Sinn Féin's ambition to lead a government in Ireland was derailed by a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, according to a new book by former party media adviser Siobhán Fenton. Her account, 'Ourselves Alone: Sinn Féin Behind Closed Doors', describes how the party's path to power was ambushed.
Fenton, a media adviser to party leader Mary Lou McDonald, recounts an incident in May 2024 while canvassing in Dublin, where she was hit by coins thrown by a man shouting anti-immigrant slogans. This event, she states, foreshadowed an electoral setback for the party.
The book suggests that Sinn Féin leaders were initially unaware of the extent to which anti-immigrant sentiment had taken hold in traditional strongholds. Fenton claims the party was 'blind-sided' and 'paralysed' by the surge in xenophobia, struggling to adapt as the situation 'started to spiral out of control'.
Despite expectations of a historic triumph in a general election, the party remained in opposition following the May 2024 local and European elections and a subsequent general election. Fenton's contract was not renewed, and she is no longer a member of Sinn Féin.