Skip to main content

Sinn Féin: Has their day come?

In an apparent moment of wisdom recently, somebody muttered to me: "There are two things you should never do in life: take heroin, or vote for Sinn Fein."


Sinn Fein TDs: Pearse Doherty, Gerry Adams, Mary-Lou McDonald, Martin McGuinness. Source: theJournal.ie

I thought this was interesting, and behind this stark statement I have heard many people discreetly share the same viewpoint in the run up to the general election. And I wanted to find out exactly why...

My granny has always been had a keen interest in politics, but has never had a soft spot for Sinn Fein. Many a time I have been treated to her using an array of colourful adjectives to describe the party's leader, Gerry Adams. I was always intrigued by this. Yes, my granny is a big Fine Gael supporter, but she doesn't seem to have the same level of hatred for Fine Fail or Labour that she begrudges Sinn Fein...

Eager to get to the bottom of this intrinsic loathing of Sinn Fein, I asked my mother. She summarised: "Gavin - I grew up during the Troubles. In my era, every day there was a newspaper headline or a news report telling of the latest victim of the ongoing Republican-Unionist feud." She referenced the alliances and links between the IRA and Sinn Fein which have been touted by the media throughout the years. I'm not going to try to validate or disprove any of those allegations. But, what I will say, is that a whole section of society is anti-Sinn Fein as a result. There is a large percentage of the population who will simply never vote Sinn Fein.


IPSOS MRBI/Irish Times Poll 22/02/2016 - Source: RTE.ie

I'm only 17 years-old, and I have been intrigued by the growing support for the party in the recent past. John Brady, the candidate in my constituency (Wicklow), is sure to get elected this week. Meanwhile, poles are suggesting that Sinn Fein holds 16% of the national vote. They seem to have cashed-in on a pronounced nationalistic spirit among those from poorer socio-economic backgrounds and capitalised on it by targeting their policies at those in society with the least money. So-called 'auction politics' has become a very obvious tactic by a number of parties in this general election.

Regardless of the party's policies, my parents are adamant that they will never vote Sinn Fein. Not because they feel the local candidate isn't experienced enough, not necessarily because they completely reject all of the party's agenda, but because of the party's origins and the history associated with it. Some might regard this as illogical and unforgiving, but frankly, in a democracy, each citizen has the right to vote for who and what they want.

For me and my peers, the troubles did not directly affect us in our lifetime. I don't think that we'll automatically disregard Sinn Fein because of the history linked to the party. That history is pontificated so frequently in the media even today, but we didn't live through it. It isn't so real to us.

I need to point out that there is a stigma attached to voting for Sinn Fein - A 'Shinner' is assumed to be either a die-hard republican, or someone from a lesser socio-economic background (who follows them based on their agenda which calls for more provisions for those least well-off in society). And I'm not suggesting that this is a fair assumption, and of course I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with a person who votes Sinn Fein. I'm interested to see if the branding of Sinn Fein voters in this manner will become out-dated in the years to come.

Party leaders and prominent members will move on. The past will be forgiven, but maybe never quite forgotten. Will Sinn Fein see a new era? Maybe that era is today... Friday will be the judge of that.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 'C' Word: We Need To Speak About Sexual Education

"Over the coming years, your bodies will be changing." It was 2012, in an uncomfortable primary school classroom. This was it: the day that everyone had been anticipating for years. We heard whispers of what to expect from siblings over the weeks prior. We were nervous, anxious and very giddy. We were getting 'The Talk' . For those not from Ireland, 'The Talk' is the colloquial expression for the introduction sexual education class that primary school students receive at around the age of 12. It's an afternoon in which the girls go red as beetroots at the mention of menstruation and the lads hide their smirks and giggles with their jumpers when shown diagrams of the male anatomy. Unfortunately in my case and in the case of my classmates our introduction to sex education was the practically the extent of our sexual education. There's a reason that it's labelled 'the' talk, in the singular, I suppose. Over the 6 years following, we had p
Post a Comment
Read more

Legal Process and Values

I was struck by a remark made by Jolyon Maugham QC in an interview with LBC's James O'Brien . Maugham is a high-flying tax lawyer turned Brexit crusader, leading a number of constitutional challenges to the English government's handling of matters since Art 50 was triggered. The conversation turned to how great lawyers are not innately good politicians (Keir Starmer's name was dropped with uncomfortable regularity). In fact, the two skillsets might be somewhat mutually incompatible. Maugham noted that lawyers are obsessed with process. By that he means not just the granular detail that the law requires, but a slavish focus on the rules as prescribed by the law and their application, as opposed to the substance or merit of those rules. Though this might seem a somewhat trite observation, it reminded me of a remark made by Michael Kirby, a former Australian High Court judge. Kirby J as he was identified in cases, was a senior judge for many years and was known colloquiall
Post a Comment
Read more

Gender Balance on Irish Radio Playlists

Irish music has gone through somewhat of a renaissance over the past number of years. With an influx of new Irish voices, we have a diversity of genres in Irish music. No longer is this country’s repertoire limited to folk and rock. I was fortunate to have experienced this revolution first hand. From 2017-2018 I was presenting a Sunday night Irish music show on FM104 called the Open Mic. The producer and I always made a concerted effort to have diversity on each show, both in terms of gender and genres. From the hip-hop beats of Soule and Erika Cody to the blues of Wyvern Lingo and the experimental jazzy riffs of BARQ. It was a pleasure to hear all of these artists perform live. Also – it was a rare luxury to have a degree of control over what songs were played and what acts were interviewed. Usually decisions about the music are made by a programme director. This week, publicist Linda Coogan Byrne published research on the percentage of Irish female musicians played by
Post a Comment
Read more