With the ongoing instability of the devolved institutions and the degeneration of the relationship between the First and deputy First ministers, it is an apposite time to revisit a rather under-rated monograph from the beginning of the year.
‘The Long March: The Political Strategy of Sinn Féin, 1981-2007‘ by Cambridge historian, Martyn Frampton, is a necessary [...]

One could despair. All the major political parties are supporting another round of fiscal contraction, though they may differ on the balance of tax increases and public spending cuts. In this respect, Fianna Fail has won that particular battle, we are just fighting within the parameters they have set. There is seemingly no challenge to [...]

Sinn Féin launched their pre-budget submission yesterday with a press conference in Buswell’s hotel, and a document which it claimed would provide the road to economic recovery. Within the current debate dominated by the rethoric of slash and burn, it was good to find out that Sinn Féin are arguing against the strategy of cuts [...]

Let’s think happy thoughts for a brief while because much else is… well, less than happy. So, here’s something that cheered me up at least a bit and it’s a point that is rarely touched on by commentators more concerned with the jockeying for position of the larger centre right political parties. Reading The Lost [...]

Socialism or Barbarism has a short article by Domhnall Ó Cobhthaigh, who until recently was a Sinn Féin councillor in Fermanagh but who resigned his membership of the party to join the Socialist Party. Socialism or Barbarism! argue that defection of Domhnall represents “a decisive indicator of the ideological collapse that has occured within Sinn [...]

There has been loads interest in Brian Hanley and Scott Miller’s book The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers’ Party here, on Dublin Opinion and on Cedar Lounge Revolution.
So readers who may be around Dublin city centre later on this week might like to go to the launch of the [...]

A new generation of Irishmen are creating a new revolution in Ireland and this time they will not be satisfied with half-measures.”
In the run-up to the 1972 Irish referendum on E.E.C. membership, Official Sinn Féin set up a radio station in Dublin in order to propagate its message for a No vote. The station had [...]

Gerry Adams outlined Sinn Féin’s new campaign for a united Ireland in the Guardian yesterday. The London launch of the campaign took place on Tuesday evening, following a similar event in New York. If I understand the strategy correctly, SF intends to build a broad campaign in Britain and the USA in order to change [...]

The three opposition parties, Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and now Labour have each published their proposals for economic recovery. In each case the emphasis has been on job creation, some form of stimulus and an attempt to restructure the economy to replace the previous over reliance on construction and property development.
Over on the progressive economy@tasc [...]

Sinn Fein has produced a substantial and positive contribution to the debate on creating and saving jobs in our recessionary economy. ‘Getting Ireland Back to Work’ contains more than 80 proposals covering a range of employment-related subjects: job retention, investing in our indigenous base, education and training, consumer spending, etc. If there’s a bit of [...]