Paul Hosford: Sinn Féin says it is a party of change — but can it convince the voters?
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald with other senior party members after her keynote speech at the party's ard fheis at the RDS in Dublin this weekend. Picture: Damien Storan/PA
Sinn Féin is a party of change, in case you weren’t aware.
So invested is Mary Lou McDonald’s party in the idea, that the Dublin Central TD used it 23 times in her speech to the party faithful in Dublin’s RDS on Saturday, as she stood in front of a 60-foot screen emblazoned with the party slogan “Time For Change”.
Change was the theme of the day, from a change of government here in the south to a change of attitude in the North, the party members are looking for something different.
In her speech, Ms McDonald did a good job of laying out her party’s proposition.
She spoke of change in housing and healthcare, and pledged that Pearse Doherty would pursue insurance companies. While the speech itself was light on specific policy commitments, a section focused on a new commitment to energy independence. While nobody would doubt that it is a policy worth pursuing, the political analysis suggests the party has spotted its perceived weakness on climate and moved to address it in a bid to attract disaffected Green Party voters.
Ms McDonald made an appeal for Irish people abroad to come home — “we need you” — and asked those watching on TV to give her a chance to lead — a very election-sounding plea.
That Ms McDonald was speaking as a new poll showed a three-point drop in support did little to dampen the enthusiasm, with many in the room pointing to the fact that the drop in support showed no dividends for the Coalition parties as evidence that it is their side winning the arguments on health and housing and the cost of living.
What members are slower to say is that the poll comes after what has been rare in the lifetime of this Dáil for Sinn Féin — a bad month.
While former transport minister Shane Ross’s book on Ms McDonald contained little in the way of damaging revelations — innuendo about her mortgage status aside — the decision by RTÉ not to air an interview with Mr Ross dragged Sinn Féin into a controversy about its own use of defamation proceedings, about its commitment to freedom of speech and its overall culture.
That, coupled with Ms McDonald effectively withdrawing from media save for one appearance in Belfast, and the revelation that Eoin Ó Broin had spoken about “sacking” the country’s chief economist made for an October to forget.
Mr Ross was present on Saturday, accredited as a member of the media, saying that he will be updating his book and this kind of insight into Ms McDonald’s party was invaluable. Anyone hoping for any fireworks because of his attendance would have been disappointed.
He was cordially greeted by some, treated as a curiosity by others, and even had a picture taken with Gerry Adams when the pair bumped into each other in front of the stand selling beef bourguignon.
Mr Adams was treated as party royalty, taking pictures with babies and commanding a long line at a book signing at the Sinn Féin shop. That shop did a roaring trade all day, with t-shirts and jumpers — one Christmas top bore the slogan “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like A United Ireland” — books, and other paraphernalia.
The biggest seller, however, was a €15 mug with the words Tiochfaidh ár Latte, which sold out early.
The pun’s origin was referenced early in the day as Cathy Power used the phrase in a discussion on Irish unity. While the issues of the day are clearly occupying the party leadership, this is not a party membership willing to let the unity issue slide down the agenda.
For many in attendance, a 32-county Ireland is the driver of their membership, and sacrificing it for political expediency is a non-starter. But that does illustrate the balance which Ms McDonald has to strike. Her speech was light on talk of unity, but laid out her case to be Taoiseach better than last year’s.
Ms McDonald will have to carefully balance both those priorities as the next election closes in, satisfying those who support the party’s core principles and those who believe it will be a better government in just one of the two states on this island.
It was telling that key roles at the Ard Fheis were played by two of the party’s younger women — Mairéad Farrell gave a speech on Irish unity and chaired parts of the day while Claire Kerrane, the party’s youngest TD, was chosen to introduce Ms McDonald — as the overall demographics of the event felt younger and more female. Indeed, it felt even younger to many as they arrived, before they realised that it was the crowd from the tattoo convention next door.
The Sinn Féin leader told her party that change “cannot be stopped” and within the confines of the RDS on Saturday, there were few who disagree with her. But the Sinn Féin challenge over the coming months will be to convince the public — on both sides of the border — that it is they and they alone who can deliver that change. With a party whose identity is so intrinsically linked to the island’s recent past, that will be a tough landing to stick.
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