Irish Examiner View: Upbeat Sinn Féin breaks with the past

In its biggest break with republican orthodoxy since the 1980s, the party has reversed its opposition to non-jury trials

Delegates and Sinn Féin leaders, including party president Mary Lou McDonald TD and the North's Deputy First Minister, Michelle O'Neill MLA, applaud during the party's Ard Fheis in Dublin. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald stopped short of telling supporters at the party’s Ard Fheis to “go back to your constituencies and prepare for government” but the mood music was certainly upbeat at the Helix in North Dublin this weekend.

Ms McDonald, speaking at her first annual conference for two years because of Covid curbs, urged voters to “call time” on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and “their century-old stranglehold on power”. The “writing is on the wall” for the coalition parties, she added.