Sinn Féin's rise
The Briefing Room
BBC
4.8 • 731 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2020
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sinn Féin's historic result in the Irish election has the potential to change the face of Irish politics - dominated for the past hundred years by the two main parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
So what lies behind the rise of Sinn Féin? And to what extent has it put its past association with violent republicanism behind it?
David Aaronovitch is joined by guests including:
Naomi O'Leary correspondent at Politico Europe Brian Feeney, historian and author Professor Roy Foster, professor of history at Oxford University. Dr Margaret O'Callaghan, political analyst at Queens University, Belfast Dr Theresa Reidy, political scientist at University College Cork
Producer: Jordan Dunbar Editor: Jasper Corbett -
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.2 | Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Aronovich. |
| 0:10.4 | The briefing room is the book-lined, chart-strewn chamber, |
| 0:13.6 | where inside 28 minutes, you and I get to understand a big issue |
| 0:17.5 | with the help of the top experts on the subject. |
| 0:20.9 | This week, an election shock in the Republic of Ireland |
| 0:24.1 | has put one party firmly in the headlines, Shin Féin. |
| 0:29.0 | But in 2020, who are Sinn Féin? |
| 0:44.2 | No. Times have changed on the island of Ireland. |
| 0:46.2 | Remember Jerry Adams? |
| 0:48.4 | When I was putting this book together, |
| 0:52.0 | there were numbers of suggestions from what we would call it. |
| 0:58.1 | Langeach, the peas process., come out you rack of lambs, |
| 1:06.5 | but we settle for the negotiators cookbook. It's a must for every kitchen cabinet. |
| 1:13.6 | Jerry Adams, once closely associated with the provisional IRA, turned recipe provider. And now, in a big shock, the party he led Shin Fain has won more votes than anyone else in last weekend's Irish election. |
| 1:22.6 | So who are Sinn Féin today and what do they now represent? |
| 1:31.3 | Step inside the briefing room and together we'll find out. |
| 1:43.2 | Let's begin with Saturday's election in Ireland, the results on Sunday and the campaign that preceded both. |
| 1:47.2 | Naomi O'Leary presents a podcast, The Irish Passport, |
| 1:49.8 | and is a correspondent with Politico Europe. |
| 1:57.3 | Naomi O'Leary, as far as we can tell, |
| 2:00.2 | who actually voted in this election for Sinn Féin? |
... |
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