Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin (Ireland) Sinn Féin (Irish Gaelic: ‘we ourselves’) grew out of a nationalist movement articulated by Arthur Griffith between 1905 and 1908. It was initially an intellectual movement calling for an independent Ireland under a dual monarchy along the model of Austria-Hungary. In 1912 it opposed the Home Rule party of John Redmond, and became gradually more politically active (although it took no direct part in the 1916 Easter Rising). In the 1918 British Coupon Elections it won 73 seats, as compared with 25 for the Irish Unionists, and used this success to claim a mandate for an independent Ireland. The Sinn Féin MPs refused to attend Parliament at Westminster, and set up a Parliament in Dublin, the Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament, not yet recognized as sovereign), in 1919. The party split over the treaty partition of Ireland (1921–2), with the anti-treaty wing fighting against the Irish Free State during the Civil War (1922–3). The party declined following this, with many of its members joining de Valéra's Fianna Fáil.

Sinn Féin revived in Northern Ireland as Provisional Sinn Féin in January 1970, following the split within the Irish Republican Army (IRA). As the IRA's political wing, it has called for British withdrawal from Northern Ireland, and the subsequent establishment of a united Ireland. It has contested elections on the basis that it will not take up seats in Parliament if elected. Its electoral support was relatively modest (around 10 per cent or less), but increased sharply following the Downing Street Declaration. It gained 15.5 per cent in the elections of 30 May 1996 for delegates to all-party peace talks. After a renewed ceasefire in 1997 it became instrumental in the Good Friday Agreement. Under the leadership of Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin was transformed from being seen as an extremist Catholic party and the political arm of the IRA to being the main Catholic Party of Northern Ireland by 2001. It became the only party with parliamentary representation at Westminster, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the Irish Parliament, the Dáil Éireann.

http://sinnfein.ie