This decade has been one of renewed strength and electoral influence for Sinn Féin. Under the leadership of Mary Lou McDonald, the party has established itself as a major force in the country’s south, finishing second in successive elections and steadily increasing its number of TDs, while in the Six Counties it achieved an historic precedent by Michelle O’Neill becoming the administration’s First Minister—achieving this in a statelet whose electoral structures were deliberately drawn up to ensure a unionist majority.
In this moment, Tribune’s Sean Waters sat down with Sinn Féin national chair Declan Kearney to discuss the potentials and pitfalls of such success, from whether the party has reached a political ceiling in the South, how it is navigating its commitments to international solidarity, and—as Irish reunification shifts from distant aspiration to practical question—whether it can translate recent victories into a coherent pathway to reunification.
Sean Waters: Sinn Féin is the only political force in the world that is as welcome in Washington D.C. as it is in Havana. At a moment of global turmoil, what is Sinn Féin’s approach to its relationship with the United States in an increasingly volatile world?
Declan Kearney: The United States played an instrumental role in laying the foundations for the Irish peace process. Our history tells us that the only geopolitical leverage that has ever mattered in applying pressure to the British government on Irish questions has come from within the United States.
That sits alongside a clear understanding that the United States, particularly in the last year, has been in aggressive violation of the United Nations Charter and has been directly responsible for breaching international law and colluding with the Israeli regime in the ongoing violations of international law in relation to the occupation, genocide and annexation of Palestine.
SW: Sinn Féin declined to visit the White House for St Patrick’s Day this year. Do you see that as potentially damaging to the need for the U.S. to be an honest broker in the north of Ireland?
DK: We’re fundamentally anti-imperialist in our outlook. We are progressive internationalists. As a people who experienced imperial domination, occupation, genocide and mass starvation, we recognise those injustices when they are inflicted elsewhere.
We will be unapologetic in our support for the Palestinian people and their national and democratic rights. We will be unapologetic in our support for the people of Cuba and their right to live in peaceful coexistence with their neighbours. The blockade against Cuba needs to be lifted, and Sinn Féin supports the position of the majority of UN member states calling for its end.
We are also clear about the need for the primacy of international law and the application of the UN Charter, including respect for self-determination and national sovereignty. And those principles are being violated in Cuba, Venezuela, Palestine and Iran.
SW: It might help British readers if you could explain the Irish policy of neutrality, which seems to be coming under increasing pressure.
DK: Yes, it is under pressure, but that pressure is out of step with public opinion. It is being driven by an Irish government that increasingly appears incoherent in its approach to foreign policy.
The positions articulated by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, suggest he is an outlier even within his own government, taking solo runs on the future of Irish foreign policy. This includes abandoning neutrality, aligning with increased militarisation in Europe and even considering association with a European Defence Army.
All of that runs directly counter to Sinn Féin’s approach. We support enshrining Irish neutrality in legislation and in the Constitution.
SW: In the North of Ireland, as in Britain, the public is opposed to military intervention, and tens of thousands have marched against the British government’s position on Israel’s actions in Gaza. Do you think neutrality makes Irish unity more attractive?
DK: I think neutrality is increasingly central given recent global events. The role of the United States, alongside Israel, and the alignment of the British government and the European Union, has exposed contradictions and hypocrisy that have not been lost on ordinary people.
Irish people, particularly younger generations, instinctively align with international law and anti-colonial struggles. The war in Gaza, the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and the wider treatment of the Palestinian people have politicised a new generation.
This was reflected in the presidential election, where international politics became a decisive issue in Catherine Connolly’s victory.
There is a broader shift underway. Some refer to the ‘Kneecap generation’, and there is something in that. A new generation has been politicised by international events, by the struggle over the Irish language, and by a growing consciousness of decolonisation.
SW: During the last general election in the republic, Sinn Féin gained seats but its vote share fell. Is there still momentum behind Irish unity? And are you still on track for a unity referendum within ten years?
DK: The discussion around Irish unity has never had such momentum in my political lifetime. All sections of Irish society, including opponents of unity, are now engaged in a debate about the constitutional future.
Constitutional change is not simply about ending partition and transferring sovereignty. Sinn Féin, alongside much of the Irish left, envisages a new constitutional settlement and a new republic. This means transforming the economic model so that political decisions are made in the interests of the many, not the few.
SW: Would a Nigel Farage government threaten that timeline? Could Irish unity only realistically happen under a progressive government?
DK: Irish unity needs to be achieved through a managed transition, with careful planning and preparation. That will be best accomplished with engaged and willing partners prepared to meet their obligations and work collaboratively to bring about a smooth, democratic transition from the current status quo, through a unity referendum, and then, with democratic momentum and political support, achieve reunification.
I’m not a clairvoyant, but if you cast your mind back to the Brexit referendum, Brexit came about as a direct result of a civil war within the British Conservative Party. The majority of people in the North and Scotland voted to remain within the EU. In Irish terms, the imposition of Brexit had a fundamentally destabilising effect on politics and the post-Brexit economic landscape. Brexit swept away all constitutional, political, and economic assumptions that prevailed at that time about the future of the North and relations between the island of Ireland and the island of Britain.
What that tells me is that Westminster and British interference in Irish affairs is bad because it has given us austerity, parliamentary theatrics and political chaos. When the English right is in the ascendancy, that is inevitably much worse for Irish society. I think that, given the experience of Brexit, people will see clearly that anything other than a managed transition based on democratic accommodation and agreement will be bad for Irish affairs, and may further radicalise Irish opinion and push people to conclude that there is no future for Ireland under the influence of British politicians.
There’s not a single English politician, be they Labour, Tory, or Reform, who will ever act in the political and economic interests of Irish citizens, regardless of their allegiance. We will only succeed when we have complete control over our own affairs.
SW: We’ve seen in recent years an emergence of a different sort of nationalism in the southern state—far right elements growing in prominence. How do you see this almost ‘competitor nationalism’ playing into the unity story and Sinn Féin’s future prospects of getting into government?
DK: Well, it’s the diametric opposite to the origins of Irish republicanism, which is fundamentally progressive, fundamentally internationalist, and people-centred, and entirely about the reconquest of Ireland, to borrow a phrase from James Connolly.
That reactionary section that has emerged and mobilised in recent years is reflective of a global phenomenon. We see it here in Britain, across Europe and the United States. I don’t see evidence of it gaining a toehold in Irish society because it is the antithesis of everything that is good in Irish society.
We have a saying in the Irish language: Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine—we live in each other’s shadow. I think that Irish people instinctively, culturally, give expression to that in terms of how we approach society, how we approach life and community. It should not be missed that outside forces are directly involved in attempting to manipulate and to stoke that particular so-called political element within Irish society. But be sure of this: it’s a reactionary political expression. It is successfully tapping into genuine, unrealised discontent within Irish society.
Some of these reactionary elements are actively trying to weaponize genuine concerns in the midst of our housing crisis, our health crisis and the pressures on our education system, to try and make the case that this justifies the extreme nationalist ideas that they are trying to promote and with which they are trying to poison and distort Irish politics. I don’t believe that they’ll succeed in doing that.
Declan Kearney is the National Chairman of Sinn Féin.
Sean Waters is a Labour councillor for Waltham Cross and Tribune’s Circulation Manager.