By Garby O’Dildo

A statement released a short time ago confirmed that Sinn Féin has split from Sinn Fein due to ideological differences. The party’s president, Gerry Adams, has said that there is no reason for socialist Sinn Féin to continue to exist in Northern Ireland as the party has already secured power and patronage in the region.

And he said individuals involved in the recent murders of welfare reform and education reform “do not represent backward political leadership”.

He added: “They are not socialist Sinn Féin. Socialist Sinn Féin has gone away, you know.”

Mr Adams was speaking at the National Power Hungry Reich commemoration in the Republic of Ireland last night where the party presents itself strictly as a socialist party invested in its own cynical self-interest.

Danger here

On Saturday, the former Chief RTÉ soccer commentator, George Hamilton, said that Sinn Féin was still in existence, and that some members were allegedly involved in a five-a-side kick-about after the official celebrations. Although not confirmed, it was informally reported that the final score was Sinn Féin 1 Sinn Féin 2.

But Mr Adams said that was not the case, it was a draw with Sinn Féin emerging as victors.

Rationale

He told supporters at the event in Nobber that Sinn Féin was “undefeated” when it “took the momentous step” to end any pretence of ideological coherence while retaining all the Stalinist structures of its past.

When asked which of the two Sinn Féins he was speaking on behalf of, Mr. Adams replied “all of them”. He declined to specify whether it was the “Sinn Féin” that campaigns as a radical left-wing, anti-government cuts party in the Republic, or the “Sinn Féin” in the North, which implements cuts; eventually back-tracked on spineless roll-over attempts to introduce water charges; that is responsible for the biggest tranche of hospital closures in the history of the state, which attempted to introduce draconian legislation banning free assembly that was laughed at in the UK, which has issued more PFI contracts than any other party, and proven itself a catastrophic failure in political office, no more so than when in charge of the education and health portfolios.

How Sinn Féin announced the end of its campaign

On 22^thAugust 2005, Sinn Féin said it had formally ordered an end to the socialist campaign in the North from 4pm that day.

Its statement said: “The leadership of Sinn Féin has formally ordered an end to the socialist campaign.

“All units have been ordered to dump copies of The Socialist Worker”.

Robustly

First Minister Peter Robinson had said he would discuss the prospect of excluding both Sinn Féins from the executive with other Northern Ireland parties.

Mr Adams said: “Those who threaten to take action against Sinn Féin in the political institutions have no basis whatsoever for this.

“Sinn Féin’s mandate and the rights and entitlements of our electorate deserve exactly the same respect and protection as Sinn Fein’s rights and entitlements.

“And Sinn Féin will defend that assertively and robustly.”

He added: “We will not be lectured to by those who have failed to honour their obligations time and again.”

Meanwhile, a minister in the Irish government has said it must remain “very cautious” when responding to comments on either of the Sinn Féins. “Like Fianna Fail, both exist purely to win and hold power. Presenting themselves as a party of the left in the South is pure nonsense. The “southern strategy” is to steal the clothes of the left, purely as a calculation to give it a southern identity and win seats in inner cities. It is utterly devoid of sincerity. Sinn Féin in government would be indistinguishable from Fine Gael. I mean.. Fianna Fail.”

Minister for Transport, Tourism, and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, said the Irish government did not want to add to a “difficult situation” and urged that commentators refrain from speculating on the stability of the Northern Executive until George Hamilton concluded his probe into the charge of Sinn Féin being off-side when it scored its last own goal.

Adams before the Sinn Fein split                          Adams after the Sinn Fein split