Sinn Fein a center-left to left-wing Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which has as its central purpose national self-determination and at the same time is the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) became the first party in the Parliamentary elections on 8 February 2020, creating a presumption of earthquake in Ireland’s political scene.
The fact that Sinn Fein had not nominated a sufficient number of candidates for this election, resulting in fewer seats in the Irish Parliament than it could achieve and always according to its percentages, shows that the party itself was also taken by surprise with these election results.
by Thanos S. Chonthrogiannis
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The results of the elections
The results of the parliamentary elections of 8 February 2020 for the Irish Parliament and a total of 160 seats are:
| Political Party | Percentage % | Parliament Seats |
| Sinn Fein | 24,5 | 37 |
| Fianna Fail | 22,2 | 38 |
| Fine Gael | 20,9 | 35 |
| Green | 7,1 | 12 |
| Others | 25,3 | 38 |
Despite Sinn Fein’s lead in the elections, the two main political forces that have dominated Ireland’s political scene since the founding of the Irish state and to date can continue to co-govern if another smaller party is attached to their governing coalition.
This means that even if Sinn Fein as the first party, it receives a mandate to form a government, if it is not supported by the other two political forces, it will have to hand over the mandate to form a government to the second Fianna Fail party. It is certainly quite difficult for Sinn Fein to find support for forming a government with the new structure of the Irish Parliament.
Sinn Fein’s success lies in the fact that its leader Mary-Lou McDonald has managed to create this Sinn Fein dynamic without itself related to Sinn Fein’s troubled past.
Sinn Fein’s historic leader, Gerry Adams, who helped Sinn Fein with his decision to retire by disconnecting Sinn Fein’s past that mirrored his face and enabling Mary-Lou McDonald to turn it into a new political party with a new political social stigma.
The message of the election result
The election result of 08 February 2020 shows the Irish people’s accumulated dissatisfaction with the two parties of power, and Sinn Fein’s electoral momentum seems to be receiving public dissatisfaction with the other two main parties.
The Irish people sent a clear message to Ireland’s two main political parties Fianna Feil and Fine Gael respectively and given that Sinn Fein, despite its first, will not be able to form a government.
That if the two main parties do not zealously reflect on the social problems facing a large proportion of the Irish people to provide definitive and permanent solutions then Sinn Fein in the next parliamentary elections will gain not only the lead in the elections but also the full self-reliance to form his own government.
On the other hand, the Irish people have shown their preference for Sinn Fein in practice, sending them the message that while we trust you and you are the new “political blood” that will rejuvenate Ireland’s political scene but we need some more time before we give you the reins of the country and if you work methodically and present concrete alternatives to our problems.
The causes that led to this election result
Obviously, the intense social problems and social inequalities give a strong present to the lives of Irish citizens despite any prosperity achievements achieved by the Irish economy in recent decades.
When most families do not have the money to rent a house, the main living problem of the man is finding shelter, then this becomes the main vehicle of dissatisfaction of the people. Rents in Ireland are too high and unapproachable for the incomes of many families forced them to stay homeless.
Sinn Fein with the right political strategy and proposing social housing construction projects received this justified anger of the Irish people towards the two other main parties. Sinn Fein’s proposal to finance these social housing projects is that it will come from the revenue generated by the taxation of large corporations and incomes respectively.
But this political position is a double-edged sword, given that Ireland has been chosen as the headquarters of many multinational companies because of its low tax rates. If this tax regime changes then thousands of jobs are very likely to be lost and many companies move their headquarters to other more flexible tax countries.
The proposed policy
The proposed economic solution for Ireland to find funding to solve immediate and pressing social problems would be the Irish Government resulting from the new mandate rounds of government formation political parties and always in agreement with the parliamentary opposition to agree to increase the borrowing of the new Irish Government.
The low borrowing rates borrowed on capital markets by the Irish economy coupled with the 63,6% Government Debt to GDP index currently in existence, enables the Irish government to borrow capitals and increase it to 66-67%% and with these capital loans to finance the construction programs of new social housing.
In such a case, the long-term repayment of this loan will not burden the Irish economy in order to cause an increase in its tax rates, while there will always be the possibility of collecting the expected revenues will result from the mutual compromise between the Irish Government and any multinationals fined by the EU.
We believe that a mutual compromise between multinationals who have to pay fines and the Irish Government is the best solution since multinationals will be able to pay some of the fines imposed by ensuring the their proper functioning and remaining in Ireland without the lost jobs, while the Irish Government will be able to gradually repay the loans financing the programs to eliminate any social inequalities in the Irish society.
But it wants virtue and boldness from both the Irish government and the parliamentary opposition so that the Irish political system can adopt such a strategic political solution.
