More than 40 years ago, the galvanising force of the H-block hunger strikes propelled Troubles-era Sinn Féin into electoral politics.
It did not escape the notice of some that Mary Lou McDonald chose a commemoration in Belfast on Sunday for the 10 men who died in 1981 hunger strikes to put forward a rousing case for Irish reunification to be led from Áras an Uachtaráin.
“Whoever” the next president is, she said, “must understand and honour their duties to Irish citizens living in this part of Ireland.
“And must understand also that the days of saying ‘Yes to Unity, but not now’ are over”.
RM Block
Forty-four years on from the byelection that elected Bobby Sands and created the “Armalite and Ballot Box” strategy, a very different Sinn Féin is pondering another election that could define its next era.
The truth from Sinn Féin councillors and TDs is that they do not know at this point if the party will run a candidate in this year’s presidential election or if there is any prospect that person would be Ms McDonald.
In what at least appears to be a small shift in position, members of Sinn Féin’s parliamentary party are now talking more about promoting the themes of a united Ireland in a presidential campaign than they were a month ago.
While there is near-universal recognition of her national profile and canny campaigning skills, a school of thought among Sinn Féin’s councillors is Ms McDonald may be the right presidential candidate at the wrong time.
William Carey, a Sinn Féin councillor on South Dublin County Council, said he felt it could be “premature” to run Ms McDonald now and that it may make more sense for her to do so in seven years’ time.
“I’m not sure we can do without Mary Lou [in the Dáil,] and it would be a huge, huge ask for her to run for president,” he said.
Mr Carey’s views were representative of the overwhelming majority of Sinn Féin councillors who say they think it is important for the party to contest the presidential election, in particular from a “strong Irish unity” position.
There are some anxieties about splitting a left vote by running a Sinn Féin candidate against Independent candidate Catherine Connolly.
However, a chance to push for the cardinal principle of reunification from the most prestigious political office in the country is proving an alluring prospect.
Some in Sinn Féin also point to the duty the party bears to represent the disenfranchised voters in the six counties in a presidential election.
But a number of councillors were anxious that an unsuccessful run for Ms McDonald could in effect mark the end of her political career and make it nigh on impossible for her to return to the Dáil.
Pat Fitzgerald, a Sinn Féin councillor in Waterford, said he felt it would be a “retrograde step” for the party not to run its own candidate. “A party of our size has to take something like this seriously. We have to fly the flag,” he said.
He said he felt the time was right for a woman candidate after 14 years of a male president, but was cautious about Ms McDonald running because of how damaging it could be for the party leader if she lost.
A very small number of councillors were apathetic about a possible leadership change should there be an unsuccessful run for the Áras.
Fionnan Blake, a councillor in Meath, said he felt it was important for Sinn Féin to contest an election to “stay competitive”.
“But I don’t know if the right candidate is there at the minute,” he said.
He said he felt the “timing is wrong” for Ms McDonald to run for president.
P.J. Carey, a Sinn Féin councillor in Limerick, told The Irish Times that if the party were to run a candidate then “it would have to be Mary Lou” and that her campaign would be good for the party.
On the west coast, councillors remain as competitive as their colleagues about the election, but they have more of an affinity to Galway woman Catherine Connolly.
Dermot Connolly, a councillor based in Ballinasloe, said that Sinn Féin was taking its time with the decision “to get it as right as we can possibly get it”.
But he pointed to Ms Connolly’s advocacy on Gaza as well as regional issues such as the downgrading of services at Portiuncula University Hospital as reasons it could be possible to support her.
In Mayo, councillor Gerry Murray said: “All I would say is in the absence of a Sinn Féin candidate, I would be more than happy to back Catherine Connolly. She’d be an excellent president.”
