Opinion

Analysis: Derry purge could create fresh difficulties for Sinn Féin

(L-R) Karen Mullan, Elisha McCallion and Martina Anderson in 2019. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
(L-R) Karen Mullan, Elisha McCallion and Martina Anderson in 2019. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin (L-R) Karen Mullan, Elisha McCallion and Martina Anderson in 2019. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

IT MUST rub salt in Arlene Foster's wounds to know that her resignation has taken the media spotlight off a major crisis within Sinn Féin. In a normal week, the proposed standing down of two Sinn Féin MLAs, one of them among the party's most recognisable faces, would've dominated the front pages and news bulletins, but when a DUP leader quits in the midst of a coup, it has a tendency to distract the attention of political journalists and news organisations.

While Derry historically has been an SDLP stronghold, it is also a hotbed of republicanism and a city where Sinn Féin has had strong support. But things have gone awry lately. In the Westminster election that closely followed former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness's death in 2017, Sinn Féin took the Foyle seat from the SDLP with former mayor of Derry & Strabane Elisha McCallion, a niece of the party's then MEP Martina Anderson, securing a marginal 169 majority. The McGuinness legacy had certainly helped bring the numbers out and at the time it was seen as a watershed, another nail in the coffin of the ailing SDLP.

But rather than capitalising on its best ever showing in the constituency, a combination of hubris, complacency and arrogance saw Sinn Féin activists in Derry take their eye off the ball. In the 2019 local government elections, the party saw its representation on Derry City and Strabane District Council cut from 16 to 11, whereas elsewhere across the north Sinn Féin was gaining councillors.

But worse was to come. In December of that year, Boris Johnson's snap election saw the SDLP regain the seat in spectacular fashion, with party leader Colum Eastwood securing an eye-watering 17,000+ majority. The result clearly set alarm bells ringing and when coupled with last year's controversy over Ms McCallion accepting ineligible Covid support payments, Sinn Féin headquarters was compelled to act.

A subsequent review resulted in what Sinn Féin terms an “implementation plan”, which is effectively a purge of the party's leadership in the city. Publicly, it is threatening the positions of MLAs Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan, who have been told to stand down. Behind the scenes, other backroom figures have also been given their marching orders. It's said that big guns from the Troubles era, including North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly, have been brought in to enforce the party's wishes, which have been unwelcome, to say the least, among some republican families in the city.

But others see it as long overdue. A Facebook post by Stephanie English, a Derry republican who lost two brothers in the conflict, highlighted deep personal divisions among Sinn Féin activists in the city and ill-feeling towards those it's felt have abused their power. Others in Derry speak of hostility over "fiefdoms", "nepotism" and "jobs for the boys".

Sinn Féin would obviously have preferred that this whole episode was cleaned up quietly, without publicity, but its very scale means it was unlikely to remain secret for long. As well as fuelling animosity among those who've been targeted, the purge also creates problems for the party in terms of who succeeds the departing MLAs and associated personnel.

There's a danger that the leadership's blood-letting has penetrated so deep that it leaves Derry Sinn Féin suffering severe anemia.