A challenge faced by any opposition party seeking to enter government lies in persuading voters that it possesses the skills required to manage the apparatus of the State efficiently and responsibly.
If the party has never been in power, that may require a leap of faith by the electorate. But it seems reasonable to expect that, at a minimum, a party aspiring to govern should be able to demonstrate it can keep its own house in good order.
That is why Sinn Féin’s current polycrisis is so damaging. Over the course of the last two weeks, the public has been presented with evidence of serial failures of governance and management. Those inevitably raise questions about internal culture and leadership.
Coming on the eve of a general election, the cases that have come to light recently have given rise to the gravest political challenge Sinn Féin has faced in the 27 years since the party first entered the Dáil. Given the volatility of the current political climate, it would be unwise to predict how events might unfold over the course of an election campaign. But while just a year ago the party might have hoped to almost double its Dáil representation, its current candidate strategy suggests it has scaled back those ambitions due to declining poll numbers. Further retrenchment may now be required. It is a remarkable reversal of fortune.
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The cases have prompted new questions about Sinn Féin’s leadership. Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill have each come under sustained pressure over the last two weeks. Their responses have too often been incomplete and unsatisfactory. Today’s revelation that former senator Niall Ó Donnghaile was the party member who sent inappropriate texts to a teenager raises a fresh set of concerns over the manner and timing of his subsequent departure from the Seanad. It is just the latest example of a recurring pattern of obfuscation followed by grudging acknowledgment under pressure .
Uniquely among political parties in this State, Sinn Féin has not held a leadership contest in more than four decades. In her six years in the job, McDonald has overseen both setbacks and successes. Her greatest achievement was as the architect of the party’s historic breakthrough in the 2020 general election. Some of its current difficulties may stem from the party’s rapid growth in recent years. But that would be a weak defence, given the seriousness of the failings that have been exposed.
It is hard to envisage Sinn Féin’s current leadership coming into question so close to an election. However, if the party’s current travails were to translate into a disappointing result at the ballot box, the party, and McDonald herself, would surely be confronted with some searching questions about their future.