The party has led the opinion polls in the Republic of Ireland for three years but saw disappointing results in last weekend's local and European Parliament elections
Sinn Féin secured 11% of the votes in the recent European elections in the Republic of Ireland (not 19.2%) and won 2 out of 14 seats. Dublin Central (the constituency which Mary Lou McDonald represents) is largely working class though parts of it are becoming gentrified. An important point you fail to make about her leadership is that she was not elected to the leadership by the party members or her Dáil parliamentary party, as would be the case with a normal parliamentary party. She was appointed to that role by the group of shadowy backroom figures in Belfast who really run Sinn Féin. (Michelle O'Neill was appointed Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland in the same way.) It is they who will decide when Mary Lou's time is up, not the voters, party members, or her parliamentary colleagues.
Fair: Sinn Féin isn’t a normal political party in any intelligible sense, and maybe that will come back to bite them. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens when Adams isn’t around any more.
Sinn Féin secured 11% of the votes in the recent European elections in the Republic of Ireland (not 19.2%) and won 2 out of 14 seats. Dublin Central (the constituency which Mary Lou McDonald represents) is largely working class though parts of it are becoming gentrified. An important point you fail to make about her leadership is that she was not elected to the leadership by the party members or her Dáil parliamentary party, as would be the case with a normal parliamentary party. She was appointed to that role by the group of shadowy backroom figures in Belfast who really run Sinn Féin. (Michelle O'Neill was appointed Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland in the same way.) It is they who will decide when Mary Lou's time is up, not the voters, party members, or her parliamentary colleagues.
Fair: Sinn Féin isn’t a normal political party in any intelligible sense, and maybe that will come back to bite them. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens when Adams isn’t around any more.