So easily seduced

Sinn Féin begins its annual ard fheis this weekend enjoying a new level of popularity which might be described as the Mary Lou bounce. Support for the party has grown since Gerry Adams stepped back into the shadows and was replaced by a no-nonsense Dubliner untainted by the whiff of cordite.

Leaving aside the party’s policies, or its power at almost any cost flirting with prospective partners, this must provoke a few worthwhile summer school questions, like why has a party that has not made any significant change in policies won such ground in the popularity parades we call opinion polls? Can a figurehead, a tone of voice or even an accent be such a game changer? The same questions apply to Fine Gael as that party, just a year ago, went through the same process. Might these examples embolden Fianna Fáil conservatives, the majority in that party apparently, to organise a putsch to end Micheál Martin’s leadership?