Bandwagons and Bohs: Sinn Féin’s Naked Opportunism

As in soccer, so too in life. Bohemians FC sell far more jerseys than they have fans, because of clever marketing shtick. Refugees Welcome, Palestine, Oasis, Kneecap, Guinness, even Dublin Bus moquette: stick a more popular bandwagon on your jersey and fools like me, who don’t enjoy foreign games, but do enjoy Refugees Being Welcome, will buy it. I suspect, however, that the Venn diagram of Oasis enjoyers and soccer enjoyers is a circle. Bohs’ PR is, of course, the brainchild of Dublin lefty royalty Luke O’Riordan, who, after a stint at the decidedly not lefty Murdoch press, now also doubles as Mary Lou McDonald and Sinn Féin’s communications guy.

Perhaps it’s his experience in flogging jerseys to the gullible that inspired Sinn Féin’s latest strategy of jumping on any bandwagon going, usually with little success. I’ll admit there’s a logic to some of Sinn Féin’s recent policies: communities that suffered most from the brutal Fine Gael-Labour slashing of public services are the least equipped to deal with the complex needs of integration, language learning, school places and GP appointments that a sudden increase in population demands.

The real issue—both for those of us of a progressive persuasion and otherwise—is that we all see through Sinn Féin’s naked opportunism. The first ‘East Wall Says No’ protest took place in November 2022. Those of us from the area, who were engaged on the ground, remember Sinn Féin going missing in action, despite pleading calls and emails. Indeed, it took two whole years, and a brutal showing in the Local and European elections, for them to surface to launch their updated immigration policy, in a rushed attempt to claw back votes for the General Election.

It is not impossible to imagine an alternative timeline where, as the party commanding the largest share of the working-class vote, they met the challenge of balancing anti-racism and decency with the material realities and anxieties of working-class communities to make these, or similar, arguments earlier.

In messages to several Sinn Féin elected representatives in January 2023, I pleaded for the party to adopt a combative 'resources, not racism' argument. Like so many others, I was ignored. The cost of this is stark: in this alternative timeline, where Sinn Féin proved equal to this challenge, not only would this have nipped the nascent Irish far-right in the bud, but Mary Lou McDonald would also likely be the first female and left-of-centre Taoiseach of the State right now.

All of which brings me neatly to the latest bandwagon Sinn Féin is attempting to jump on: yesterday’s fuel protests. The party’s slick PR machine is throwing everything it can at this: legislation tabled in the Dáil, TDs out at public meetings, and most recently, a demand for the Dáil to be recalled. To be clear, I don’t disagree with any of Sinn Féin’s proposed measures. They are sensible, short-term, stopgap solutions to the hardship being faced by households across the country as we speak. What I do disagree with is the party’s continued naked opportunism and failure to engage honestly with working-class communities.

To be fair, Sinn Féin has been forthright and consistent in their condemnation of the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran. They have not, however, dared to join the dots: afraid of upsetting the cozy Washington-Ireland consensus, or afraid of straying too far from the right-wing bullshit that the worst amadán in every village and townland across the country is sharing on Facebook.

Fuel prices across the country have gone up for one reason and one reason alone: an illegal war waged by genocidal maniacs in Washington and Tel Aviv. It is important to say this, because the honest truth is that being dependent on fossil fuels to heat your home or get to work, much the same as being dependent on American foreign direct investment to create jobs, is to be dependent on the whims of the United States. And the United States is not a reliable, much less, ethical, partner.

A party that respects the working class is honest with the working class. While short-term tax cuts can cushion us from today’s hardship, future-proofing homes, commutes, jobs, and salaries across the country requires genuine socialist republican solutions. It requires massive state investment in renewable energy and universal public transport, and a drive to create quality, unionised Irish jobs.

In trying to chase polling, focus groups, our centre-right media, and middle-class respectability, Sinn Féin have lost their way. Packed to the rafters with Washington-Ireland Programme and Murdoch alumni, they are now afraid to talk to the working class, and afraid to present left solutions to our problems. Working-class members, with genuine engagement and popularity in their communities, meanwhile, increasingly report being pushed to the side.

Perhaps this is why the best the north’s Economy Minister, Dr Caoimhe Archibald, can do is repeat the mistakes of the FF/FG cabal in Dublin: fly to the United States to beg for more FDI from tech bros.