SF needs to shake off shackles of Adams era

HISTORY has thrown up leaders who have cast long shadows and others whom have simply got in the way of the light. Normally when it comes to saying goodbye to someone there is a sense of reciprocal desolation, that is unless they have stayed around too long. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams bows out today after 35 years at the head of his party. When Liam Cosgrave died last year, Mr Adams described the former Taoiseach, who led this country out of the darkness of civil war and stopped the State from being overthrown by the IRA, as a “divisive figure”.

Mr Adams knew a lot about division. His departure from the national stage is overdue. His role at the head of the IRA and his preposterous denials of any involvement or knowledge of some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles made him an anachronism. His role in establishing the peace process has been acknowledged. Sadly those who died at the hands of the IRA never got to appreciate its benefits.

It was Ernest Hemingway who said: “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” Mr Adams never appeared to see it that way.

Today, Mary Lou McDonald takes over. Mr Adams failed to establish Sinn Féin’s credentials as a fully democratic party. Too many ghosts rattled in the closet. Centrality of control, allegations of bullying and a tight veil of secrecy have mired progress. Whether the party can shake off these shackles remains to be seen.