Sinn Féin Election Manifesto: 1997
This was the first official election manifesto put out by Sinn Féin, published in 1997 with the tagline being “building a dynamic for change”. Contextually, as this statement was put out during peace talks and right before the passing of the Good Friday Agreement “change” seemed to be a fitting motif. The document also detailed that “Sinn Féin activists” were working towards a new future. This word choice seemed especially intentional as it has been argued that one of the party’s leading attributes is that, at its core, it was a group of activists (S. Whiting 2016). It had an appealing grassroots history which engenders an image not of a hardened colluding political party, but instead a network of advocates fighting for civil rights and a representative government (S. Whiting 2016).
The manifesto maintained the vision of a United Ireland as the goal for the party, but it also directly introduced numerous moderate positions. Moreover, Sinn Féin explicitly distanced itself from paramilitary violence with the line “Sinn Féin is not the IRA”. The party also affirmed its support for cross-community engagement and cooperation between republicans and unionists.
Overall, this document makes it clear that part of Sinn Féin’s strategy to gain electoral influence is to appear more moderate.
Artifact Source: https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/sf/sf97.pdf
SDLP Election Manifesto: 1997
In looking at the SDLP’s official campaign manifesto for the same year, 1997, there are clear differences from Sinn Féin’s statements. The SDLP, much more than Sinn Féin, relied on their historical record to attract voters. This is due to the fact that the SDLP had a significantly more flush history of political success and was a dominant force in the peace talks. In fact, the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) itself, the negotiations that ended the Troubles, were somewhat an accumulation of SDLP theoretical framing and strategizing dating back to the 1970s (McGlinchey 2019). It thus seemed the SDLP was the party most likely to gain electoral support as a result of the GFA (McGlinchey 2019). However, in a post-Troubles and post-GFA Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin emerged on top (Mitchell, O’Leary, and Evans 2001).
In looking at SDLP’s election manifesto, it is clear that the party diverged from Sinn Féin’s more immoderate approaches to hot button issues such as policing and political prisoner treatment. While the SDLP still won the 1997 general local elections over Sinn Féin, these two campaign platforms confirm that the parties had differing messages that they attempted to deliver (CAIN 2023). Sinn Féin, also eagerly asserted its commitment to peace but clarified its undying commitment to, if not radical, more hardline positions. It is abundantly clear the party is balancing its moderated message with its extremist core values in order to not alienate voters on either fringe of the nationalist voting bloc. Moreover, the two manifestos are indicative of the tribunal party out-bidding that occurred as Sinn Féin more aggressively pursued a strategy of being the “best” party for nationalist interests. The SDLP, on the other hand, was looking increasingly as though it was “out of touch with opinion in the nationalist community” (McGlinchey 2019, p. 429).
Artifact Source: https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/sdlp/sdlp97.pdf
