Mick Clifford: How far will Sinn Féin go in pursuit of unity?

A growing cohort now see the party as best equipped to tackle inequality in this state, but many are not so keen on their policies about a United Ireland

Gerry Adams with Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald.

Over a couple of days last weekend we got a glimpse of the strange duality of Sinn Féin. There was excellent news in the opinion polls which shows that the party is really connecting with the voters on bread and butter issues. There was disappointing news in the opinion polls which suggests the voters aren’t terribly interested in the party’s overarching policy, that of uniting the island. And then was an example of how Sinn Féin is still experiencing separation anxiety in letting go of its great leader emeritus, Gerry Adams.

The opinion polls were, collectively, record-breaking. The Irish Times MRBI had Sinn Féin at 35%, a whopping 15% ahead of FF and FG. The Mail on Sunday Ireland Thinks poll had SF at 31%, six ahead of FG. And the Sunday Times Behaviour and Attitudes had Sinn Fein at 34%, with FF trailing next at 23%. Truly, we live in changed times.