Word: fein
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Eileen McGinley always voted Sinn Fein. She also told her five children to vote for the republican political party because "we thought they were fighting for justice" in divided Northern Ireland. That belief died along with her 23-year-old son James, who was stabbed through the heart 17 months ago in Londonderry by a member of the Irish Republican Army...
...said last week at a candlelit vigil for James McGinley. The McGinleys want the I.R.A. to apologize and expel James' killer from its ranks, and the McCartneys want the group to throw out any remaining members involved in Robert's murder and to encourage witnesses to come forward. Sinn Fein, which is supposed to be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, instead finds itself under attack. For the first time, the party's supporters are challenging its relationship with the i.r.a. and calling for the group to stop bullying ordinary people. "It's definitely a turning point," says John Kelly...
...unprecedented protests from the McGinleys and McCartneys have tipped Sinn Fein into what Irish historian Eamon Phoenix calls its "greatest crisis since the Irish Civil War in 1922." Party leaders were already under pressure to distance themselves from the I.R.A. after a $50 million robbery at a Belfast bank in December, which the British and Irish governments blamed on the terrorist organization. Dublin, which usually plays "good cop" to London's "bad cop" in negotiations with Sinn Fein, reacted with fury. The bank raid also raised questions about republican intentions toward the peace process, which, though stalled, is still supported...
...real test for Sinn Fein comes at this week's by-election in the Irish Republic and in Northern Ireland in early May, when local council elections - and possibly the U.K. general election - will be held. Paula McCartney, 40, one of Robert's five sisters, is considering running for Belfast City Council. She says she favors the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Fein's rival for Northern Ireland's Catholic vote. Her appearance on the ballot could upset Sinn Fein's shaky hold on a seat it won in her neighborhood, Short Strand, in the last election...
...Under assault from its traditional base as never before, Sinn Fein is struggling to prevent a further slide. Party leader Gerry Adams' approval rating has plummeted in the Irish Republic by 21 points since October, from 51% to 30%; Sinn Fein's figures have dipped, too, from 12% to 9%. At Sinn Fein's annual conference on Saturday, Adams said the McCartney murder is "a huge issue for us," adding that "as president of Sinn Fein or as an individual, I could not campaign for the victims of British or unionist paramilitary thuggery if I was not as clear...