Sinn Féin problems in Dublin

Edit – Sinn Féin Keep Left have confirmed the author of the document as Killian Forde.

After my post about Killian Forde’s resignation from SF, and some of the problems which I (as an outsider) thought were being experienced by SF in Dublin, I received a copy of a document from an impeccable source (who has asked not to be named).  The document was sent to the Officer Board of Dublin Sinn Féin after the June elections, but they have yet to provide any responses to the author.

The document begins in a very pessimistic fashion, showing how badly morale had been damaged by the elections:

In my opinion Sinn Féin is in serious and potentially critical decline in Dublin.
The organisation has too few members, a shortage of electable GE candidates and a membership that is frustrated and tired.
Looking at the next GE election the most likely scenario, as it now stands, is that we will lose our seat in Dublin South Central. We will also fall far short of securing seats in Dublin South West, Dublin North West, Dublin Central and Dublin North East.

And the following line shows not just the feelings of the author, but also a sentiment which I have heard expressed from many members of Sinn Féin in Dublin:

We are one election away from being totally irrelevant in Dublin and the south in general.

The remainder of the document sets out twelve areas in which Dublin Sinn Féin (and Sinn Féin in general in the south) need to focus to improve processes, target resources and build an organisation.  I list these areas below, and then provide my own brief analysis of these recommendations (generally speaking, I think the recommendations speak for themselves):

Contest a maximum of five constituencies in the next GE.

Do not contest Dublin Central.

Cumann who are not in areas elected for contesting the next GE are put into hibernation and the personnel redeployed to the target constituencies.

Organise a convention and select candidate to stand in next years Dublin Mayoral Election by October 2009.

Dublin Sinn Féin should encourage prospective candidates to put their name forward to ensure there is a healthy debate and competition internally for the Mayoral position.

Ensure an experienced DOE is appointed by October 2009 for the Mayoral election.

Provide appropriate targeted and tailored training for the candidates selected to run in the next GE.

Monitor the employment of personnel to ensure that all posts are publicly advertised and the hiring process transparent and fair.

Encourage the TDs offices to develop a quicker and more autonomous response to political developments.

Allow policy sub committees to do their work and drafts to be presented to the membership, not the A/C or General Secretary’s office, first.

Dublin SF should put forward candidates for all A/C positions for the 2010 Ard Fheis.

Start challenging decision making by the national officer board, because it now seems obvious that no one else will.

1. – 3. are obviously interlinked, expressing a view that SF should only contest Dublin South-Central, Dublin South-West, Dublin North-West, Dublin North-East and Dublin Mid-West.  The view is expressed that contesting more constituencies (including Dublin Central) will spread limited resources too thin, and that all activists should be temporarily transferred to achieve gains in these five constituencies.  From the information I have received about Eoin O Broin being a likely candidate in Dublin West, it appears that the intention of the SF leadership is to ignore these recommendations.

4. – 6. are all related to the Dublin mayoralty election.  No candidate has yet been selected, nor has a DOE for the campaign, and I’ve heard nothing about SF organising an open convention to select their candidate.  Again, it appears that the intention of the SF leadership is to ignore these recommendations.  As it happens, I would personally question the wisdom of SF contesting the Dublin mayoralty, except to raise the profile of one of their GE candidates.  Given their current weakness in the city, the odds of them being serious contenders are very limited indeed.

7. is a very sensible suggestion, that you would expect to be provided by all political parties.  I have no idea whether any action has been taken on this item.

8. is a rather explosive item, suggesting that SF has not been publicly advertising vacancies, and that unsuitable people have been employed by the party.  The document is scathing in this area, stating quite clearly that managerial appointments in Leinster House had included people with no management experience, that the DOE for Mary Lou’s campaign had never participated in an campaign of any form, and that the Head of Publicity has no PR or marketing experience.  If these allegations are true, it appears that SF have bizarre recruitment procedures to say the least.

9. – 12. all seem to be based on challenging the current power structures within the party.  These proposals clearly seek to draw power down to the elected representatives and local structures, and away from the party leadership.  The text of the document includes the following two lines which illustrate the nature of the difficulties perceived by the author:

The power and associated decision-making in the party lies with individuals not embedded structures.
There is little tolerance for dissenting opinions and nowhere for people to take those opinions.

Most of all, this document further proves the severe difficulties faced by Sinn Féin in Dublin (and in the south more broadly).