Talk:Sinn Féin

Parties with origins in 1916-1921 Sinn Féin

Surely practically every party in the Republic of Ireland has roots in this Sinn Féin. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are principal among these but any parties who have split from these (e.g. the Progressive Democrats) share the same roots. I don't know much about the Labour Party's history. Joe Byrne (talk • contribs) 18:50, 29 April 2007 (UTC).

I'm thinking we'd be better off only including the ones that directly split from Sinn Féin, not ones which split off from them at a later date. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 18:51, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

The Irish Labour party was founded in 1912 by James Connolly amongst others, it never had any link to Sinn Féin. The PDs was formed by disgrunted former members of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, it was a new party and couldn't claim any conection to Sinn Féin. Even Fianna Fáil is not a split from Sinn Féin, as Dev Valera and his supporters resigned from Sinn Féin at the Ard Fheis after Dev had his motion defeated, it was only some time afterwards that he decided to form Fianna Fáil, so they were not a spilt from Sinn Féin.--padraig3uk 19:47, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Idealogically though, members of the original SF founded FF and FG so them being mentioned is justified. I accept the arguments against the PDs. I just saw these parties deleted from the page and thought it worthy of discussion. The current content, in that case, seems fine. Joe Byrne -- Talk -- Contribs - :ga: - :fr: - - 13:54, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

A significant point here is that unusually the minority party in many of the splits were the ones who held on to the Sinn Féin name. The current party was originally Provisional Sinn Féin a dissident split from the majority Official Sinn Féin (later the Workers Party). --Gramscis cousin (talk) 08:56, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Split needed

This article desperately needs split. It is not neutral to lump present-day Sinn Féin in with the earlier parties of that name, however much they might want that. It is no more valid than having Fianna Fáil on this page.

zoney ♣ talk 13:42, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree in part. As SF has split so many times, I think it'd be great to have an article detailing the post- January 1970 Ard Fheis Sinn Féin that is currently led by Gerry Adams, while ensuring that it's known that this "modern Sinn Féin" traces its routes back to 1905. I agree that there should be an article on the pre-FF Sinn Féin. The modern SF article should be at Sinn Féin, and we can have a Sinn Féin (historical) or a similarly named title for the articles detailing the various splits. We should should be careful about trying to lump the modern day FF with any previous organisation called Sinn Féin, however, as FF has its own detailed and complex party history gaillimh^{Conas tá tú?} 14:56, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Just pointing out that there is already an article entitled Sinn Féin (1905–1921). I would suggest that the dates on this be changed, for a number of reasons. Firstly, Sinn Féin from 1905 to 1917 was not a republican party; its policy was dual monarchism. Secondly, 1921 is not a useful cut-off point as it was in 1922 when SF began to split.

Rather than trying to fix dates in the article title, perhaps it would be best to create a page entitled History of Sinn Féin. This idea has been around for quite a while (see above and seemed to be a popular idea.--Damac 04:52, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Sure, I think that's an excellent idea. gaillimh^{Conas tá tú?} 05:17, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Feeling bold, I renamed Sinn Féin (1905–1921) History of Sinn Féin. Plenty of editing to follow.--Damac 06:16, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

That is the best way to handle the history separately, leaving the Sinn Féin article to deal with the current events of the party.--padraig3uk 12:44, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree that separation is the best approach, though of course it should be done in such a matter as to not out-and-out assert a separate identity to the various versions of SF, since that's a key point at issue between the various traditions. It does, however, leave a huge number of mis-links, from articles like Members of the 2nd Dáil. (BTW, wouldn't that be Second Dáil, per that article?) Alai 15:58, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I've just started a separate Early Sinn Féin Movement entry. I think this is a practical solution to the problem, justified by the vey differnt identity of pre-1916 Sinn Féinism stunion 10:04, 24 April 2008

A little confused

I'm not sure if the article explains this and I missed it or whether it is unclear in the article, but is Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland exactly the same party as that in the Republic, or are they two seperate but closely linked parties? If so how does one party straddle two (similar but) different political systems? I came to this article trying to understand why, when I was in Dublin over the weekend, there were electoral banners everywhere with Gerry Adams face on them - does he have actual political power in the South or is he more of a publicity figure for Sinn Fein in the republic? I'm genuinely confused and the article doesn't really help, I know there is a section on Organisational structure, but it didn't seem to address this question. Can anybody enlighten me (and add that enlightenment to the article)?--Jackyd101 00:28, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

I found some of what I was loking for under Modern Sinn Fein, but it still doesn't explain how they straddle the two political processes (i.e. Can Gerry Adams legally be leader of the party in the Republic if he is a registered voter and MP in another country? How does this work?). It was a little tricky to find, the splitting mentioned above might be a good idea.--Jackyd101 00:42, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

That is very simple Sinn Féin don't accept the presence of the artificial border between both parts of the Ireland, their policy is the removal of that entity, as for Gerry Adams his role is the President of a 32 County Party, which is why Martin McGuinness is the Deputy first minister in the north, with Daithí McKay as leader of the Sinn Féin group in the assembly and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin is leader of the Sinn Féin group in Dáil Éirean. Adams role is to corodinate the work of these to ensure their overall goal.--padraig3uk 22:44, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

I realise that they don't accept the boundary, my question really is how do they deal with a boundary which (whether they accept it or not) is actually there in political fact? I didn't think the article explains this. Just to make sure I've fully understood your answer, are you saying that McGuinnes is in charge in Northern Ireland, O Caolain and McKay are in charge in the South and Adams co-ordinates both parties? So does Adams have any offical (i.e. registered) power in the Republic or is it more that he is de facto leader in the South? --Jackyd101 01:30, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Gerry Adams is the leader of Sinn Féin, its the same party, I cant see how a border is relevant? There was a leaders debate on RTE television, Gerry Adams spoke and was the leader of Sinn Féin? I am not entirely sure how you think a border, (which under the EU, doesnt really exist anyway) will affect things? There are many national grouops that cross the Irish so called borders, the INTO, various unions and businesses etc. The only thing is that Gerry Adams will is not standing in the elections and therefore will not get a seat in the Dáil and that is why Ó Caoláin is the Dáil leader of Sinn Féin and not Gerry Adams. If you dont get elected you dont get in. Also, there has been speculation in the media that northern MPs will be allowed to take a seat and discuss cross border issues, this will be voted on in the next Dáil. [[BaileÁthaCliathAbú:BÁCABÚ}] 08:04 18 May 2007

I'm simply asking a question as a person unfamiliar with the Irish political system about something which was not explained in the article. In asking the question I am both seeking an answer and hopefully inspiring someone familiar with the subject to add information to the article. How exactly does the EU not recognise the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland? Presumably they do recognise it as the dividing line between two sovereign states? The reason I mention the border is important, is because I am trying to ascertain whether Gerry Adams and other Northern Irish MPs have actual power in the Republic or whether they are only used as publicity figures for Sinn Fein in the South. I'm pretty sure that Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy have no political influence in Britain, so does Gerry Adams (a politician within the British political system) have political influence in the Republic of Ireland? And if so, what is the legislation or agreement which allows this? Businesses and international organisations which cross borders are quite common, but I don't know of any other political parties which do so. This makes this quite a unique aspect of Sinn Fein which probably should be explained in the article. I am aware that Sinn Fein doesn't recognise the border, however since all other political parties in both countries do recognise it, as do all other European governments, how does Sinn Fein as a party manage to operate in two seperate countries at once? Its a simple question, there is no need to get aggressive and I'm not challenging or debating Sinn Fein's politics here, I'm just looking for an answer.--Jackyd101 11:55, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Sinn Féin is organised as a 32 county party its head office is in Dublin, the fact that Ireland is divided into two seperate political enities is immaterial to the workings of the party, Gerry Adams is President of Sinn Féin, and therefore has influence on both sides of the border as the party has elected representatives in both. The EU treats Ireland as one political entity when it comes to elections to that body, Ireland is allocated IIRC 16 seats, 3 in the six counties and 13 in the rest of Ireland.--padraig3uk 12:31, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Thankyou, that is the answer I was after. Much appreciated.--Jackyd101 13:49, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

The EU most certainly does not treat Ireland as one political entity, for electoral purposes or otherwise. Northern Ireland (European Parliament constituency) is a UK constituency; the Republic consists of four constituencies, electing 13 MEPs (see for example [1]). That they all use the same electoral system (STV-MMC), and any other points of legislative or treaty overlap (such as the passport regime between the two, eligibility to vote in national elections, etc), are internal and/or bilateral issues, not matters for the EU. Alai 15:52, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

If it helps, both the UK and Ireland have electoral and immigration policies that each others citizens (under conditions) can actually vote and gain citizenship a lot easier than if one was moving in from another country, due to the closeness of the two. This is why Gerry Adams is able to lead the party in both countries, and vote in NI elections, even though he is probably more involved in the south (not sure whether he is able to vote in the south?). Mikebloke 10:55, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

He'd be able to if he were "normally resident" in the Republic -- which I'm assuming he's not, given that he's MP for Belfast West (though I don't know that residency is actually a requirement for being an MP). By SF's own logic, it'd be a bit odd of he contrived to have a vote in two different "pan-Irish" seats, which one would never be able to legally do for two different UK seats, or two different RoI seats (though can often occurs anyway due to inconsistencies in the electoral rolls). The key point, though, is that these are domestic or bilateral matters, not some wheeze the EU's pulled while no-one was looking. The voting arrangement applies to all UK citizens in Ireland -- such as say, me -- though citizenship uses an 'island of Ireland' formulation. Alai 15:51, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Gerry Adams has a holiday home in Co Donegal and so, I imagine, is allowed a vote here. I'm not an expert on the rules, but I know an English guy who has a second home in Ireland, and is on the electoral role as a result, even though he's not a permanent resident. Millbanks (talk) 08:42, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

European Union

What is the policy of Sinn Fein towards the EU, and specifically the euro? There would seem to be a lot of merit in a single currency for the whole of Ireland, and if the current Sinn Fein/DUP leaders in charge at Stormont were able to get the North into the euro zone, this could well be a useful step both towards unity and for the economy. Millbanks 21:36, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

They're generally Eurosceptic, although I think their position on the Euro is that Northern Ireland should have the samne currency as the South. But I somehow doubt Northern Ireland will get taken into the Eurozone alone (especially if it's for the purposes of constructing a United Ireland) and it seems there's a snowball's chance in Hell of the whole UK going in for the timne being. Timrollpickering 22:21, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

I've checked the SF website (as I should have done before) and their attitude towards the EU seems to be one of "positive engagement", though by no means uncritical. As for the Euro, the party argues for one single currency for Ireland, which at least in the medium term would be the Euro. So they would support the adoption of that currency in the six counties in any referendum. Millbanks 08:43, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Phonetic English Pronunciation

Would it be possible to get the English pronunciation changed to a phonetic one? MichiganCharms 20:25, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Recent events as at 19th June 2007

This article doesn't reflect the formation of the NI executive with SF and DUP participation.

Provisional Sinn Fein merger

I realize that this matter was discussed above, but as that discussion is by now quite old, I thought I would start a new discussion. The Provisional Sinn Fein article still has a merger template on it, indicating that it is in the process of being merged into this article. No significant edits have been done to that article in several months, and the template is now absurd, having been in place for well over a year. Did the merger occur? Was it completed? Is there still need for a separate article? At the very least, the bloody template should be removed if no merger ever happened, and is never going to happen. Some sort of decision needs to be reached. ---Theoldanarchist_Comhrá 04:05, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

I would support the merger. But I would also call on all historical information relating to Sinn Féin, especially from the pre-1970 period to be moved to History of Sinn Féin.--Damac 07:21, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know (and I wasn't active on these articles at the time) and can see, everything seems to have been merged, so I'll just redirect it now. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 08:30, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Sinn Fein's political ideology

The paragraph written about Sinn Fein's political ideology says the following:

While Sinn Féin officially subscribes to (democratic) Socialism, its ideology is a matter of dispute. In its party manifestos Sinn Féin aims at eradicating poverty etc., but such statements are vague. Sinn Féin's strong emphasis on combatting urban crime and drug dealing is not characteristic of the European radical left. Despite the fact that Sinn Féin opposes xenophobia and supports migrants' rights, some similarities with populist 'anti-system' parties like French National Front have been reported (in 2002, the Irish Labour Party leader Quinn compared SF to the National Front and claimed that voting SF candidates was akin to voting le Pen)[39]. Benoit and Laver[40] find that in general, the party are economically centrist and socially the most conservative after Fianna Fail.

Whoever wrote this paragraph cites an article by Eoin O'Malley that compares Sinn Fein to right-wing nationalist parties. What this writer doesn't seem to understand is that O'Malley was not trying to argue Sinn Fein is right-wing or even conservative, but rather trying to argue why the current "radical left/radical right" classification scheme for nationalist parties is limited and inflexible and could lead to a left-wing party like Sinn Fein being mistakenly classified as akin to the National Front or BNP. O'Malley still says at the end that "the leaders of Sinn Fein seem to have genuine left-wing beliefs" (quote). I don't think there is very much legitimate dispute about Sinn Fein's political ideology except from Irish Marxists who are upset their own extreme views aren't more popular, and from some Loyalists (Ian Paisley, for instance, has called Sinn Fein "fascist" on several occasions, which I'm sure we can all agree sounds extremely hypocritical coming from him). The author of the above paragraph's only real argument is that Sinn Fein has a hard stance on crime and then he says "this is not characteristic of the European radical left"...only thing is, Sinn Fein has never called itself "radical left". Statements such as "this is vague" are also serious NPOV breaches and need to be addressed.

So, I propose that this paragraph is edited. It is not inaccurate to say that Sinn Fein appears inconsistent and sometimes conservative in its political ideology (particularly on abortion), but it is a major stretch to imply that Sinn Fein is actually conservative or right-wing, as this paragraph does. At the very least, it needs to be re-written so that it does not mis-interpret O'Malley's work and take on an NPOV character.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.134.227.49 (talk)

It is unfair to compare Sinn Féin to the BNP or National Front, simply because they are "nationalist". Sinn Féin have never pursued racist or anti-immigrant policies. Millbanks 08:34, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, there's a video on YouTube right now of Gerry Adams addressing a demonstration by African immigrants in Dublin demanding immigration reform, in which he states that Sinn Fein supports their cause. There are two types of nationalism - that which is based on achieving national sovereignty in countries where the population considers themselves ruled by foreign powers (this variety characterizes Palestinian nationalism, Basque nationalism, and Irish nationalism among others), and extreme nationalism in nations that are already sovereign, which seeks to expel immigrants and any outside influences seen as dangerous (this is of course the type epitomized in Europe by the BNP and National Front). I have my own reasons for disapproving of Sinn Fein's politics, but racism/xenophobia is not one of them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.134.227.49 (talk)

pronounce 3

"Any time I've ever heard the name pronounced by anyone who is speaking in Gaelic, it sounds exactly the same as it would sound if they were speaking in English"

That would be down to the speakers not been able to speak Irish, or when speaking in English using the normal English form. Never take the sound of Hiberno English to be a faithful representation of Gaeilg. The fact is that, despite any brogue, it is closer to standard British english, than Irish. Don't take my word on that, compare dialect studies

The name itself is a red herring slightly, as féin is [heːn̥] (no f and plain alveolar n, not palatised as suggested by article) in speech, although this is forgivable given names tend to be old fashioned anyway

159.134.221.62 13:44, 21 June 2007 (UTC) Jack

Foreign Policy

Should not the article contain something on foreign policy? The party's website supports links with the ANC; and the Basque people's right to national self determination. It also argues against the illegal blockade of Cuba by the USA. There is no specific mention of support for the Palestine Liberation Organisation, but certainly the party has sympathy for the Palestinian people. Millbanks 08:50, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps a section on links to parties/organisations in other countries? And yeah, SF is rather closer to the PLO than they seem to print, Gerry Adams has been seen on more than one occasion in the Palestinian Territories at memorial services and the like. Mikebloke 11:00, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

The article on the Provisional IRA details quite a few of the Provisional Republican movement's ties to the aforementioned organizations, including the ETA, ANC, and PLO. Since the links were predominantly intended to faciliate exchanges of training and weapons (and therefore benefited the IRA more than Sinn Fein), they don't seem too relevant to this particular article. My understanding, however, is that in recent years the ETA (who are still engaged in their armed campaign) are currently aligned most closely with the Continuity IRA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.146.132.101 (talk) 06:02, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

I suspect that references to the foreign policy issues mentioned above would be deleted in any event, no matter how well sourced, but I've added a bit on opposition to the Lisbon Treaty. I imagine that that will be allowed to stand. Millbanks (talk) 09:26, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Edits removing inconvient facts

Some edits were made some time ago regarding allegations of involvement in murder; were these ever resolved? Titanium Dragon 23:40, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

• The edits, or the allegations? In either case, more specifics would be handy... Alai 12:12, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

For what it's worth, my comments on the 2007 election results, based on an article in The Irish Times, have twice been deleted. Millbanks 22:50, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

That edit? Fair play to whoever reverted that, that's unsourced POV commentary. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 22:54, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, but are you referring to an article by the Political Editor of The Irish Times as "unsourced POV commentary"? Millbanks 23:09, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes I am thanks. WP:CITE is your friend. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 23:11, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

OK, thanks. Presumably that means that you've read the article, otherwise you would not refer to it in that way. Now, please tell us why you regard it as "unsourced POV commentary". Millbanks 08:44, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

which I assume means that, if the article can be found and cited, the statement can go back in again. See also template:Who since it matters who said it. --Red King 23:39, 24 August 2007 (UTC).

Red King said it best. "Unsourced POV commentary" isn't difficult to understand, but I'll make this simpler. Unsourced - you didn't cite a source. POV - we attribute POV to people. Commentary - self explanatory, someone is commentating on Sinn Féin. In an ideal world anything you add to an article should be sourced. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 14:54, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. My source is an article in The Irish Times of 14 July 2007 by Political Correspondent, Mark Hennessy. If, as seems to be the case, you have not read the article in question, you should refrain from criticising it. Millbanks 16:04, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

You don't seem to understand policy. Regardless of the content of the article, it is written by a political commentator. Looking at the content you added, it includes POV, that cannot be disputed. POV can be included in articles, but it must be attributed. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 16:10, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

You're right. I don't understand "policy". I've had all sorts of "uncomfortable" entries deleted and been accused of "trolling". Meanwhile, semi-literate, racist, sectarian rubbish remains undeleted. I've complained about these, but to no avail. If you want an "encyclopedia" like that, then you're heading in the right direction. Millbanks 20:59, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Im afraid you dont understand policy one night in hackney, it dosent matter if a source takes a POV, all spurces generally are, especially to do with politics, what matters is that the source is notable, and that it is goven due weight balanced with other views, and wikipedia does not endorse one of these views over another.86.138.254.99 (talk) 15:03, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm afraid I do understand policy, that's why I said "POV can be included in articles, but it must be attributed" right above. Please read discussions before leaping in feet first. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 15:16, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Your weak spot of course, is that it WAS attributed: to an article in The Irish Times. Millbanks (talk) 22:50, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

No it was not. BigDunc^Talk 22:55, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh dear. The source was an article in The Irish Times of 14 July 2007 by Political Correspondent, Mark Hennessy. Millbanks (talk) 08:49, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

That edit was not attributed. ONIH is right, BigDunc is right, you are not. Domer48 (talk) 18:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Well I edited the article, putting in my source, but it was still deleted. But note, the phrase, "despite predictions of gain" still remains. Why not delete that too? It's not sourced. Be consistent, lads. Millbanks (talk) 22:15, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Sourced =/= attributed, please read the discussion above. Domer48 (talk) 22:55, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Look, I put in the source of the comments about Sinn Fein in the 2007 elections (Irish Times; correspondent; date). OK, so it was deleted. But my next point was this. Why then was the phrase, "despite predictions of gain" allowed to stand? It's true, of course. Here in the Republic many people believed that Sinn Féin would gain seats. But the comment isn't sourced. Yet it's allowed to stand. If I were a pedant I could ask for chapter and verse: "who predicted the gains; where; when, etc". You see what I mean - be consistent. Millbanks (talk) 08:29, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

You're wasting your time Millbanks, the provos supporters and apologists won't left anything critical of the Shinners into Wikipedia. They not terrorists of course but Volunteers, and sure those people that they blew up, sure they were only a bunch of aul protestants anyways and there deaths advanced the cause of Irish unity, in ways no sane people cam understand. Well, the Shinners got there comeuppance last year, when there much hyped electoral gains failed to materialise, Terrorists in government, No Thanks!

test proposition

I removed the Eoin O’Malley section because it lacks context. For example no mention is made of the paper or the author. That it is a test proposition is also omitted. If there is some context and clarity added it may be useful, but Eoin’s notability must be included. --Domer48 09:45, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

History

Whatever truth is in this, it's not important enough for the intro para:

"The name originally came from a newspaper that was printed as a local paper in Oldcastle, County Meath. Arthur Griffith asked the publishers if he could use the name of their paper for a new political party that he was setting up and they gave him permission to use the paper's name."

For now I've removed it altogether, as there's a more pressing issue: the history section here is longer than the entire article History of Sinn Féin. Wikipedia:Summary style means the history section here should be a summary of that article, not the other way round. The hatnote says "This article is about the present-day Sinn Féin party led by Gerry Adams. For the history of the party since its inception to 1970, see History of Sinn Féin." jnestorius^(talk) 00:56, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

The intro really needs some work

The quality of the writing is generally sub-par (especially the statement that "the name most commonly refers to the party about which this article is written.") This statement is, aside from being laughable, extremely vague...it is more appropriate to say the incarnation of Sinn Fein which exists today is the party that is associated with the Provisional IRA, and was known previously as Provisional Sinn Fein. The introduction which we had several months ago was much, MUCH better. I propose that we restore it, or at least re-write the existing one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.146.173.252 (talk • contribs) 22:10, 16 January 2008

The party was never known as provisional Sinn Féin that was a media tag, and dosent belong in the lead.--Padraig (talk) 21:21, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, but it's a media tag that gained some degree of acceptance. It is at least important to establish the current incarnation's ties to the PIRA. You are avoiding the main issue at hand here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.146.173.252 (talk) 01:58, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Also, it seems that the current (inadequate) revision was written by Jtoal431, an admitted teenager.

There is no such party as Provisional Sinn Féin no matter what the media say. BigDunc (talk) 09:54, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Fine, but you are still ignoring the rest of the issue at hand, which is mentioning their link to the PIRA. If you aren't going to say anything useful, do not bother speaking. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.146.132.220 (talk) 18:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Intro still needs work. It's not clear at all and tends to confuse more than it explains. I suggest a gentle but pedagogical rewrite.--Stunion (talk) 16:26, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I have cut the lead to the bare facts, if you wish to build it up from there?--Domer48 (talk) 17:45, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

I have re-written the lead in a similar style to other modern political parties. I think putting anything else in should be secondary to tidying up the article itself. Scolaire (talk) 08:29, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Well done Scolaire, nice work. --Domer48 (talk) 10:20, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Kevin Street

Sinn Féin (Kevin Street) was redirected here in late 2005, but the redirect was reverted yesterday with the edit summary "(No-one appears to have edited the corresponding article to make the changes (c.f. Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) ). Suggest a relisting/renewed debated"

I see no benefit in a permastub article on that name, so I have reverted the redirect, but suggest that some of the text from that stub should be incorporated in this article:

Sinn Féin (Kevin Street) was a name sometimes used in the 1970s in the Republic of Ireland to refer to the party then generally called Provisional Sinn Féin (now Sinn Féin).

Its rival Sinn Féin, Official Sinn Féin used the name Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) to draw attention to its continued ownership and usage of the traditional Sinn Féin headquarters in Gardiner Place in the centre of Dublin. In response, to draw attention to where it could be contacted, Provisional Sinn Féin began to use the name Sinn Féin (Kevin Street).

The name died out in the mid 1970s.

--BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 03:08, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

On the subject of redirects, can someone decide whether Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)/Pro-Treaty Sinn Fein and Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty)/Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin should really redirect to this article? I know there's been plenty of splits, but this is just downright confusing. One Night In Hackney₃₀₃ 03:12, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Some should do a family tree of Irish Political Parties if such a thing is possible in Wikipedia. --Gramscis cousin (talk) 09:04, 23 May 2008 (UTC)