Sinn Féin won’t be taken seriously until it cuts deal with DUP
ISSinnFéinfitfor government? It’s a question that’s never gone away in the two decades since the Republican movement binned the Armalite to concentrate on the ballot box. And it’s one that understandably infuriates its leadership.
Yet, the truth is that now it’s Sinn Féin itself – however unwittingly – and not its trenchant critics raising the question.
Because if the party can’t bring itself to be in an Executive in Stormont when the North is facing arguably its greatest economic challenge, how can it credibly present itself as a party of government south of the Border at the next general election?
The potential impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland is difficult to exaggerate. A hard Brexit would be disastrous.
There is nothing Sinn Féin, or even the DUP, can do about the shambolic goings-on of Britain’s Conservative government. But they can get their own houses in order. Because the lack of a functioning Executive in the North is hindering efforts to secure agreement on the Irish module of the Brexit talks.
The word in Brussels is that there is an acceptance of the desirability of avoiding a hard Border and, potentially, grounds for an agreement on how that might happen. But input is required from the North’s Executive to ensure the practical problems in maintaining an open, or relatively open, Border are overcome. Without a government in the North, that can’t happen. To paraphrase Henry Kissinger’s old line about calling Europe, who does Michel Barnier pick up the phone to in Belfast if he wants to talk about the North?
It’s not just about the practicalities. The Irish and British governments have made great play about the North’s ‘unique position’. But, consider it from the point of view of European politicians and bureaucrats. On the one hand, there is a plea for the North to be treated as a special case, because of the potentially disastrous impact of Brexit. And, on the other, it doesn’t seem sufficiently serious for the two dominant political parties to put aside their differences and actually form a government to argue their case. How does that look?
It looks bloody awful, is the answer. And it’s testing the patience of our allies in Europe who want to do the right thing by Ireland.
Yet Sinn Féin, at least publicly, fails to acknowledge the weakness of this position. The party has contested elections in three different jurisdictions over the past 20 months or so. And in none of those has it seemed serious about getting involved in government.
The party gets a free pass on Westminster. You don’t need to be a rabid Republican to find the notion of Sinn Féin, almost a century on from the establishment of the first Dáil, taking its seats in the House of Commons a step too far. And to be fair, the North’s electorate has never been left in any doubt that the policy of abstentionism would continue.
Sinn Féin will defend its opting out of government formation talks here last year on the grounds it was only interested in being involved in (ie. leading) a left-wing government. But the truth is the party stayed out because it wanted Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to coalesce, leaving it as the main opposition party and well positioned for the following general election.
Micheál Martin, though, refused to play ball, prompting a rethink in Sinn Féin about entering coalition as a minority partner. Gerry Adams and Co will deny that was the strategy, of course. But there’s no denying they had a chance to influence government policy after the last general election and opted to pass.
And that’s exactly what it has done north of the Border since collapsing the Executive last January. At the time, it looked a political master stroke by Adams, with Sinn Féin almost usurping the DUP in the subsequent Assembly elections. Less so, though, after the DUP got lucky in landing the balance of power in Westminster after the UK general election.
And, given the crisis the North is facing, the on-going failure to re-establish the Executive is inexcusable. The DUP must of course take its share of the blame for that. But the DUP is not looking to be in government in Dublin. Sinn Féin is.
And it’s all (supposedly) down to an Irish language act. Irish is quite rightly very important to nationalists. DUP figures’ disrespectful attitude towards the language has been appalling. If it was aimed at another European language, there would be uproar.
However, given Gerry Adams’
negotiating skills, it should be possible to reach a compromise that gives the necessary recognition to Irish, while also allowing Arlene Foster to sell it to DUP hardliners – particularly those MPs who won’t be too unhappy if the Assembly doesn’t return to centre stage.
AND if it’s not possible, why is it not? Is it solely due to DUP intransigence? Or, deep down, does Adams and the rest of the Republican leadership in Belfast really want a return of powersharing, despite all the positive signals in recent weeks?
Perhaps Sinn Féin is missing the more conciliatory approach of Martin McGuinness. Or perhaps the plan was to prioritise government in the Republic. If so, surely there are people in the party who can see that if they fail to put together the Executive at the time of the North’s greatest need, then it damages their credibility and marketability as a potential coalition partner in the Republic?
They’re drawing up detailed pre-budget submissions and thundering against Paschal Donohoe’s plan down here, but abrogating their responsibility to bring in a budget in the North?
Sinn Féin needs to decide if it wants to be a party of protest or a serious political party. With all that the latter entails. It needs to do what all parties of government do – cut a deal with the DUP. Before it’s too late.