of Ireland on both sides of the border and shaped the subsequent three decades of Irish politics. The article orginally appeared on his blog.

By Frances Davis

The 2011 Dáil election last Friday represents one of the most significant political shifts in the 26-county state for over nine decades. As Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said, it potentially represents ‘the beginning of a realignment of Irish politics’. He also pointed out that, while the outcome is likely to be Fine Gael and Labour implementing Fianna Fáil policies – one right wing government replaced by another one – an examination of the results reveal a more fundamental change. This is the beginning of the break-up of the post-civil war political domination by Fianna Fáil (FF) and Fine Gael (FG) and in fact some significant move to the left – most notably the dramatic rise in support for Sinn Féin and their consolidation as a significant party in the south, potentially the leading opposition voice in the coming Dáil.