Sinn Féin rank and file losing patience

The leadership of the Republican movement and of Sinn Féin are facing an acute internal crisis as a result of the... failure of the peace process. All the concessions that Republicans have made in terms of conceding a Six County Assembly and institutions have been thrown back in their faces, with the Unionists, under DUP leadership, holding a consistent die-hard rejectionist line and with the two governments unwilling to confront Unionism or uphold the Good Friday Agreement.
The Sinn Féin ard-fheis later this month will see a number of resolutions calling for a review of the party's strategy in relation to the peace process. In recent weeks a series of internal meetings in preparation for the ard-fheis have heard increasingly voluble complaints from the rank and file that the present strategy is going nowhere, that the institutions will not be reestablished this year and that the governments will continue to pander to rejectionist Unionism while intensifying their attacks on Republicans.
While the tenor of these meetings has remained supportive of the leadership personally, recognising the good faith and integrity of Adams, McGuinness et al, the overwhelming feeling is that the movement cannot continue to watch the process slide down into the abyss.
Of course, if the two governments had the will, a more assertive line could be developed and the Unionists faced with a choice that their refusal to endorse the re-establishment of the institutions would see their replacement by arrangements even more unwelcome to Unionism, such as moves towards condominium and a greater emphasis on North-South economic and business integration.
Indeed, elements of this policy are already there. The recent India visit by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern included among the business people who accompanied the delegation a number of Northern people, with the clear message that working with the South is the way for greater economic opportunity.
This is being accompanied by increasing financial pressure from the British government that Northern Ireland must begin to pay its way, a view long held by British chancellor Gordon Brown and certain to increase when he takes over as prime minister from Tony Blair in about 18 months' time.
The Sinn Féin leadership argues that the Dublin Government – including, as it does, Michael McDowell – cannot be trusted to push such a strategy, as its fundamental objective is an historic compromise with Unionism: Protestant unionist rule in the North, though in a more benign form than previously endured, cooperating with Catholic nationalist rule in the South.
Adams argues that more than that is needed, that republicans North and South must be given a democratic voice throughout the country and that the only way to ensure that is to see established the institutions in which that voice can be heard.
That is why Adams is now one of the strongest advocates of the Assembly, which was originally a Sinn Féin concession to Unionism.
But where is this strategy left if the institutions are not re-established, and if the only purpose of political negotiation is to try and draw more and more concessions from republicans – even including support for the renamed RUC – without guarantees of political progress on other matters?
Calls for the disbandment of the IRA, in the light of what has already been done in respect of decommissioning and the IRA commitment not to engage in any activities other than those supportive of the peace process, only reinforce the view that the governments and the Unionists are not serious about reaching an inclusive deal.
It is against this background that there is a growing recognition that a new strategy is needed, one that will see no more Republican concessions, but which will try to alter the focus of political activity towards more concrete economic and social demands, oriented possibly more to Dublin than to London.  
By definition, it is an oppositionist strategy, but the leadership remains unwilling to abandon prematurely the hope of a more positive short-term role for the movement.
All are agreed, however, not just that things cannot continue as they are, but that a crucial element is the extent of the party's growth of influence in Southern politics. Sinn Fein is expected to at least double its seats at the next election, and may well be able to play a decisive role in deciding which party will lead the government, but it is that very prospect of course which lies behind the increasingly hysterical attacks on Sinn Féin from Southern political parties.
In this they are counting on the SDLP. The SDLP now has no strategy other than to attack Sinn Féin at each and every opportunity, often for the flimsiest of excuses. Intellectually bankrupt and prostituting themselves out of anti-republican spite to the service of Southern parties which are just using them for party-political purposes, the SDLP has surely passed its best before date.
The strategic review, to be called for at the ard-fheis, must avoid narrowing the base of Sinn Féin appeal in the South. While the Northern talks can and must be written off, given Dublin's compliance with Paisley's rejectionism, the political road mapped out by Adams remains the only viable way forward, not just for the party but for the Republican community as well.
It will require all of Adams' skill to hold the line at this critical juncture.
Eoin Ó Murchú is the Eagraí Polaitíochta of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. He is writing here in a personal capacity