Party must come out of the ghetto if it wants to replace Fianna Fáil as national political movement

OPPOSITION IN FOCUS: SINN FÉIN:Sinn Féin has travelled a long way along the democratic path. In five years it could well be near the top of the pile

IT IS a question every job applicant must prepare for and one that Sinn Féin has asked repeatedly of itself: “Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?”

If ever there was a party that knew where it came from and, more pertinently, where it is headed, it is Sinn Féin. Ever since the leadership took to the political route in the early 1980s, the pursuit of power has been the steadfast objective.

All political parties are power-hungry but few have had to jettison so many core beliefs as Sinn Féin along the journey. Abstentionism from the Dáil and the boycott of policing boards in the North were just two of the party’s central policies overturned as the peace process developed.

All during this period, Sinn Féin put increasing amounts of clear water between itself and the Provisional IRA, culminating in the end of the armed struggle announced by the IRA in 2005.

Things might not be quite as simple as Gerry Adams’s declaration last year that “The war is over. The IRA is gone,” but it is undeniable that Sinn Féin has travelled a long way along the democratic path.

Now it may be about to make another great leap forward.

Last year’s general election gave the party in its modern incarnation its best result in Dáil elections. By adding 10 seats to the four it held at the start of the previous Dáil, Sinn Féin finally entered the big time in politics in the Republic.

It wasn’t just the numbers; the party’s success was as much about injecting fresh blood and new talent into the parliamentary party, building new redoubts of support in large swathes of the country, and putting one over on its main competitor for nationalist voters, Fianna Fáil.

All its sitting TDs were returned, there were victories in Dublin constituencies that had long been targeted, as well as unexpected gains in places like Cork and Sligo-North Leitrim.

A gain of three seats in the Seanad elections was icing on the cake.

The good news continued during the year, with the party’s main spokespeople making a strong impression in Leinster House and the inspired choice of Martin McGuinness as a candidate in the presidential election. At one point during that election campaign, an Irish Times opinion poll showed Sinn Féin as the second-biggest political party in the State, ahead of Labour and Fianna Fáil, with 18 per cent support.

That figure was certainly influenced by McGuinness’s prominence in the presidential race, and the former IRA member’s vote ended up as a modest 13.7 per cent of first preferences. This somewhat disappointing outcome might have been due to the forceful questioning of McGuinness over his IRA past, in particular when he was confronted by the son of an Army private who was murdered by the organisation in the 1980s.

The hostility towards McGuinness from sections of the population in the Republic surprised Northerners within Sinn Féin, but many observers felt it effectively “lanced the boil” in relation to the party’s historical links with the IRA. The thinking is that by putting up for election the man most associated with the IRA in the past, Sinn Féin has endured the worst that its opponents can throw at it on the issue. Within a few years, when Adams has retired, a new generation of activists, untainted by links to the armed struggle, will be at the helm of the organisation.

The role played by Sinn Féin in laying the trap in the final televised debate that unseated Seán Gallagher from pole position stretched the bounds of ethical behaviour but showed both the party and its candidate as ruthless operators, if there had been any doubt about this before.

While 14 seats do not a governing party make, Sinn Féin stands at an important juncture in its history. The party is working furiously to build up its capacity with a view to further gains in the next general election and the pivotal role in forming the next government that would accompany such success.

Given our economic mess and the wider fiscal problems in Europe, however, there is no guarantee the next election will be as long as over four years away. The challenge for Sinn Féin now is how to continue broadening its electoral appeal. Doing so requires compromises. Preparing for government, meanwhile, requires the development of policies that can be implemented, to replace the politics of reflex opposition.

The party now has the talent, State funding and research capability to meet these challenges, but it also has to come out of the ghetto.

If it wants to replace Fianna Fáil as a national political movement, it will have to appeal to the middle classes more than it has before. That involves compromises, of the kind the party has already made in power with the DUP in Northern Ireland.

The fork in the road also involves decisions on Ireland’s relation to Britain. The party was seen as churlish in its reaction to Queen Elizabeth’s successful visit to the Republic last year, even though one of its councillors broke ranks to shake her hand.

For now, the road to power requires incremental growth in areas where the party is weak, especially in Dublin. Success in local elections in 2014 could bring in further talent to develop for national politics and, in five years Sinn Féin could well be near the top of the pile. That is certainly where the party sees itself.