Sinn Féin

synonyms: Provisional Sinn Féin A political party which represents the view of many Republicans in Northern Ireland. The party is dedicated to the achievement of a united Ireland. SF supports the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and is viewed as the political wing of the IRA. The party has consistently refused to condemn the use of force by the IRA, but it has on occasion said that it regretted the loss of innocent life that occured in some IRA attacks. The party was formed out the split in the IRA in January 1970 when the original SF split into the Official SF and the Provisional SF. The party began to take part in elections following the sucess in Westminster by-elections by Republican prisoners who took part in the 'Hunger Strike' of 1981. In the Assembly election in October 1982 SF obtained 10 per cent of the vote which represented a major breakthrough for the party. In the Westminster election of 1983 SF attacted 13.4 per cent and Gerry Adams won the West Belfast seat. The standing of SF in the polls, and the fear that it would surpass the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) as the main voice of Nationalists in Northern Ireland, was one of the reasons why the British government signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. At the SF Ard Fheis on 2 November 1986 the party decided to end its abstentionist policy and to take any Dáil seats won in future. The new policy led to a number of members leaving to form Republican Sinn Féin (RSF). In 1993 the party entered into renewed talks with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), these meetings marked the beginning of the current Peace Process. After the announcement of a second IRA ceasefire in July 1997 SF was allowed to participate in the multi-party talks in September 1997. The party was therefore to play a role in the negotiations that were to produce the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in April 1998 and campaigned for a 'Yes' vote in the subsequent referendum campaign in May 1998. As a consequence SF decided once again to review its abstentionist policy and in May 1998 decided that it should take any seats it won in the Northern Ireland Assembly proposed under the GFA. In the election to this body in June 199 SF gained 18 seats and when power was devolved to the Assembly in November 1999 the party was entitled to two positions in the new Executive which was to govern Northern Ireland. During the life span of the Assembly (1998-2003) SF objected when the operation of the GFA was suspended and called for the full implementation of the GFA. With SF's growing involvement in the political process came increasing evidence that the party was emerging as a major rival to the SDLP as the voice of the nationalist electorate in Northern Ireland. At the Westminster election and local government poll in June 2001 SF emerged as the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland when it gained 21.71 per cent and 20.66 per cent of the vote respectively. This electoral momentum was maintained in the assembly election of November 2003 with the party winning 24 seats and 23.52 per cent of the vote. In the Republic of Ireland it has taken SF longer to develop a strong political base and it was not until after the general election of June 1997 that it succeeded in gaining representation in the Dáil when it won a single seat. But in turn this success was built upon in the general election of May 2002 when the party won five seats. Reading: English, Richard. (2003). Armed Struggle: A History of the IRA. London: Macmillan. Feeney, Brian. (2002). Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years. Dublin: The O'Brien Press Ltd. O'Brien, Brendan. (1995). The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin from Armed Struggle to the Peace Process. Taylor, Peter. (1997). The Provos: The IRA and Sinn Féin. Clarke, Liam. (1987). Broadening the Battlefield: The H Blocks and the rise of Sinn Féin. See Also: Lynn, Brendan. (2001). 'Republicanism and the Abstentionist Tradition, 1970-1998'. A Paper Presented to the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, May 2001. Republican Movement. (1994). The 'TUAS' Document. (An internal Republican Movement document that is thought to date from the summer of 1994.) Sinn Féin. (1979). Éire Nua, The Sinn Féin Policy - The Social, Economic and Political Dimensions (1979). Dublin: Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin. (1979-). Sinn Féin: Republican Lecture Series - List of Pamphlets. Dublin: Sinn Féin Education Department.