Shaking Up Ireland: Sinn Féin
Photograph of Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, celebrating her election victory. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.
On 8 Feb., Ireland had a general election, for seats in the Dáil Éireann, the primary house of the Irish Parliament.
Sinn Féin, a centre-left party who promotes Irish unification and had connections to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), surged in the polls, by gaining 15 seats, with a total of 37 seats. However, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, two centrist parties, who have been in government for nearly a century, still have a combined 73 seats (with Fianna Fáil gaining the most seats, 38).
While both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lost seats in the election, Sinn Féin may find it difficult to form a government without one of those two larger parties. However, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael vowed that they would not enter into a coalition with Sinn Féin, due to their links with past violent incident, according to the Associated Press.
Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, has stated that her party would explore forming a coalition with independents and smaller liberal parties, such as the Social Democrats and the Irish Labour Party. However, the Labour Party appears to have ruled out entering an agreement with Sinn Féin.
A large part of this campaign was about the Irish reaction to Brexit and British Prime-Minister Boris Johnson's government.
While Sinn Féin has been alienated by many of the large Irish parties, due to their role in the violence in Northern Ireland during the 1990s, those ties mean little to younger voters. This rise in younger Sinn Féin voters, combined with their strategy concerning Brexit and Irish unification, seems to have led to their victory.
However, other issues like homelessness rates, housing prices, income, and public health policy also served as wedge issues with many Irish voters.
Sinn Féin's victory and their possible ascension to the government in Ireland may also endanger the new power-sharing agreement in Stormont, the assembly of Northern Ireland, according to The Economist.
Last month, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party, a right-wing Unionist party in Northern Ireland, entered into a power-sharing agreement to reopen Stormont, after it had been closed during three years of deadlock. However, Sinn Féin forming a government in Ireland could endanger that agreement.
Leo Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay Taoiseach, the Irish equivalent to Prime-Minister, has stated that his party, Fine Gael, is preparing to join the opposition. Mr Varadkar took responsibility for his party's losses and said that he would not enter coalition negotiations without a mandate from his party's leadership, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
If the Irish parties are unable to form a government, as seems increasingly possible, there could be a second election this year.
Much of the aftereffects of Irish politics and the longevity of the current government remains up in the air. However, one clear thing is that the two-party system of Irish politics will not last into the new decade.
Sources:
Lawless, Jill and Dumitrache, Nicolae. 'Irish election produces an earthquake as Sinn Fein tops poll'. AP News, Associated Press, 10 Feb. 2020,
https://apnews.com/f7c0de1379e3c2ca7143e0a2414c1f66'Irish unification is becoming likelier'.
The Economist, The Economist Group, 13 Feb. 2020,
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/02/13/irish-unification-is-becoming-likelier
'Fine Gael 'preparing to go into opposition' - Varadkar'. BBC News, British Broadcasting Corporation, 17 Feb. 2020,