Sinn Fein : A Hundred Turbulent Years

by Feeney, Brian

• ISBN13: 9780299186708
• ISBN10: 0299186709
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

Sinn Fin is one of the oldest and most controversial parties in Irish politics. This is the fascinating story of a party which has repeatedly reshaped its identity over a hundred years. From Arthur Griffith to Gerry Adams, Sinn Fin boasts a roll-call of major personalities from twentieth-century Irish history including de Valera, Markievicz, Collins, Brdaigh, Goulding, MacGiolla, and McGuinness. Brian Feeney traces Sinn Fin's zigzag path towards constitutional politics and presents a critical analysis of the party's personalities and policies over the century. He shows how it has arrived at last in government in the north with hopes of a future role in coalition in the republic, and confidently predicting a united Ireland. This is an important and timely book from an esteemed journalist, and an impartial analysis of Sinn Fin's involvement in Irish politics, north and south, over the last hundred years.

Author Biography

Brian Feeney, a political columnist with the Irish News, is a leading nationalist commentator and frequent broadcaster on Northern Ireland affairs. He is the co-author of Lost Lives: The Stories of Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles, which won the Christopher Ewart-Biggs award in 2001 for its contribution to reconciliation in Ireland and Europe. Feeney is also head of the history department at St. Mary’s University College, Belfast.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(11)
`Sinn Fein must be the Motto', The Founding Years, 1900--07	18	(26)
Electoral Ups and Downs, Facing the Voters, 1908--17	44	(26)
A Different Tune, Northern Nationalism	70	(20)
A Nation Organised, Sinn Fein takes Power, 1918--21	90	(35)
Not Merely a Form of Words, Rejecting the Oath, 1923--26	125	(36)
Protecting the Flame, The Lean Years, 1926--62	161	(50)
Veering to the Left, Flirting with Marxism, 1962--70	211	(40)
The Years of Agitprop, Sinn Fein backs the War, 1970--81	251	(41)
Armalite and Ballot Box, Becoming an Electoral Force, 1981--86	292	(42)
`Towards a Strategy for Peace', Sinn Fein No Longer Alone	334	(49)
Negotiating the Roadblocks, The Pendulum Swings to Sinn Fein	383	(46)
Conclusion	429	(14)
Footnotes	443	(2)
List of Sinn Fein presidents, 1905--2002	445	(1)
A Note on Sources	446	(3)
Index	449