Sinn Féin can never be accused of inconsistency when it comes to one plank of party policy: a century-old practice of abstentionism.
A total of 18 Sinn Féin candidates are running in the British election tomorrow — an election in which the party could overtake the DUP to become the biggest in Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin’s vote surged in March’s snap Assembly election, with their best ever performance putting them only one seat short of the DUP’s majority. This time around, several constituencies are major battlegrounds, and the party could win Fermanagh and South Tyrone, South Down, and Belfast North, among others.
Even if this historic shift in the balance of power comes to pass, the successful MPs will still refuse to take their seats in the House of Commons. This stance is increasingly bizarre and destructive in light of the potentially enormous problems facing the North as Brexit approaches.
That Sinn Féin clings on to abstentionism is ironic, given that their March electoral surge was in part due to nationalist fears over the North’s post-Brexit future, particularly the fear of a hard border. This was reflected in last summer’s referendum result when Northern Ireland’s 56 per cent vote to remain was trumped by the UK’s 52 per cent vote to leave. Unless Sinn Féin take their seats, Northern Ireland will continue to be represented in Westminster by MPs who largely backed Brexit.
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A Sinn Féin majority among Northern Irish parties in the House of Commons would be an unwelcome result for Theresa May. Assuming the Conservatives manage to fend off the late surge by the Labour Party and return to power, the polls suggest that it will be by a much narrower margin than predicted. Some polls even suggest the possibility of a hung parliament.
In previous similar scenarios, the Unionist MPs have used their bloc to great advantage as a bargaining chip. With so much at stake for the region as the EU and Britain prepare to begin Brexit negotiations, it seems unconscionable that Sinn Féin would turn away from such a valuable hand of cards in this high-stakes showdown.
Westminster remains the only parliament boycotted by Sinn Féin, on the basis that no Irish republican could take the parliamentary oath, swearing allegiance to the Queen as head of state.
However, it is time for the party leaders in the North who are not rooted in the party’s troubled past, such as Michelle O’Neill, to re-examine this policy. Sinn Féin led the way in peace talks after they understood that real change could only be effected by being inside the political tent, rather than outside it.
Here in the south, Sinn Féin took an alternative form of abstentionism, choosing not to participate in the protracted talks last spring to put together a government after a deadlocked election. It is easier to sit on the sidelines and hurl rocks, than roll up sleeves and get stuck into the unglamorous — and often unpopular — business of running a country. Taking their seats in Westminster would show that Sinn Féin MPs are serious about their opposition to a hard Brexit. The party could conceivably find itself in the best of both worlds, by bringing influence to bear on the governments in Dublin and in London.
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Abandoning abstentionism would take courage and likely alienate the party’s core republican support in the North. But it could help the party appeal to voters who want the best Brexit outcome for the North, and who want their politicians to be at all the tables when the negotiations are underway. Whether Sinn Féin has this courage is a matter of doubt.