Sinn Féin’s lack of transparency over how it appoints its leaders raises questions over how it would govern

Polling companies and pyrotechnics are an unlikely combination. But fire is exactly what YouGov, pollsters on the Tory leadership contest, breathed into their grey statistics when they added the name Boris Johnson to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak on choice of leader. The result – Boris Johnson by a country mile – sits smouldering in the conservative shires and may eventually combust like a Targaryen dragon’s breath on an unsuspecting population.

Succession is in the air, from the Rose of Tralee, through the House of Dragons to the Tory leadership. In all of these, from the fragrant to the fantastical with the grinding and grim in between, the twin pillars of competition and clarity are the common thread. And political parties need these qualities above all.

In 2017, in the early stages of the Fine Gael leadership contest, Simon Coveney (it is said that the day he decided to run, he looked around and saw that Leo Varadkar had already won), feeling deflated by the parliamentary party’s clear choice, went to a trusted mentor for advice on whether he should quit. Michael Noonan, wise old veteran of many political battles, didn’t hesitate. Coveney must continue, he said. “The party needs a contest.”

Four national hustings followed. The membership was engaged; the fundamental principles of Fine Gael laid out in Declan Costello’s famous Just Society policy were revisited and restated. Under the electoral college system ordained by the party, the parliamentary party had 65 per cent of the vote, local representatives 10 per cent and the membership 25 per cent. Coveney won the membership.

‘I’m alone pretty much all the time. The older I become, the less hopeful I am this will change’

---

Brazilian Deliveroo rider who intervened in Parnell Square attack: ‘I had time to think about what my purpose in life is’

---

The least famous best player the NBA has ever had: ‘I really wish nobody knows me’

---

Last hurrah in Strasbourg for MEPs retiring after elections

---

The system was fair. Michael Noonan was right: the party needed a contest. For clarity and for Fine Gael to feel its soul again.

The YouGov “Boris” ploy has already brought one piece of blinding clarity to that contest. It explains Liz Truss’s mystifying popularity: a large majority of her supporters chose Boris as preferred leader. Truss is Boris’s vicar on earth. This contest has serious ramifications for Ireland. Under Truss a trade war is certain and the second-best performing part of the UK economy – Northern Ireland – will be thrown under a bus.

If the Tories used the Fine Gael system of electing a leader, Rishi Sunak would be the clear winner. Sunak won the MPs. But the Tories use a simple majority of membership system. And what the clear light of contest has shown is a big disconnect between MPs and members. Given his polished performances against Liz Truss’s inconsistencies at the hustings, the wariness of the membership is troubling. Are they really waiting for Boris’s return? Or is parliament more diverse than the people?

[ Anne Harris: Is it time for Ireland to give Bono a break? ]

[ Anne Harris: Will Ivana Bacik resist Mary Lou McDonald’s siren call? ]

If leadership contests are a litmus test of the soul of a party, the Tories might reflect on one Marcus Aurelius adage “the soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts” – literally and metaphorically.

And what of the soul of the largest party in Ireland, Sinn Féin? What can their leadership contests tell us? Precious little actually. Because for Sinn Féin, a leadership contest is as rare as an apology for the crimes of the past. They are anathema to them.

In January 2017, at a press conference at Stormont, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness announced the appointment of Michelle O’Neill as “leader of the North” succeeding Martin McGuinness. If others had been hoping to succeed to that iron throne, no sign was given.

If Sinn Féin doesn’t value transparency on an “internal” level – and they said it – how will it value transparency in government?

In February 2018, at a special party conference Michelle O’Neill was ratified as vice-president of Sinn Féin, a position vacated by Mary Lou MacDonald. O’Neill’s was the only nomination put forward.

In August 2019, John O’Dowd, a Sinn Féin MLA and a former Stormont minister for education, announced he was challenging Michelle O’Neill for the vice-presidency. There were whispers of “protest” about the anointing of O’Neill as “leader of the North” in 2017, but they quickly fell silent. This was the party over which Gerry Adams presided for 35 years. Thirty-five years as president. Unchallenged and uncontested – as far as anyone knows.

And when Adams finally stepped down, there was only one nomination to succeed him – Mary Lou MacDonald. The irony is being a “one nomination” party is counterproductive: Mary Lou MacDonald is clearly an excellent leader and healthy competition would only have cemented that.

Of the three contests in the zeitgeist today – the Tories, the Roses and the Dragons – Sinn Féin more closely resembles House of Dragons: the succession pool is tightly contained and challenge is swiftly extinguished.

John O’Dowd said he wanted “debates” all across the island. Public debates? Transparent debates? Nobody knows, because not a word of debate was ever heard and O’Dowd never gave interviews to explain his decision to challenge Michelle O’Neill.

In November 2019, the vote was held at the Sinn Féin Ardfheis. Michelle O’Neill was declared the winner. At first Sinn Féin withheld the details, saying it was “an internal matter”. When it was finally disclosed – 67 per cent in O’Neill’s favour – Michelle O’Neill claimed the media were more fascinated by the “initial lack of transparency about the election results than the members of Sinn Féin”.

Michelle O’Neill knows her party’s membership. But how well does the membership know their party? If Sinn Féin doesn’t value transparency on an “internal” level – and they said it – how will it value transparency in government? Wise counsel dictates that when someone tells you who they are, you should listen.

When are the hordes who tell pollsters that they want Sinn Féin in government going to start listening?