May 2002

Sinn Fein is one of the most controversial political movements in Ireland. In this book, for the first time, the complete story of the rise and fall - and rise again - of a party that repeatedly reshaped its identity over a hundred years, moving from dual monarchy to dual strategy - the Armalite and the ballot box. From Arthur Griffith to Gerry Adans, this book is a roll-call of major personalities from twentieth century Irish and British history and politics.

In 1922 Eamon de Valera said: 'To me Sinn Fein is the nation organised. I never regarded it as a mere political machine.' This dual function - the voice of national identity and a political party - has played a determining role in the unique history of Sinn Fein. From its origins as an intellectual and political ginger group, founded by Arthur Griffith at the beginning of the last century to foster independence from the British Empire, Sinn Fein has today become a powerful force in Ireland, North and South, led by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.

At times, the movement seemed to have disappeared from the Irish political landscape, but it surfaced repeatedly in periods of economic and political stress, attracting a core republican vote. In the course of it existence the party has swung from being the biggest mass movement in Irish history in 1918 to near extinction in the 1930s. It re-emerged in the 1950s with two Members of Parliament and 150,000 votes in Northern Ireland, and with four TDs in the Dublin parliament. In the past forty years it changed direction on several occasions. In the 1960s it reorganised as a Marxist-orientated movement; it split in 1969; it became a support group for the IRA in the 1970s; then entered electoral politics after the 1981 hunger strikes. Sinn Fein's major ideological shift was in 1986 when, after another split, the policy of abstention was abandoned. The IRA ceasefire in 1994, which gave Sinn Fein a legitimacy in both parts of Ireland unprecedented since 1921, enabled the party to play a key role in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement with the British and Irish governments in 1998.

Preoccupation with Britain and unionism has been an ongoing theme for Sinn Fein since its foundation. Sinn Fein's relationship with the Irish government is also explored, documenting the party's dealings with Irish leaders. This book traces Sinn Fein's path towards constitutional politics and presents a critical analysis of its personalities and policies over the century and shows how it has arrived at last in government in Northern Ireland with hopes of a future role in coalition in the Republic of Ireland and still confidently predicting a united Ireland.

(Hardback Edition Also Available, 28.00 Euro / 24.00 USD / 21.00 UK)