Sinn Féin leader going ‘primetime’ with Ard Fheis speech

SINN FÉIN is going primetime.

At its annual Ard Fheis on March 6, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams will deliver his televised address at the later hour of 8.30pm rather than the usual 5pm.

The goal is to reach a wider audience at a time when Sinn Féin is struggling to sell its message.

More people watch television at the later hour, and Mr Adams will be hoping to tap into this opportunity.

The speeches of the main party leaders to their annual conferences are televised by RTÉ each year.

Parties have two options – 60 minutes of airtime from 5pm-6pm, or a smaller slot of 30 minutes from 8.30pm-9pm when airtime is more valuable to broadcasters.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour always opt for the later time-slot because of the wider audience it offers.

But Sinn Féin has traditionally opted for the 5pm slot, affording Mr Adams a full hour to spell out the party’s policies.

The party has now confirmed, however, that it will opt for an 8.30pm slot when Mr Adams addresses the 2010 Ard Fheis on the first Saturday in March.

At all party conferences, the day’s agenda normally concludes with the party leader’s address. Moving to the later time slot affords Sinn Féin members an additional three and a half hours to debate policy on the Saturday. But it also offers the prospect of tens of thousands of additional viewers.

Mr Adams appeared on the Late Late Show last Friday to discuss the allegations of child sex abuse against his brother. Liam Adams faces 23 criminal charges relating to the alleged abuse of his daughter, Aine Tyrell.

The Sinn Féin leader said he was “horrified” when first told of the allegations.

Meanwhile, Mr Adams will appear in a controversial documentary on Channel 4 on February 21.

Mr Adams was invited by the channel to investigate “the life and death of Jesus against the backdrop of his own life and career”.

For the programme, Mr Adams met victims of both IRA and loyalist paramilitary atrocities in Northern Ireland, and travelled to the Holy Land to visit key biblical sites.

According to Channel 4’s website, Mr Adams gained “new knowledge” of Jesus as a result of making the programme.

“Equipped with his new knowledge of Jesus, Adams ends by revealing his personal relationship to Jesus’s teachings and how they relate to his own life experiences,” the programme makers said.