Catherine Connolly
AFTER MUCH agonising and ideological debate about downgrading the central demand for a united Ireland, Sinn Féin’s ard chomhairle (AC) is likely to endorse the left unity campaign of Catherine Connolly. A decision – if an AC meeting can be arranged in time – will be announced at the party’s away-day meeting on September 8 and 9.
Initial consultations with its members led to a 60:40 divide in favour of a unity candidate but that was when the clearly republican Frances Black was assumed to be the unity candidate. Given that Connolly was not considered to be as, em, straightforward in her anti-colonial outlook in Ireland as, say, Gaza, a second round of discussions among members took place.
This saw Belfast members express a clear preference for an SF candidate but this was not decisive in swaying the party as a whole, which seemed to be evenly divided. However, Connolly’s visit to Belfast and a statement about a united Ireland being a priority for her had the desired effect among some previously sceptical quarters.
Other factors that blunted the demand for a party candidate were that Mary Lou McDonald was regarded as too valuable in a future general election to risk being damaged by a poor presidential result. Similarly, Michelle O’Neill was too important to northern politics to be diverted to a likely wasted effort in the south.
Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty was seen as most impressive going on the offensive but perhaps too adversarial under fire for a presidential persona, while Rose Conway-Walsh would be a good candidate but has little or no national profile. And while they might all deny it, none of the above mentioned potential candidates had the appetite for a presidential campaign as opposed to a general election.
These political and personal attitudes mean that no section of the membership is likely to try and subvert the party decision, as in the Labour Party, but not every member will devote all of their time, energy and resources to getting Connolly elected.
Connolly’s undoubted resilience under fire – as witnessed when being interrogated on RTÉ’s This Week last Sunday – will be seriously tested as she attempts to avoid presenting the media with ammunition about past IRA activities and also avoid alienating older SF members, who will not countenance condemnation of the Troubles.
