Griffith's legacy: the competing claims

Sinn Féin is generally taken to have been established by Arthur Griffith in November 1905, following the publication of a document which argued that the 1801 Act of Union was illegal.

Before the year is out, most of the major political parties of today will have claimed some part of his legacy as their own. Last night, the Sinn Féin of today led by Gerry Adams was the first to do so.

Fianna Fáil said last night it would be commemorating the 100th anniversary of Sinn Féin with a series of events aimed at the party membership and general public. "The events will seek to emphasise the link between the principles of traditional republicanism and modern republicanism as espoused by the Fianna Fáil party," an FF spokeswoman said.

Because the Act of Union was illegal, Griffith argued that the dual monarchy which existed after Henry Grattan's 1782 triumph, when he refuted Westminster's claim to legislate for Ireland, was still in force. In the years before the War of Independence, the Sinn Féin tag was used to describe anyone who disagreed with the mainstream constitutional politics of the day.

The surviving leaders, led by Éamon de Valera, took over the party following the 1916 Rising, though the party nearly split the following year between its monarchist and republican factions.

In a last-minute deal, the party's ardfheis agreed to back the establishment of an independent republic, following which voters could decide whether they wanted a monarchy or republic. This was subject to the condition that if the public decided to choose a monarchy, no member of the British royal family would serve as head of state.

Boosted by popular revulsion at the 1916 executions, Sinn Féin won 70 per cent of the Irish seats in the December 1918 elections.

Sinn Féin split after the Treaty, with pro- Treatyites forming Cumann na nGaedheal.

In 1926, it fractured again when de Valera left to form Fianna Fáil after he failed to get Sinn Féin to agree to a motion recognising the Free State.

Following the outbreak of the Northern Troubles, the party broke apart in the early 1970s once more, with some leaving to form Provisional Sinn Féin and the IRA. The party rump, known first as Official Sinn Féin, became Sinn Féin the Workers' Party, then the Workers' Party, then Democratic Left, before its members finally joined the Labour Party.