Siobhán Fenton, a media adviser to Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, has published an insider account titled “Ourselves Alone: Sinn Féin Behind Closed Doors” that documents how the party’s anticipated rise to power in Irish politics was disrupted by a groundswell of anti-immigrant sentiment. The book chronicles a critical incident in May 2024 when Fenton was canvassing in Dublin and was struck by coins thrown from a balcony while a voice shouted anti-immigration slogans, an episode that foreshadowed the party’s electoral troubles ahead.
Sinn Féin had appeared positioned for historic success following strong performance in a general election earlier this decade, where it secured 24.5% of first preference votes, surpassing the two centrist parties that had dominated Irish politics. After becoming the largest party in Northern Ireland in 2022, the organization seemed primed to lead a government in the Republic. However, the party faced a cascade of challenges that party leadership failed to adequately address. These included missteps by McDonald regarding police accountability and housing prices, but more significantly, a failure to counter xenophobic narratives gaining traction among grassroots supporters amid housing shortages, cost-of-living pressures, and increased migration.
Fenton attributes the party’s blind spot partly to the effects of pandemic restrictions and reduced grassroots engagement, which left leadership unaware of the extent to which conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim sentiment had taken root among supporters. Far-right activists had infiltrated traditional Sinn Féin strongholds, particularly working-class communities, where the party faced accusations of betrayal for not adopting stricter immigration policies. Rather than winning decisively in local and European elections in May 2024, the party hemorrhaged support, and subsequent general election results kept the existing coalition government in power.
Fenton suggests the party should have engaged in direct community conversations to address legitimate concerns while firmly rejecting scapegoating of immigrants and refugees. The immigration issue remains contentious for Sinn Féin, caught between factions demanding harsher restrictions and those advocating solidarity. Fenton’s contract was not renewed following the electoral setbacks, and she has since left party membership to pursue work as a writer and analyst in Belfast.
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