Aontú leader, Peader Tóibín, has stated that Sinn Féin has evolved into an overly centralised party which is losing touch with its former supporters in several regions within the Republic. Tóibín, shared this insight on the Irish Border Poll podcast, stating that a select few at the top run this centrally managed party and are responsible for decision-making.
Under Gerry Adams’ leadership, Tóibín recalls, extreme left ideologists and traditional, more conservative, republicans managed to stick together, despite their contrasting views. Regardless of one’s criticism of Adams, his presence was the force that kept these diverse factions together quite sturdily, Tóibín remarked.
This situation started to shift around ten years ago, according to Tóibín, when Sinn Féin began adopting a left-leaning stance on social issues, while muffling different perspectives. Today, Tóibín interprets Sinn Féin as transitioning to the centre and broadening into a party for everyone in the South to garner adequate backing and emerge as the major party post the forthcoming general elections.
Although Tóibín considers Mary Lou McDonald an accomplished leader, he firmly believes that she has routinely lost ground on multiple issues over the past few years. He cited the recent referendums, which received strong backing from NGOs funded by the state, as an instance of the political isolation within the Republic’s politics. This NGO backing influenced the stance of political parties, such as Sinn Féin and the Labour Party.
This condition has driven Sinn Féin into an irrational scenario where the party’s top brass are falling out of step with their own members, Tóibín said on the podcast.
Mr. Tóibín explained, using Ballyfermot as an example where vote turnover in referendums was 90 per cent against both proposed language changes, that there was considerable opposition throughout the working-class areas of Dublin. He voiced his fervent support for the unification of Ireland, whilst suggesting that the necessary referendum could not be too far into the future. He stressed the need for proactive, all-around planning and orchestration of investment across the island.
In his view, the border represented hundreds of societal sectors, each with its own complexities – whether health care, emergency aviation services, planning or the Irish language itself. Mr. Tóibín maintained that immediate cooperative efforts were needed to tackle these specific issues: his reasoning being that such joint planning and execution of services carry no threats or risks, but would rather result in efficiencies.
Furthermore, this would result in improved services at lower costs and would make the concept of unity seem less intimidating to the public, given that they will be witnessing beneficial collaborations, despite some degree of apprehension towards change.
Mr. Tóibín objected to an economic paper written by John FitzGerald and Edgar Morgenroth, terming it ‘a tool of terror’. This paper projected the cost of unifying Ireland to be roughly €20 billion annually for two decades, in his opinion, it was orchestrated purely to instill fear into the populace.
Additionally, he dismissed Sinn Féin’s suggestion to engage citizen assemblies in discourse over Ireland’s unity; instead, he championed a formalised version of a New Ireland Forum rooted in the 1980’s, which would welcome a comprehensive range of opinions from across the country.
In the interim, he postulated that the administration of Stormont must be solidified and that a considerable extension of power should be given to it, inclusive of control over corporate taxation with more decentralisation across Ireland.