Imagine a party that’s a cross between the SNP, Syriza and Ukip – one that is anti-establishment and combines the self-regard of the plucky outsider with an intermittent lead in the opinion polls. Imagine that and you’re getting close to the character of Sinn Féin, as manifest in its party conference this weekend. The last you may have heard of Sinn Féin was as a purely Northern Irish outfit, getting on just dandy with the DUP if intermittently embarrassed by reminders of its past during the Troubles.
Well, think again. The party regularly outpolls the major party of government in the Republic, Fine Gael, and seems likely to do just fine in the election in Northern Ireland. It faces both north and south, and as Gerry Adams said again and again, they ‘want to be the largest single party in government’ in the south.
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