Sinn Féin – The Only Show in Town!

Seán Gillespie
Fian. Tobias Molloy Cumann
Strabane ÓSF

For us Republicans it sometimes does no harm to pause and take a good long look at the political situation, to analyse where we’re at and where we want to be, and to examine how our present strategy is going to take us there. I have often spent sleepless nights focussing on this issue and wondering weather or not we have chosen the correct path. It is often comforting to compare our strategy to that of other Republican organisations, and to draw the obvious conclusion that Sinn Féin are the only show in town in that respect.


One conclusion we can draw from this is that in terms of building popular support, and influencing the opinion of Nationalist, working class Ireland, I’d say we’re on the right track. The important element for the success of a revolutionary movement, is the need to harness popular support for the objectives of that movement. Sinn Féin currently have 5 MPs, 4 TDs, 2 MEPs, 28 MLAs, 5 Stormont ministers,243 councillors and reps in both Udaras na Gaeltacha and the Seanad. We had to mobilise popular electoral support to ensure that there was a radical Republican voice in all of the above platforms. In my opinion we done that well, but there is much more to do.

The National Hunger-strike commemoration at the weekend saw thousands of people march on the streets of Derry in support of Republican objectives. Unfortunately the weekend also saw a botched and futile attack from a group claiming to act on behalf of the Nationalist/Republican people. It has to be said, I believe that as long as the british government remain in Ireland, it is the legitimate right of every Irishman and woman to actively oppose that illegal occupation. However with that right comes moral and political responsibility. Every Republican has the responsibility to ensure that his/her actions have a realistic chance of advancing the cause of the Irish Republic in trust of the people they claim to represent. Indeed the Hunger-strikers themselves were imprisoned for their part in an armed campaign. However in the presence of a popular alternative, the armed campaign in 1981 doesn’t compare to the flawed sporadic actions of a minority of individuals at present.

The weekends rocket attack on the PSNI in Lisnaskea was irresponsible, futile and unnecessary as a political act. It is important when examining events such as these to look at the context in which it is carried out, and who gains politically from them. Immediately after the incident we had PSNI commanders stating that semtex was used for the first time since the IRA cessation, and that they believed it came from a batch brought into the country by the IRA. We then heard the DUP voice their ‘concern’ that not all of the IRA’s weaponry had been put beyond use. A convenient bargaining chip in any future stalling of the political process. Couple this with the fact that these micro-groups are wide open to infiltration by securocrats, are widely believed to be saturated with informers, and the fact that the device didn’t even explode, then we see who’s political agenda is really at work here. It certainly wasn’t the Republican struggle that benefited from the events of Saturday night.

Anyone who thinks that actions such as what we witnessed at the weekend will in any way advance the cause of Irish re-unification, is seriously misled and clearly devoid of either tactics or strategy.

Republicanism is about moving forward, and in revolutionary politics it is essential to have a clear vision of sound tactics on how to advance forward. What we see in the actions of these armed groups is that, given the presence of a popular strategy (ours) they actually move the process of revolutionary change backwards not forward.

It is hard to figure out where exactly these people are going with their “armed campaign” when all we hear in their statements in the usual anti-Sinn Féin rhetoric. Their Easter commemorations etc. are nearly always used by their members to have a good old rant about all things ‘Shinner’. (talk about knowing who your enemy is). Lets be clear, it is very easy to hide behind principles and slander other organisations, when you have no responsibility to carry forward the struggle as mandated by a large section of the people. The continued british occupation of the north in itself is not a green light for these groups to pursue an increasingly unpopular agenda. The importance of securing the support of those people on who’s behalf you struggle cannot be overlooked, that is why their strategy compared to ours becomes politically irrelevant.

It is also sad to see disillusioned “leaders” of these micro-groups polluting the minds of our young people with irrational, anti-peace process ideas which stem out of anger and frustration at being unable to contribute anything positive to the political situation.

We currently have a strategy whereby no more Irish men or women have to go to prison or worse, and Ógra have a duty to promote that strategy among our youth. The Republican movement in 1994 had a moral obligation (as well as a responsibility given the limited success of the armed campaign) to explore ways in which to continue the struggle without the loss of one more life. Now that we are embedded in a political process with a realistic chance of success, I believe that ÓSF, as the voice of Irish youth, have a moral obligation to ensure that no more of our working class young people have to go to prison or to the grave.

As the late Martin Meehan once said, he wanted our young people to live for Ireland and not to die for Ireland. I would encourage young Republicans to contribute positively to the struggle, and not to be misled by the falsely romanticised armed actions of strategically bankrupt micro-groups. Ógra Shinn Féin provide that platform from which to make a positive contribution.

The IRA with all the resources at it’s disposal couldn’t defeat the british militarily, although their contribution brought us to where we are now. The IRA gave us a chance to work politically and the change that has taken place nationwide in the last few years is a credit to them. All this has been made possible by courageous initiatives like in 2005 when they put Sinn Féin and Ógra Shinn Féin solely in the driving seat of Republican strategy. There is only one IRA, the one that has made all this change possible, not the ones who believe they can, and I quote “reach the stage where british soldiers are brought back onto the streets of the north”.