Richard Colwell: Are Sinn Féin gains real or underpinned by short-term anti-government sentiment?
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Richard Colwell: Are Sinn Féin gains real or underpinned by short-term anti-government sentiment?
Sinn Féin is riding high in the polls – again. But if history is any guide, this mid-term momentum may not last
Richard Colwell
20:00
Sinn Féin: while in pole position for most of the electoral cycle, the party ultimately became a leaky bucket, haemorrhaging nationalistic voters to the right wing and independents, and losing college-educated millennials to Soc Dems and Labour
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Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
There's never been a better time for a left alliance - if they don't fall out first
A left government led by Mary Lou McDonald , Holly Cairns and Ivana Bacik would represent practical politics. The biggest obstacle to success is a split. But there is a mountain to climb electorally and the next general election, likely to happen in 2029, is some way over the horizon. Sinn Féin , the Social Democrats and Labour understand that as opposition, they failed to offer an alternative before the last election, with the result that an unloved Government limps on. Ironically, it was the Government that unified the opposition. Allowing backbench Regional Group TDs to simultaneously enjoy the opportunities of opposition and the privileges of Government was a stunt too far. Their instant unity was more surprising given the Seanad election which had just concluded. That particular election was a tale of some deals done, other offers rebuffed, and promises broken among the larger left parties and the Greens. But that's politics. It is always tomorrow that counts. READ MORE The result is that we have a more focused opposition and that will matter for the Government. The Robert Tressell Festival in Dublin's Liberty Hall last month was a platform for left unity. Robert Tressell was the pen name of the real-life Irish house painter Robert Noonan, who wrote the great book The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists. At the festival, there were positive expressions of intent about forging a closer bond. McDonald said the left can take the Government on and offer a 'real alternative'. Labour's Marie Sherlock said the general election had been a kind of own goal for the left, adding that a common left platform was needed to oust a 'semi-permanent centre-right government'. Sinéad Gibney had more to say on the same theme for the Social Democrats. But it was Socialist TD Ruth Coppinger who talked about alternative politics, not just an alternative government, when she said 'a common left platform has to be a challenge to capitalism and the ideas of capitalism'. She was on her own on that. The centre has not held since 2020 because neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael are an alternative government to the other None of Sinn Féin, Social Democrats or Labour have ruled out going into government with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. They want the Government parties out, of course, but a test of mettle will be their willingness to burn the bridge to coalition with what passes for centre-right politics in Ireland. The ambient lighting on the left is redder now, but the mood remains tentative. Before the last election, Davy, the stockbroker group, told its clients that Sinn Féin was ' more New Labour than Corbyn Labour '. In fact, it's a populist, nationalist party. It might, if it sticks to its new script, be the centre of a left-wing coalition. This is because, to the discomfort of some in Labour, the Social Democrats are prepared to stand in the picture with Sinn Féin. The Social Democrats are a party of mainly new TDs, who know they don't really like Labour but have forgotten why. Their founding identity was based on not being a mudguard for Fine Gael and its cohort of younger voters were never inoculated against Sinn Féin. By exercising their agency, they have weakened Labour's natural preference for a Labour–Social Democrats–Green alliance without Sinn Féin. The Social Democrats' willingness to stand in with Sinn Féin means Labour has less scope to stand out. A new mix on the left is giving a different flavour. It is a big deal for Labour to accept they now share a franchise, but they are. McDonald stated a plain truth when she said the days of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael 'controlling both government and opposition at the same time are over'. The centre has not held since 2020 because neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael are an alternative government to the other. If they can't muster the numbers together, one or the other may be able to form a government with some left parties, where the left is more prominent than ever before. Alternatively, they lose decisively, the left alliance holds and forms a government in a historic departure of sorts. [ Gerry Adams defamation verdict won't have a chilling effect on journalism - and here's why Opens in new window ] [ Who really owns the music festival you're heading to this summer? Opens in new window ] Coppinger's views on the need for the left to challenge capitalism will never be taken up by the soft left. The left generally, and Sinn Féin particularly, are allergic to the broader tax base that would fund the more active state they demand. The slow bicycle race towards the next election has begun. For Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Labour, their mutual relations sway between coalition, colonisation and cannibalism. They have the makings of an alternative government, however. Housing at home, Trump abroad and diminishing traditional political loyalties mean that anything is possible, including a left government in Ireland.
Irish Independent
19 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Gerry Adams to donate €100,000 from BBC defamation trial to Irish language and Palestinian charities
Mr Adams took the BBC to court over a 2016 episode of its Spotlight programme, and an accompanying online story, which he said defamed him by alleging he sanctioned the killing of former Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson, for which he denies any involvement. Last Friday, a jury at the High Court in Dublin found in his favour and awarded him €100,000 after determining that was the meaning of words included in the programme and article. The BBC will also have to pay Mr Adams's legal costs. During an eight-minute video posted on the official Sinn Féin YouTube channel, Mr Adams accused the BBC of showing 'arrogance' when it did not resolve the dispute after he issued legal letters nine years ago. In Putting Manners On The BBC – The Gerry Adams Blog, Mr Adams said that the BBC has been held accountable for the content it broadcasts. Mr Adams said: 'As for the money that the jury awarded me in damages, I will donate this to good causes. 'These will include the children of Gaza, groups in Ireland involved in helping the homeless, Cumann Carad, the Irish language sector and other projects like this in west Belfast. 'When the case began six weeks ago, the BBC's legal strategy was evident very quickly. Their narrative was that pursued by successive British and Irish governments for years. 'They blamed everything during the conflict on Irish Republicans and by extension, during this trial, on me. 'The BBC lawyers embarked on a Jesuitical presentation of the case that tried to convince the jurors that the words broadcast and published by the British Broadcasting Corporation, that I had sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson, did not, in fact, mean that I sanctioned the murder of Denis Donaldson. ADVERTISEMENT 'They were, they said, that's the British Broadcasting Corporation, not defending the truth of the accusation. 'Instead they were defending, they claimed, their journalism, which they said was fair and reasonable, in the public interest and made in good faith. 'They concluded their case by trying to exert moral pressure on the jurors by claiming that a defeat for the British Broadcasting Corporation would be a blow to freedom of speech and a setback to victims. 'In the end the jury didn't buy in to any of this. 'On all the key issues the jurors unanimously accepted that the script used by the Spotlight programme did mean that I had sanctioned and approved the murder of Denis Donaldson.' He said that after the BBC's decision to air the Spotlight programme, he decided to sue the broadcaster. Mr Adams said the BBC could have resolved the dispute there and then. 'They chose not to. Why? That's a question to be asked. Why did they not resolve this issue when they could have? 'Was it arrogance? Yes, that's part of it. But I also suspect political interference. 'In January, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to a decision in the High Court in Belfast, which included that I and, by implication, up to 400 other former internees, were wrongfully detained and that we were entitled to compensation. 'Mr Starmer told the British Parliament that he would look at every conceivable way to block compensation being paid.' Mr Adams also urged the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan to met Denis Donaldson's family. He signed off by saying 'slan agus tog go bog e', which means goodbye and take it easy. Earlier this week, the BBC was granted time to consider appealing against the jury's decision. The broadcaster was granted a stay on paying the full costs and damages to allow it time to consider whether to lodge an appeal. The stay was subject to paying half the damages €50,000 and €250,000 towards solicitors' fees.
The Journal
20 hours ago
- The Journal
Gerry Adams to donate €100k libel payout to charity and defends claim he 'put manners on the BBC'
GERRY ADAMS HAS announced that he will donate the €100,000 in libel damages from the BBC to 'good causes', including 'the children of Gaza', Irish-based homeless support groups and Irish language organisations. Adams was awarded the significant cash sum on Friday after a High Court jury ruled that the BBC defamed him in a 2016 programme, which alleged his involvement in the murder of British spy Denis Donaldson. The court found the broadcaster had falsely implicated Adams in sanctioning the 2006 killing of Donaldson, a former senior IRA member later exposed as an MI5 agent. Adams denies any involvement in the murder. In a video shared on social media today, Adams said that the money would go to various charities and community groups – including Gaza charities, Irish homeless organisations and An Cumann Cabhrach, which supports republican prisoners and their families. In the video, Adams also defended his comments outside the court on Friday, where he told reporters that he had 'put manners on the BBC'. The comment was widely criticised, with the Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) describing Adam's line as 'chilling'. Adams rejected this, claiming today that the success of his case was a 'very important and very significant breach' in the BBC's 'monopoly on how it broadcasts 'news' especially in Ireland'. Advertisement 'As I said outside the Four Courts, I took this case to put manners on this institution – I stand over that comment,' Adams said in a video shared to Youtube by Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin / YouTube 'I reject the over-the-top responses to it.' He added: 'Journalism was a victor, not a loser, but only if the lessons are learned and acted upon. 'The British Broadcasting Corporation is supposed to be a public service provider. It is paid from public funds. It upholds the ethos of the British state in Ireland, that goes without saying, but it should be publicly accountable for its broadcasting content. 'It rarely is. That's what this court case did. That's what the jury did. The BBC lost.' Later in the video, Adams said that journalists 'bear an onorous responsibility not to make false accusations based on unreliable and or nonexistent supporting evidence'. 'There's also been predictable responses from all the usual verdicts to the verdict in this cae. This is not the time to defend bad journalism. This is the time to learn the lessons. 'They too should stop whinging – this is senior hurling.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
