Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power

Sinn Féin, once an outcast of Northern Ireland political life, now sits in the power-sharing Executive alongside the Democratic Unionist Party. In order to secure such a position, it had to transform itself, abandoning deep-seated principles such as abstentionism and severe the link between politica...

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Main Author: Agnès Maillot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2014-12-01
Series:Revue LISA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/7024
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author Agnès Maillot
author_facet Agnès Maillot
author_sort Agnès Maillot
collection DOAJ
description Sinn Féin, once an outcast of Northern Ireland political life, now sits in the power-sharing Executive alongside the Democratic Unionist Party. In order to secure such a position, it had to transform itself, abandoning deep-seated principles such as abstentionism and severe the link between political and military actions. It has adopted, throughout the peace process, a newly-found enthusiasm for left-wing politics and for the institutions provided by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, to which it is a signatory. This process presented the party with difficulties and highlighted its contradictions, as seen throughout the protracted controversy over the decommissioning of IRA weapons. What has made this transformation possible, both in terms of its internal cohesion and public perception, is its capacity to adapt its strategies and discourse to a fast-evolving situation, although the party is still faced with momentous challenges, in particular that of transcending the sectarian divide that still characterises Northern Irish politics and society.
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spelling doaj-art-bb0b137b38394a14925a4f5e82e9a9d92025-01-06T09:02:51ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532014-12-011210.4000/lisa.7024Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to PowerAgnès MaillotSinn Féin, once an outcast of Northern Ireland political life, now sits in the power-sharing Executive alongside the Democratic Unionist Party. In order to secure such a position, it had to transform itself, abandoning deep-seated principles such as abstentionism and severe the link between political and military actions. It has adopted, throughout the peace process, a newly-found enthusiasm for left-wing politics and for the institutions provided by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, to which it is a signatory. This process presented the party with difficulties and highlighted its contradictions, as seen throughout the protracted controversy over the decommissioning of IRA weapons. What has made this transformation possible, both in terms of its internal cohesion and public perception, is its capacity to adapt its strategies and discourse to a fast-evolving situation, although the party is still faced with momentous challenges, in particular that of transcending the sectarian divide that still characterises Northern Irish politics and society.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/7024powerSinn FéinIRAdecommissioningarmed strugglepeace process
spellingShingle Agnès Maillot
Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power
Revue LISA
power
Sinn Féin
IRA
decommissioning
armed struggle
peace process
title Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power
title_full Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power
title_fullStr Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power
title_full_unstemmed Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power
title_short Sinn Féin’s Tortuous Road to Power
title_sort sinn fein s tortuous road to power
topic power
Sinn Féin
IRA
decommissioning
armed struggle
peace process
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/7024
work_keys_str_mv AT agnesmaillot sinnfeinstortuousroadtopower