Firefighting their way through the last two months, Sinn Féin’s Northern leaders have all the while been mobilising the party’s rank-and-file for election day in the Republic.
Amid a string of controversies, teams have been dispatched South twice-weekly – with some members moved down until after voting day on November 29th.
But back at Stormont, there was anger.
Internal clashes over the leadership’s handling of a safeguarding crisis – sparked by the departure of a now convicted paedophile, former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle – led to heightened tensions at private frontbench meetings.
Despite a root-and-branch governance review ordered by party leader Mary Lou McDonald last month, there is little sign of change on the ground, according to one party member.
“It’s totally chaotic. There’s no plan in place to manage moving forward,” said one member.
“It’s all reactive – and all with an eye as to what’s going on the 29th November. ‘Let’s get the 29th out of the way,’ that goes on and on and on.”
The Irish Times spoke to eight people about how the scandals have engulfed the party since September when it emerged that the head of its Northern press operation, Seán Mag Uidhir, and press officer Caolán McGinley had given references to McMonagle for a job with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) charity in Belfast, when McMonagle was under police investigation for child sex offences.
Mag Uidhir, a former IRA prisoner and influential party figure who tightly controlled media access to Sinn Féin politicians for more than a decade, and McGinley were forced to resign. McMonagle received a nine-month prison sentence this month after pleading guilty to 14 charges.
The party also faced further criticism over its response to revelations around inappropriate texts sent by senator and ex-Belfast Lord Mayor, Niall Ó Donnghaile, to a teenage party member.
McDonald apologised for a tribute to Mr Ó Donnghaile following his resignation on mental health grounds last year – with the party making no mention of the real reason for his departure.
A further allegation was later made in Belfast about a high-profile councillor, JJ Magee, sending inappropriate online messages to a minor. Magee, who denies the allegation, was suspended from the party.
Sinn Féin vice-president and Stormont First Minister, Michelle O’Neill was said to be “incandescent with rage” at a Monday morning meeting earlier this month in the wake of the latest allegation.
The controversies around the party spilt into the Republic too: the party was hit by the departures of former Sinn Féin TDs Brian Stanley in Laois-Offaly and Patricia Ryan in Kildare South.
In a party synonymous with military-style internal discipline, the general mood is that they’re now “at sea”.
“It’s just a f***ing car crash,” said one former party member.
“They have mishandled everything and cut a stick for beating their own back. Up until now, you would have said Sinn Féin have a good handle on things, they know how to manage stuff. People are just going, ‘What the f*** is going on?’
“It has undermined confidence. At grassroots level, a lot of members are disappointed to say the least. They’re also extremely lucky the DUP doesn’t want to collapse Stormont – because they could have escalated this to a crisis.”
One of the stormiest internal Stormont meetings took place in the aftermath of the McMonagle controversy.
Comments made by Sinn Féin Stormont economy minister Conor Murphy during a BBC interview, in which he defended the party’s decision not to alert the BHF about McMonagle being under investigation on the grounds it could “potentially prejudice” a police investigation, were described as an “absolute disaster” by a serving party member. Murphy subsequently acknowledged his information was incorrect after his claims were contradicted by Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boucher, and he apologised.
O’Neill apologised in the Assembly Chamber for the “unacceptable situation” when it emerged that the charity had contacted Sinn Féin over a year earlier about the references in the wake of McGonagle being charged.
“We haven’t dealt well with this politically,” said another veteran party member, who said it was “madness” to try to deflect blame on to the PSNI and the BHF.
“First of all, you’re leaving yourself hostage to the PSNI, which is stupid. There was a lot of anger in the party around that interview,” the member said.
“In my view, it wasn’t a deliberate party strategy to do that. It wasn’t thought through. It did as much damage as anything else.”
There have been demands for wider internal consultation on contentious issues at troubleshooting meetings.
Comparisons have been made about the engagement carried out by former party president, Gerry Adams. “The one thing about Adams, when he was leader, is that he would always take a decision out further into the party when there was a crisis.
“Because you can be in a bubble in a smaller group, an echo chamber,” said the veteran party member, who added that the rank and file need to be consulted on how the leadership will “deal with certain issues”.
Throughout the upheaval, O’Neill has retained the support of her Stormont backroom and frontbench team.
One party member said O’Neill was intent on overhauling internal party structures. “She wants to regroup, and after Mag Uidhir went, she thought this would be her opportunity,” the member said.
One senior republican said it is “imperative” they go outside the party to recruit a HR team and new director of communications for the North.
As far back as 1997, Adams was being warned by party strategists they must not give “jobs for the boys”, the republican said.
“They need to act with haste to be seen to be responding to what has been blow after blow. They need to hire the best people that money can get you,” the source said, arguing that the party needed an outside organisation or HR company to look at structures and procedures.
“They then need to start hiring people on the basis of their professionalism. They need to stop thinking that they’re still in that adjunct of the IRA – it’s gone, it’s finished. They’re a political party and they need to professionalise.”
Another senior party member said the person for the top Northern communications role should be recruited from within.
“The problem is that the party has had a siege mentality for decades where the tendency is to trust people close to you. They have had their fingers burnt many times,” said the party member.
Political commentator Chris Donnelly and a former Sinn Féin election candidate said Northern Sinn Féin must take a risk.
“Not to sound dramatic but what’s required is a little bit of Pope John XXIII, when he said of Vatican ll that they need to ‘open the windows and let in the fresh air’,” said Donnelly, referring to the 20th century modernisation of the Catholic Church.
Donnelly said the party in the North is “streets ahead electorally” and doesn’t need “major surgery”, but “tailoring and adapting themselves”.
“They need to throw open windows and let in some fresh voices. People with different perspectives who can sharpen their performance,” said Donnelly.
Back on the doorsteps in the Republic, party members are reporting back no mention of crises in the party’s operation in the North.
“Our people on the ground are telling us there’s no blowback from any of these scandals,” said one party member.
“They’re also detecting a change – I’m not saying it’s ground-shaking or anything like that, but in terms of the response they’re getting on the doors, it’s very different from the council elections,” the member said, referring to the June local elections.
Asked to comment on where the party’s governance review stands, the “external professional advice” sought and what updates have been relayed to members, a Sinn Féin spokesman said the review was being led by its new national general secretary, Sam Baker.
Baker, who is from Belfast, is working with professional experts in corporate governance, HR and people management, as well as child safeguarding protocols to “correct issues and shortcomings arising from recent events”, the spokesman said. “This is an ongoing comprehensive exercise.”
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