The party leader wasn’t worried.
“There is a great pep in our step,” proclaimed Mary Lou McDonald on day two of her party’s ardfheis in Belfast.
And why wouldn’t there be?
Sinn Féin loves a good rebellion.
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When it comes to rattling on about rebellion, they can talk forever. It’s their happy place.
So the party leader wasn’t a bit worried about this talk of rumblings of rebellion over her leadership.
Mary Lou says this is down to the media trying to find a story when “there isn’t a story there”.
It’s merely lingering in the atmosphere like an unpleasant smell.
Even if anything were to happen, not that it is, it would be a matter for the wonderful grassroots.
“The membership are in the driving seat and that’s the way we like it and that’s the way it’s going to remain,” she declared.
(But only every second year now rather than annually. That’s the way the ruling Ard Comhairle would like it.)
As for these reported mutinous mutterings and Mary Lou’s failure to get her preferred candidate onto the ticket in a byelection in her own constituency, does it mean that, perhaps, her authority as leader is slipping?
“No, far from it. I actually believe this is a sign that we function democratically.”
Not that there is a sign of anything, obviously.
“One of the great things about Sinn Féin is that every year at each ardfheis, the leadership is elected by the membership, that’s how we operate and myself and Michelle [O’Neill] will be re-elected at this ardfheis.”
She said this on Saturday morning.
The night before, the party’s ruling body, or Ard Comhairle, proposed that its “supreme governing body”, otherwise known as the ardfheis, should cease being an annual event.
In the case of emergencies, the ruling body would “remain empowered to call an “extraordinary” meeting of the supreme governing body.
So, the yearly ardfheis is not such a great thing with the top brass.
A speaker representing the youth wing of the party described it as “insulting and unacceptable”. For Ógra Shinn Féin, it was not a “logistical or financial motion” but “an existential one”.
But maybe the richest political party in the country is feeling the pinch. Venues like the ICC Belfast, on the banks of the River Lagan, don’t come cheap.
The glossy programme, along with screens around the venue, invited delegates to scan a QR code and donate the princely sum of £2 to the cause.
One delegate from Tipperary could hardly believe the Ard Comhairle’s proposal.
“We’re going to increase democracy by giving the members less time to come together?”
The rightly indignant grassroots shot down the motion.
But thanks to their votes, Mary Lou’s prediction came to pass. Both she and her vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, were duly re-elected.
Which was neither here nor there. Heaves don’t happen under microphones and television lights in front of a thousand people.
When facing journalists on Saturday, the questions were mainly about her leadership.
Colleagues clustered around her, determinedly radiating a brittle sweetness and light as Mary Lou stressed that she still enjoys broad support within the party.
She is known for being direct and forceful with her words and yet, when it was put to her that her authority may be slipping, the reply wasn’t as smooth or categoric as would be expected.
Are things changing?
“No, it’s ‐ it’s well, I – I believe and I know that we are a very, very united party, we are a strong party and we will motor on and get our work done.”
If questions about Deputy McDonald’s leadership were in the ether for a while, it was a piece written by Jennifer Bray of the Sunday Times late in the week that brought the issue to the fore.
It dominated coverage of the ardfheis.
Not that anybody was giving these rumours a second thought.
Whether they are true or baseless, a party conference packed with party faithful very publicly toeing the party line is not the place to find the answer.
In the afternoon, Mary Lou materialised on the first floor beside the cafeteria and exhibition areas. She may have intended to go on a walkabout, but she didn’t get very far because she was held up at every step by well-wishers clamouring for selfies and group photos.
This didn’t look like a woman under pressure.
She was joined by Michelle O’Neill and Cllr Janice Boylan, the candidate eventually chosen to fight the Dublin Central byelection despite the party leader having endorsed a different prospect for the seat.
Gillian Sherratt, who lost out in the selection process, joined them in a show of unity.
The party is always proud of the large number of international delegates who attend the annual gathering from all parts of the globe.
Cutting quite a dash in his Stetson hat was the imposing figure of Gony Sharif, a university lecturer from Texas.
He told us that while he has lived for over 30 years in the Lone Star State, he is originally from Sudan.
“As you know, there is a war going on there and I’m really trying to get as much help as we can to start the peace process and rebuild Sudan and bring it back to the family of nations.”
He has talked to leading Sinn Féin members about the party’s role in the peace process and negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement.
“I am hoping we can borrow a page or two from their chapter.”
The ICC Belfast, next to the Waterfront Hall, provided an impressive venue for the ardfheis’s return to the city after eight years. But the sheer size of the main hall took slightly from the atmosphere during the main event.
For her keynote address, McDonald owned the stage in a rich crimson jacket, a striking choice of colour against the bright green backdrop. Her speech pushed all the right buttons with a mix of Northern Ireland politics for her six-county audience and withering references to the British government.
But it was clear that the thrust of her address was very firmly pointed towards Dublin as she called for an emergency budget to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
She also managed to claim the credit for the exit of the two Healy-Rae brothers from the Coalition following the party’s latest no confidence motion, thus “forcing the first cracks” in the Government.
The faithful, now safe in the knowledge they can do it all again next year, leapt to their feet and cheered when she finished. On the platform, they whooped and applauded too, until they were ambushed by the national anthem, which slowly crept up on them.
Mary Lou and colleagues and their two byelection candidates suddenly had to wipe the smiles from their faces, put their arms by their sides and face the flag for what was a very, very slow rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann.
It was followed by a song from Les Miserables.
Do You Hear the people Sing?
A stirring protest anthem, calling on the people to rise up and rebel.
But not in Sinn Féin.
