Neither party can afford to build a campaign entirely around their leader. And both need to overcome a weakness for mixed messages
Taoiseach Simon Harris and Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald: Fine Gael can no longer maintain its task is to clean up others’ mistakes and there may be limits to the mileage in depicting Sinn Féin as unfit for office. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Sinn Féin strongly disputes the idea it is different in how it handles internal party difficulties, but it is farfetched to suggest the party’s background and evolution have no relevance to its modus operandi today. While all our political parties are strongly centralised Sinn Féin is exceptionally so; that Gerry Adams served as president of the party for 35 years is a reminder of the tightness of control associated with it.
Whether the current difficulties of Sinn Féin and the accusations levelled at it form the crux of the coming general election narrative, however, is another matter. The tone and direction of that campaign could go in a number of directions. Given the difficulties facing Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin is especially vulnerable; the party’s general election campaign in 2020 was built around her personally, and she is unlikely to have the same momentum this time.
But Fine Gael may also have to overcome its penchant for mixed messages: is it primarily a promoter of the “just society”, a barrier against Sinn Féin, or a champion of the early risers? And is it, in O’Higgins’s words a century ago, in command of “Ireland’s actual condition and prospects?”Sinn Féin’s difficulties should not make Fine Gael complacentLiam Payne’s death is a tragic end to the story of five cheeky boys who charmed...
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