Sinn Fein throws a book at faithful

Tuesday August 27, 2002 13:29

by Scott Millar - SUNDAY TIMES

Can someone track this down and publish it on Indymedia- Justin Moran prehaps?

GERRY ADAMS is sending the party faithful back to school to study the meaning of Sinn Fein. The republican party, which gained five TDs in the general election and swelled its membership by 30% in the past two years, wants to make sure that its recruits, both new and old, are all "on message"

A new 75-page book, outlining the "doctrine" of Sinn Fein, has been issued to education officers in every branch in the republic and also in
Northern Ireland. Over the next few months the officers will hold a series of seminars with local Sinn Fein members at which they will be asked to ponder the purpose and direction of the party.

The document, Members Programme from the Training and Development Unit, places more emphasis on the party's socialist credentials than its republican ideals. It skirts over the "armed struggle" and any mention of the IRA, its military wing, is confined to historical analysis.

Sinn Fein also prevaricates on its demands for Irish unity, once the party's single biggest policy. The aspiration is now placed in the context of wider "social progress".

It reaffirms its objectives as the "overthrow of British rule, the establishment of a republic in line with the ideas of the 1916 Easter proclamation, social justice and the promotion of the Irish language and culture".

Alongside the traditional rhetoric against British rule, it gives equal importance to the overthrow of capitalism and patriarchy. It also
emphasises environmentalism and gay rights.

Under the heading, media awareness, it accuses the media "as operating in a manner which is more often than not in direct conflict with ours".
It warns:
"Members must be aware of the operation of the propaganda war, know the enemy."

The textbook is a classic example of Sinn Fein's organisational skills which are the envy of the mainstream political parties with its rigidly
imposed discipline and tight national network of supporters.

The education programme has been launched on a nationwide basis because of the huge upsurge in the party's membership. The party fears that
many of the new members were drawn to Sinn Fein as an alternative to the mainstream parties - but know little or nothing about its social policies.
Sinn Fein does not release figures on its membership. Past estimates have put it at 2,500, although this is thought to have increased in the past two years.

The document, written by Frances McCole, a Sinn Fein candidate in Dublin in the last election, is believed to have had significant input from
Adams.

Anthony McIntyre, a former south Belfast IRA commander who is now a critic of Adams, said the document showed how the Sinn Fein leader was
trying to impose his will on the party.

"Under Adams there has been an attempt to make the party an extensionof his personality," he said. "The Adams leadership wants to get to a
controlled environment, not open discussion. The purpose of educating its members is not what Sinn Fein is about, it is about indoctrinating its
members into the ethos of the party."

He also suggested that its socialist credentials were a sham. "Although this process may talk of the ideals of Connolly and Marx that is not
where they are going," he said. "Mention of these views is just part of the inconsistency and self-denial of the leadership."

Daithi Doolin, of Sinn Fein's Dublin organisation, said: "This education policy is to ensure that the party membership remains united
behind such an ideology," and added that the document was "for all members, from Gerry Adams to the newest recruit, and is necessary if we as a party who have experienced massive growth in a short period are to maintain an educationally led, issue driven and action based approach to politics."