Is Mary Lou in trouble now?

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Marsupial said:
Your selective memory and love of revisionism aren't uncommon among a certain segment of the community. Fortunately, it's not one that I encounter very often.
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It's a collection of articles, videos, interviews etc from regarded journalists in RTE, BBC, Irish Times, Belfast Telegraph etc and further afield.

I really dont understand your point.
 
Firefly said:
Phenomenal air brushing. Think you might be missing a few:
Ard chomhairle, army council, Northern Bank, diesel, predeliction to suing journalists (would Niall Donald be on their "hit list" now I wonder?)
and on and on and on
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Dear @Firefly. Its 2025, not 1995 or 1975.
 
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Leo said:
Certainly police forces both sides of the border are consistent in that they see the decision making process very much a council matter. If the war was over as they claim, why the need to persist with an army council in a form the intelligence services seem to be able to monitor?
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I have no idea what you are talking about.
 
I did an AI search for Aoife Moore's "Long Game" and its themes and contents while listening to Sunday radio.

Moore's View

Party DisciplineShe describes Sinn Féin as one of the most disciplined political organizations in Ireland, with tight message control and centralized decision-making.
Opacity & Internal PowerMoore raises questions about transparency, asking “Who really runs Sinn Féin?” and highlighting the role of unelected figures and backroom strategists.
IRA LegacyShe explores how the party’s roots in the Provisional IRA still shape its culture, loyalty structures, and public perception, even as it distances itself from violence.
Electoral StrategyMoore credits Sinn Féin with a long-term, grassroots strategy to build power, especially among working-class voters and younger generations.
Media RelationsShe notes Sinn Féin’s combative stance toward traditional media, including its criticism of RTÉ and the Irish Times, and its use of social media to bypass legacy outlets.


Some of her quotes

  • “Sinn Féin is not like other parties. It is a movement, a machine, and a mystery.”
  • “The party’s success is built on discipline, but that discipline can come at the cost of internal democracy.”
  • “There is a tension between the party’s revolutionary past and its desire to govern.”

I quizzed AI and apparently centralised control is a feature of all major political parties. Who knew? :oops:
All parties have backroom strategists influencing party policy and messaging. :eek:


All sounds like a book with nothing to do about very little. Moore provides examples of candidate deselection and control without any specific details. In one instance she mentions "a prospective councillor in Dublin was deselected after expressing views that diverged slightly from the party line on housing policy. The decision was reportedly made by senior figures in Belfast, bypassing local consultation."

Surely this prospective candidate would be easily identifiable after being deselected? Unfortunately Moore doesnt provide detail and it may be that her examples derive from instances that could have occurred at anytime over the last 50yrs!

Reviews are thin on the ground but follow a similar critique like this:

"Some felt it lacked depth or failed to deliver the promised “revelatory details.” Others noted the absence of named sources or concrete examples."
- Goodreads User Reviews


Overall Takeaway

"Lack of named sources, limited transparency in examples, and few new revelations for political insiders."

A book about transparency and the author failing to provide named sources and not being very transparent herself?

I'll give it a miss.
 
Sister Sara said:
A book about transparency and the author failing to provide named sources and not being very transparent herself?
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A less artificial intellect would probably have been capable of understanding why so many current and former members of SF/IRA might have been reluctant for their names to have been included in the book. But I fully accept that any uncritical SF supporter would struggle to grasp such subtleties. [I've been trying to upload a graphic of the three wise nationalist monkeys, but sadly, wasn't able to!]
 
Sister Sara said:
Dear @Firefly. Its 2025, not 1995 or 1975.
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What has changed during that time?
SF/IRA have become less isolationist and no longer want to leave the EU.
They are no longer communist and don't want to nationalise the means of production.
They no longer want to expel the Irish people who want to be part of the UK.

That's all great; a dose of reality. What hasn't changed is how the Party/Organisation is run or who runs it or how they control their elected members or how unelected people in the shadows hold all of the real power.

What also hasn't changed is their glorification of murderers and their justification of criminality including kidnaping, murder, bank robbery, extortion and smuggling.

It's not 1975 for most of us but a good chunk of the real leadership of the Movement is stuck back there.
 
Purple said:
how they control their elected members or how unelected people in the shadows hold all of the real power.
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A topic that is well covered in the aforementioned book. (Probably another good reason not to read if, if you're a member of the 3 monkey cult!)
 
Purple said:
What also hasn't changed is their glorification of murderers and their justification of criminality including kidnaping, murder, bank robbery, extortion and smuggling.
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This is exactly why so many people could not vote for Sinn Féin in any way, shape, or form. I don't know anyone who would accept the civilian injuries and deaths, including dozens of children, that the IRA has been responsible for. Yet there remains within SF a cult-like reverence for some of these violent criminals because they claim it was for a just cause. Being involved in military-style funerals draped in a tricolour is such an immature, obnoxious, and threatening way to behave.
 
arbitron said:
Yet there remains within SF a cult-like reverence for some of these violent criminals because they claim it was for a just cause.
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Two of their TD's were convicted and served prison terms for terrorist offences so it's part of their DNA.
 
Sister Sara said:
Ok, you have convinced me. I'll pick up a copy and give it a read.
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There's no need to waste too much of your meagre income on literature! Just pick it up in your local library or a good bookshop and read the 5 page intro, wherein the author give details of how unhelpful Mary Lou and the rest of Sinn Fein were to her when she sought information.
 
Marsupial said:
There's no need to waste too much of your meagre income on literature! Just pick it up in your local library
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Well, it was my visit to my library that prompted me to pick up a copy. Im not sure why you are trying to belittle my income?

My viewpoint is that SF has morphed into a regular political party.
Your viewpoint, whilst reading Aoife Moore's 'Long Game' is that SF are no ordinary political party and that they're a very long way from being fit to be in government "down here".

I contend that that view derives from a time past. That period is over. The IRA is gone. Garda intelligence confirms this.
Marsupial said:
read the 5 page intro, wherein the author give details of how unhelpful Mary Lou and the rest of Sinn Fein were to her when she sought information.
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I was under the impression that Moore was grateful to many in Sinn Fein and former IRA for their co-operation with the book? Albeit, unnamed sources?
 
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