Republican News · Thursday 31 January 2002

Sinn Féin sets the pace

Poll results will spur activists and scare opponents

Sinn Féin workers, activists, party members and voters throughout the island can this week take heart. The MRBI/Irish Times opinion poll results will have been an encouraging sign for Sinn Féin activists across the island. Sinn Féin was the only party that showed a growth in voter support.

Sinn Féin is the defining issue in Irish politics today. Efforts on the ground are bearing fruit. More and more people are recognising the benefits of the party's radical economic, social and political agenda. Through republicans' work for a just and inclusive Ireland, the status quo is being undermined and the establishment is running scared.

The hard work of canvassing, campaigning and providing effective local representation is not just filling the void left by the establishment parties in Irish political life today. It is also swinging public opinion away from the tired and increasingly meaningless politics of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Progressive Democrats.

It is undermining the politics of winning and holding onto power for its own sake. We will replace it with an agenda for sharing wealth and building an Ireland of equals.

The coming months are crucial; the other political parties and the institutions they represent will try to undermine our efforts at every stage. But the campaign of disinformation run against Sinn Féin since the successes in last year's Westminster and local elections as well the Nice referendum victory is clearly failing.

By redoubling our efforts in the run up to the May election, we can give ourselves every chance of making real the worst fears of the establishment and in the process advance our progress towards a United Ireland.