Category Archives: Sinn Fein

I believe that Gerry Adams is one of the world’s great liars

Posted on Monday, 2 June, 2025 by andypollak

The cynic would say that politicians always lie. But, led by the example of the current President of the United States, we are in an era of political leaders speaking astonishing untruths to a degree that I have never witnessed … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

One reason to vote Sinn Fein in this week’s election, and six reasons not to

Posted on Wednesday, 27 November, 2024 by andypollak
Posted in Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 1 Comment

One reason to vote Sinn Fein in this week’s election, and six reasons not to

Posted on Sunday, 24 November, 2024 by andypollak

We in the South have a general election this week. The campaign has been an uninspiring one, with the three expected topics dominating debate: housing, the cost of living and (to a lesser extent) immigration. If you are under 35 … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Oh, ah, up the Ra’: they killed 1,771 people in the North and some gardaí too. Was it all worth it?

Posted on Thursday, 29 August, 2024 by andypollak

Young people chanting ‘Oh, ah, up the Ra’ is becoming commonplace in nationalist – and not-so-nationalist – Ireland. Primary age children were at it during the big homecoming parade for the Olympic team in Dublin earlier this month. And it … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Why I am glad to see the Sinn Féin vote cratering in the Republic

Posted on Thursday, 13 June, 2024 by andypollak

Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised when I say that I am glad to see the Sinn Féin vote cratering in the local and (to a lesser extent) European elections in the Republic. 12% in those local … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein | 3 Comments

Nobody can deny that Michelle O’Neill’s elevation was an historic moment

Posted on Tuesday, 6 February, 2024 by andypollak

Nobody can deny that the installation of Michelle O’Neill as the first nationalist First Minister of Northern Ireland last Saturday was an historic moment. For a statelet that was set up over a century ago specifically to ensure that NI … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein | 1 Comment

A glimpse into the strange, secretive party that stands on the brink of power in Ireland

Posted on Monday, 8 January, 2024 by andypollak

Over the Christmas holidays I read The Long Game: Inside Sinn Fein, by the former Irish Examiner journalist Aoife Moore. I was looking forward to reading this book enormously, since good books on this “strange, secretive party that stands on … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Sinn Fein | 4 Comments

The IRA’s Christmas present to the Niedermayer family: the murder of their father

Posted on Wednesday, 30 August, 2023 by andypollak

Earlier this month I saw ‘Face Down’, a powerful and heartbreaking documentary by the Dublin film-maker Gerry Gregg about the IRA’s 1973 murder of Thomas Niedermayer, the German manager of an electronics factory on the edge of west Belfast. The … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein | 4 Comments

Are we afraid of talking about Ireland’s violent past and possibly violent future?

Posted on Thursday, 30 March, 2023 by andypollak

This is a blog about letters to the newspapers. I know it’s dangerous to generalise from the particular, and especially the particular of one’s own tiny experience. But I can’t help seeing a pattern in recent rejections of my letters … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Sinn Fein | 4 Comments

Is this columnist’s frightening republican vision shared by young Irish people?

Posted on Friday, 28 October, 2022 by andypollak

Una Mullally is a high profile Irish Times columnist: a gay left-wing feminist (although I have never seen or heard her describe herself as a socialist) who is particularly popular among the young. This is not surprising given that one … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Sinn Fein | 6 Comments