Sinn Féin was expected to dominate the Irish election – no longer

When Michelle O’Neill became Northern Ireland’s first nationalist leader, it looked as though Sinn Féin was poised to take power on both sides of the Irish border. But now the view from Dublin is very different. Recent headlines include a press officer under investigation for child sex offences who was given references from his former colleagues to land a new job, a former senate leader sending inappropriate texts to a teenager, and the resignation of two lawmakers, Patricia Ryan and Brian Stanley. Ryan accused party managers of censoring her, while Stanley accused the party of subjecting him to a “kangaroo court” after a complaint was made about him (the details of the complaint are still unknown). It’s being described as the biggest challenge yet for Sinn Féin’s Dublin leader Mary Lou McDonald. If the summer’s local election results and recent polls are anything to go by, it looks like Sinn Féin will remain in the political wilderness.