Sinn Fein victory in Northern Ireland could signal sea change

[Tanuki]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/04/sinn-fin-victory-northern-ireland-could-represent-sea-change/

"When tourists travel to Belfast today, they often visit the historic sites of a prolonged conflict between Irish republicans who sought to reunite Ireland by force and the British Army and Northern Irish police. The “international wall” with political murals on Falls Road is among their first stops. Here, visitors are greeted at the entrance to the largest Nationalist neighborhoods in Belfast with: Tiocfaidh ar la — Irish for “Our day will come,” a slogan since the 1970s associated with the paramilitary group called the Provisional Irish Republican Army and its political wing, the republican party Sinn Fein.

Nearly a quarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement, which aimed to end the conflict, Sinn Fein is expected to win parliamentary elections May 5. On Easter Sunday, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald traveled from Dublin to Belfast to address a crowd of several thousand supporters. “In Northern Ireland, the past is over,” she proclaimed.

It was once unimaginable that Sinn Fein would hold power in Northern Ireland, where Catholics and republicans alike were long marginalized. But the party has slowly made inroads during and after the conflict. And now, with Brexit putting Irish unification more vividly on the agenda since 2016, Sinn Fein has become the strongest party on the island.
..
While Sinn Fein’s historic electoral success in Northern Ireland may bring the province closer to unification with the Republic of Ireland and back into the E.U., Northern Irish Unionists have not yet accepted that their days are numbered.

The wait might suit Sinn Fein. While the Northern leader of Sinn Fein, Michelle O’Neill, told a conference in February that it is “time to prepare for a United Ireland,” she told newspapers earlier this month, “people are not waking up thinking about Irish unity.”.....(more)

[OnDoutside]

1. It's a seriously worrying outcome for us moderates here in Ireland, which could be destabilised by

a one issue group who will promise anything to anyone for power.

[Tanuki]

2. I do appreciate your observations and thoughts, as you live in

Ireland, and have no doubt followed this closely!

[OnDoutside]

3. Thanks Tanuki

[Irish_Dem]

4. How would a unification work?

EU, healthcare, education, economy, capital, president, etc...

We know the Brits went for Brexit, so the Irish could go for unification?

[Xolodno]

5. This is not a surprise.

Sinn Fein knew time was on their side and would eventually become the majority. Even Dublin knew that, it was just a waiting game. And London has bigger worries, they are trying to keep Scotland, a small enclave in Northern Ireland is the least of its worries.