Abstentionism or absenteeism?

Abstentionism in the past worked very well for Sinn Féin; it provided a brilliant change of approach after the December 1918 elections which consigned the tired Irish Parliamentary, rather unfairly in some respects, to the dustbin of post-1916 20th century Irish history. The unilateral declaration of independence and the setting up of a separatist assembly which soon became the legitimate parliament of the Irish people, the First Dáil, was a great success. That was then; how about now?

Nowadays there is no alternative revolutionary assembly; just the Stormont Assembly in which Sinn Féin MLAs sit. This acceptance of British rule in Ireland marked a belated turnaround from the traditional SF policy of 'kill loads of people and ruin the economy' in order to somehow force the British from Ireland by rendering the 6 counties ungovernable. Given that the Stormont Assembly has been given its devolved powers from Westminster and that all primary NI legislation still must go through the Westminster Parliament, Sinn Féin's abstentionism in London is akin to taking seats on a subcommittee but refusing to sit on the committee itself.

Another element to this debate, and one just as important, is practical political reality. Progressive nationalism has, in recent years, gone from strength to strength in a UK context. Alex Salmond's SNP have enacted social democratic policies in Scotland to make the English green with envy and public satisfaction is running high (even if support for their raison d'être of independence is not). Salmond predicts great gains in the next Westminster election and, with anti-Toryism ingrained in the Scottish political culture and dissatisfaction with Brown's beleaguered government, there are few real reasons not to believe him. In Wales at the last Welsh Assembly election, the centre-left Plaid Cymru achieved 22.4% of the popular vote which translated into a net gain of 3 seats. Voters' anger at Brown may damage Rhodri Morgan's Welsh Labour Party and Plaid could also see their MP count rise. Together with the SDLP these parties form a centre-left nationalist coalition. In the event of a hung Parliament or, god forbid, a return to power by the Conservative & Unionist Party under messrs Cameron and Osborne, Sinn Féin's 5 MPs could add to the vaguely leftish nationalist bloc in wringing out concessions (much like the IPP did with the Liberals over the Peoples' Budget of 1909). Concerns are even more pressing with Peter Robinson signalling that the DUP will work more with the Tories and may vote with Labour on the issue of 42-days detention without charge (those Unionists do love a good bit of internment). Those 5 votes could be vital too over the vote on the 10p tax band as the SDLP and DUP have already promised to vote against the government.

So, with possible political leverage for nationalists to exploit and the ideological explanation for abstentionism redundant, will SF earn their expenses by actually voting or will Marty and co. just ride around in their ministerial cars and attend a 'partitionist assembly' while pretending they still oppose British rule in Ireland? Now that they have de facto taken the Oath of Allegiance through their actions will they take it de jure through their words? Like it or not, many issues are still the preserve of Westminster so sometimes it is better to hold your nose and fight for representation and an influence on some areas that affect the day-to-day lives of people in the North of Ireland than to spout 70s Provo gibberish to the faithful while holding hands with Big Ian under the table.