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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Typical NY Times propaganda spin but if you read between the lines, some interesting info.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Sinn Fein on Threshold: Party With Old I.R.A. Ties Soars in Irish Election<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Once ostracized over its ties to sectarian violence, Sinn Fein may now be able to claim a seat at the government table.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img width=600 height=400 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D5DFEA.2FC1A9A0" alt="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/02/09/world/09ireland-election-sub/09ireland-election-sub-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale"></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Thomas Gould, a Sinn Fein candidate in Cork, celebrating with supporters after the voting results.Credit...Henry Nicholls/Reuters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>By <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/benjamin-mueller"><span style='color:blue'>Benjamin Mueller</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Feb. 9, 2020<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:1.0in;text-align:left;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Symbol'>·</span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> DUBLIN — Sinn Fein, a leftist party long ostracized from Irish politics over its ties to sectarian violence, won the popular vote and seized its largest-ever share of parliamentary seats in the country’s national elections this weekend, according to results released on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The vote loosened a 90-year stranglehold on power by two center-right parties in Ireland and put Sinn Fein on the doorstep of joining a coalition government, a remarkable rebuke to a political establishment that tried to paint it as aberrant and unelectable throughout the campaign.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Defying a reputation for extreme risk aversion, Irish voters ignored those warnings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>They gave Sinn Fein more votes than Ireland’s prime minister, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/europe/ireland-election-varadkar.html" title=""><span style='color:blue'>Leo Varadkar</span></a>, in his Dublin district, though Ireland’s system of vote allocation allowed Mr. Varadkar to hold onto his parliamentary seat.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Irish voters delivered more votes to left-wing parties than they had in decades, realigning a center-heavy political system along class and ideological lines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>And they signaled that, more than a decade after the financial crash of 2008, the aftershocks of that event were still being felt, with voters punishing Ireland’s big party machines for adopting years of austerity and unapologetically business-friendly policies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“This is changing the shape and mold of Irish politics,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/world/europe/sinn-fein-mary-lou-mcdonald-gerry-adams.html" title=""><span style='color:blue'>Mary Lou McDonald</span></a>, the leader of Sinn Fein, told a crush of reporters at a Dublin convention center on Sunday. “This is not a transient thing — this is just the beginning.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img border=0 width=600 height=399 id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D5DFEA.2FC1A9A0" alt="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/02/09/world/09ireland-election2/merlin_168636804_73663e28-5f6e-4c0d-94a7-113f787a94af-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale"></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Image<img border=0 width=600 height=399 id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D5DFEA.2FC1A9A0" alt="The Sinn Fein leader, Mary Lou McDonald, arriving at a counting center in Dublin."><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The Sinn Fein leader, Mary Lou McDonald, arriving at a counting center in Dublin.Credit...Aidan Crawley/EPA, via Shutterstock<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The voting results were preliminary, with about a third of the seats allocated. The final results are expected on Monday or Tuesday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Sinn Fein used to be the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, which fought for Irish unity during the decades-long sectarian conflict known as the Troubles.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>But those ties have faded from memory for many younger voters. And, especially in this campaign, the party made opposition to soaring rental prices and corporate tax breaks the centerpiece of its campaign, using its long history of organizing and activism to present itself as the only party in touch with people’s day-to-day grievances.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Mr. Varadkar, for his part, was celebrated abroad for his success in negotiating a Brexit deal with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain that averted some of the most painful fallout of Britain’s split with the European Union. But at home he was facing growing anger over mounting health care costs and a housing shortage that has driven up rents and forced some young people to consider leaving the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The results were sobering for the duopoly that has long controlled Irish politics: Fine Gael, Mr. Varadkar’s center-right party, and Fianna Fail, the center-right opposition party. They have been trading power for decades.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Seat projections suggested that Fianna Fail was on track to win about 45 seats in the 160-seat Parliament, followed by Sinn Fein with 37 seats and Fine Gael with 36 seats. A number of smaller left-wing parties and independent lawmakers also won seats.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The results almost certainly would have been worse for the center-right parties had Sinn Fein, recovering from a poor showing in local elections last year and cautious about its prospects, not chosen to put forward only 42 candidates.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Control of Parliament will most likely be resolved in coalition negotiations over the coming weeks, with no obvious solution to the deadlock.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Both center-right parties had ruled out an alliance with Sinn Fein during the campaign, with Mr. Varadkar going so far as to say that Sinn Fein was “not a normal party.” But analysts said the prospect of the two big parties joining forces themselves was remote, given the fear that anything less than a stellar run in power might tee up Sinn Fein for an even stronger showing in next election.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Image<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img border=0 width=600 height=400 id="Picture_x0020_10" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D5DFEA.2FC1A9A0" alt="Counting ballots in Cork on Sunday."></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Counting ballots in Cork on Sunday.Credit...Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>That appears to leave a coalition between Sinn Fein and one of the center-right parties as a plausible way out of the stalemate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Analysts believe Fianna Fail is the more likely candidate, given its desperation to return to power and its control of a larger share of parliamentary seats. But they warned that any agreement was far from sealed and the result of negotiations difficult to predict.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Sinn Fein also said it would try to form a coalition with other left-wing parties, though not all of them see eye to eye, either. A second election also remains a possibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Analysts said the conditions that fueled Sinn Fein’s rise mirrored those that have driven support in Britain for Jeremy Corbyn, the hard-left Labour Party leader, and in the United States for the Democratic presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders. Chief among those conditions are young people suffering from low pay and skyrocketing rents, and widespread anger at tax breaks and gentrification.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>But Sinn Fein’s anti-establishment campaign in Ireland is even more potent, untarnished as it is by any time in power.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“What this says, I think, is that in the right circumstances, the left can still make a very popular appeal,” said Michael Marsh, a professor at Trinity College Dublin. “But they’re able to do it in Ireland because the left has never been in power. In most of Europe, it has.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Huge challenges lay ahead if Sinn Fein joins a coalition government.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The party made a number of bold promises during its campaign, including a vow to build 100,000 homes, a task that analysts believe will be complicated by the need to recruit more builders for Ireland’s growing construction industry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Still, for voters disgusted by decades of stagnation in Irish politics, seeing anyone but the same old faces at the top of the polls was welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>At the Lark Inn, a pub in a part of central Dublin where Sinn Fein has long been popular, John Flood, 75, a retired interior decorator, sat at the bar as the television showed Ireland’s two main parties losing one seat after another.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Mr. Flood said homelessness was the most important problem facing the next government, a problem he said past governments had done little to solve.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=left style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;text-align:left'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” Mr. Flood said, “but their policies all stay the same.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>