Immigration Issue Helps Decide Another Election—This Time, in Ireland

Sinn Fein self-sabotages, failing to capitalize on a chance to gain political power

A Sinn Fein "Palestine Solidarity" protest outside Ireland's parliament as seen in a handout photo provided by the Irish political party.

Another election has been decided by the issue of immigration. The Republic of Ireland held parliamentary elections last weekend, and this time around, the insurgent populist party saw its hopes dashed in part by maladroit handling of the migration issue.

Negotiations will take a while to play out, but a past prime minister — or Taoiseach as they call them in Ireland — Micheal Martin, the 54-year old leader of Fianna Fail, looks certain to return to office, after two years as deputy prime minister, or Tánaiste. And the current Taoiseach, Simon Harris, the 38-year old leader of the other traditional party, Fine Gael, will become Tánaiste.

Ireland’s insurgents, Sinn Fein, come from the left of the political spectrum, unlike most of their European counterparts. They are a deeply unappetizing bunch. They are the political wing of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, which waged a deadly terrorist campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland from 1969 till 1997. The IRA finally agreed in 2005 to permanently give up the “armed struggle.”

Their past violence, conducted in league with the Soviet Union and the Palestine Liberation Organization, is hardly the only unappealing thing about Sinn Fein. It is a far-left party committed to the full gamut of policies that suggests — sub-Marxist economics, wokery, and deep hostility to Israel. They are now the largest party in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and they are set to remain a permanent feature of Northern Ireland’s devolved government due to the complex power-sharing coalition arrangements put in place with the peace deal ending the IRA’s terror campaign.

Sinn Fein had set their sights on entering government south of the border too — indeed they had been polling as the largest party in the Republic for nearly all of the last four years, often 10 or more percentage points ahead of their closest rivals.