The evangelical zeal and appeal of Sinn Féin

“ Wouldn’t every leader of a political party love to be as bulletproof as Gerry Adams?” my friend mused a week ago. It was only when he saw my eyebrows climb to my hairline that he saw the irony in his choice of words.

That was a week ago, and a week is a long time . . . However, my friend’s unfortunate turn of phrase does hint at something.

F Scott Fitzgerald might have written about the very rich, that “they are different from you and me,” but the Northern Shinners’ history makes them very different from you and me, and their leaders even more so.

For most commentators, the whiff of sulphur clinging to Gerry Adams is more than enough reason for Sinn Féin to have dumped him as leader years ago.

Perhaps what most commentators fail to grasp is that the Shinners are not remotely interested in what commentators think, particularly the commentators who would prefer to scoop out and eat their own livers with a spoon rather than vote for Sinn Féin.

The eyes of Sinn Fein are fixed on a very different prize, that of seeing a new socialist Republic rise from the ashes of the conservative systems both North and South. From that viewpoint, Gerry Adams is not a liability, but an absolutely essential figure who acts as a bridge between the past and a glorious future .

While many look at Gerry Adams and think of the thousands who died in an unwinnable battle, his acolytes see the man who prevented thousands of more deaths.

While his opponents see someone with unclean hands, his followers see a “peacemaker, leader, visionary”, as he is described in the new mural in West Belfast which appeared when he was being interrogated about the death of Jean McConville.

Much has been made of the cult-like devotion shown to Gerry Adams, but some aspect of cultic behaviour is present in every political party. The kind of devotion shown to the President of Sinn Féin only comes about when there is a uniting vision that is not just about winning elections.

I believe Gerry Adams when he says that he prioritised the Peace Process so that no young person would have to kill or maim in the name of freedom. However, it is still utterly chilling that he seems to believe that violence was perfectly understandable in the absence of such a process.

In Sinn Féin, there is the most extraordinary mix of idealism combined with a belief that normal rules do not apply to their party. The level of “noble cause corruption”, that is, that the nobility of the cause justifies actions that would otherwise be unthinkable, is also extraordinary.

“Noble cause corruption” is very clear from Gerry Adams’s blog, Léargas, and his musings about Maíria Cahill, including his statement that shooting sex offenders or expelling them, while expedient, was not “appropriate.”

He speaks about “alienated communities” and how the IRA reluctantly took on policing, all the while feeling that the RUC enjoyed seeing them squandering resources and personnel on it.

It’s a vision of a beleaguered group struggling to do the right thing, and sometimes failing, because they, like everyone else, failed to understand how entrenched sexual abuse was in our society.

The party has been accused of utter hypocrisy, given the condemnation that Sinn Féin heaped on the Catholic Church when it attempted to say something similar.

However, I don’t think it is hypocrisy, but a genuine belief in Sinn Féin exceptionalism. According to their worldview, the Catholic Church may have been callously indifferent to child welfare, but Sinn Féin was only doing its best.

Incidentally, The Irish Times Editorial writer who compared Sinn Féin denial of a cover-up regarding sexual abuse to the actions of the “most cynical bishop”, might reflect on the fact that no bishop considered shooting alleged sex offenders an appropriate response at any stage.

“Alienated communities” are fertile soil for Sinn Féin. Take the water charges, and the way they are framed by Sinn Féin as the action of an alien, unfeeling State that must be resisted at all costs.

No-one can deny either the fact that water is too valuable a resource to be completely free, or that the Government has made an unholy mess of the introduction of water charges.

But a few things scare me to death. The first is that “politics as usual” by mainstream parties is absolutely no antidote to the kind of visionary politics represented by Sinn Féin. Shinners are filled with evangelical zeal: the rest lack all conviction.

The second is that the “nothing much of note happened before the smartphone” cultural amnesia of some of the younger generation, an attitude which sees the Troubles as mildly interesting pre-historic events, plays right into the hands of Sinn Féin.

The final fear is that Sinn Féin’s gamble will pay off. Are there enough irate citizens who are sick of the political alternatives, for whom being promised the abolition of water charges will be enough to outweigh the past, including the treatment of vulnerable victims of abuse?