Sinn Féin's Easter lily campaign, one of the party's traditional fundraisers, is to be used to attract more women into the party's ranks, according to its president Gerry Adams.
Once worn by all shades of republican opinion, the lily was first chosen by Cumann na mBan in 1926, with proceeds then going to the republican prisoners' dependents fund.
Over the decades, its use has retreated as rifts developed between former War of Independence allies, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led governments both clamping down on lily sales.
Today, it worn only by Sinn Féin supporters, who use a pin to attach it, while the other veins of republican thinking that led from the Official IRA to Sinn Féin, the Workers Party, Democratic Left and then into Labour, opt for a lily backed by adhesive, the so-called "stickies".
In the year of the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising, Sinn Féin is determined to popularise the wearing of the lily. "This is about making it a fashion statement," said one figure yesterday. Mr Adams chose to launch the annual campaign on International Women's Day at Fusiliers Arch on St Stephen's Green.
