Martin Ferris has made the transition from IRA prisoner to public representative and Downing Street negotiator.
Now he has a further ambition: to win a Dail seat in Kerry North at the next general election.
His performance in the 1997 election, and in last year's local elections, show he is in with a fighting chance. The three seats in the constituency are held by Labour's Mr Dick Spring, Fine Gael's Mr Jimmy Deenihan and Fianna Fail's Mr Denis Foley.
Some local observers believe Fianna Fail could be most vulnerable to the Sinn Fein challenge, given the deep divisions within its constituency organisation, while others say there will always be a Fianna Fail seat in a three-seater.
Mr Ferris secured 5,691 first-preference votes in the general election, most of which came from Fianna Fail, contributing to the decline in the party's vote by 10.2 per cent to 26.31 per cent.
In the election to Kerry County Council, he exceeded the quota on the first count in the Tralee electoral area, taking the second seat behind Ms Maeve Spring, Mr Dick Spring's sister.
He also took a seat on Tralee Urban Council, where he was joined by his party colleague, Mr Cathal Foley.
Sinn Fein is not without its local divisions. Mr Billy Leen, a county councillor, broke with the party and held his seat as an Independent in the local elections.
But it is Fianna Fail which is most divided, with several factions looking to the next general election convention. Although he has not confirmed it publicly, Mr Foley, a member of the Oireachtas since 1981, may retire. This would leave the way open for his daughter, Ms Norma Foley, chairwoman of Tralee Urban Council, to seek a nomination.
Mr Tom McEllistrim jnr, the third generation of the local political dynasty, and Senator Dan Kiely both polled well when retaining their county council seats and will also seek a nomination. They may be joined by Mr Ned O'Sullivan, a Listowel-based councillor, and there is speculation that Mr Sean Walsh, chairman of the county GAA board, may be approached to run.
Given the inevitable bloodbath facing Fianna Fail, could the party sensationally lose to Mr Ferris? Mr Spring, with a formidable local and national track record, and Mr Deenihan, a former minister of State for agriculture, will not be easily dislodged.
Mr Ferris spent 13 years in prison for republican activities, including 47 days on hunger-strike in 1977. In the 1980s he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for his part in an attempt to import weapons into the State from the US.
The weapons were seized by gardai and the Naval Service off Kerry after they stopped the trawler Marita Ann. Mr Ferris, who was described as the head of the IRA in the south-west area, was one of a number of men arrested on the trawler.
Since his release in 1994 he has been a close associate of the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams. In recent local media interviews, he has faithfully articulated the party line on the Belfast Agreement. His most recent public comments centred on his criticism of the arrest in Kerry of Angelo Fusco, who was convicted in the Northern Ireland courts of murdering Capt Herbert Westmacott of the SAS in 1980.
Asked about IRA arms decommissioning in a recent interview on Radio Kerry, Mr Ferris said he did not know who the interlocutor appointed by the IRA to liaise with the de Chastelain commission was.
Asked how the decommissioning process would work, he said: "That is a matter for Gen de Chastelain and the various people he has been meeting. Sinn Fein's position is that we have a collective responsibility, like everybody else within the executive and assembly, to use our influence to bring about the total demilitarisation of the six counties."