Sometimes you have to laugh. Mary Lou McDonald publishes a flyer and seemingly nobody did any proof-reading.
“Booby Sands”. Sinn Féin are a slick organisation. It is entirely reasonable that critics of Sinn Féin take advantage when the slick staffers make a mistake. This should have been spotted.
I do not take the view that the Internet can influence serious political discourse. What the Internet does well is Sarcasm, Satire and cheap Point Scoring…and I will happily join in. And indeed I have already. Twitter was made for this.
So…we have the “boob” jokes, the “tit”jokes and the “storm in a D Cup” jokes.
Of course, the quality has not been maintained during the day.
Not a good day for Sinn Féin of course. But the response of the likes of former SF press officer and veteran spoofer from West Belfast….Danny Morrison…is of course over the top. He states that Fine Gael would not be impressed if opponents made light of Béal na Blath and the killing of Michael Collins.
Lets be clear…those amused by the mistake…are not in any way amused by the death of Bobby Sands. And as I have said earlier in this week, Sinn Féin supporters are traditionally the most aggressive tweeters and trolls on the Internet.
Danny Morrison being outraged is a nonsense. Of course Mr Morrison was around in 1981 and his role in the Hunger Strike is a matter of some debate in Sinn Féin and other republican circles.
As a republican myself, I object to Sinn Féin trying to link the events of Easter 1916 to their own election campaign. And linking the Hunger Strikes to Easter 1916 is ridiculous.
But ….the actual quotation from Bobby Sands has been mis-used…the quote is actually very inclusive. “Republicans and Others has their part to play….”
Indeed….people dont have to vote Sinn Féin to play a part.
Keeping An Eye On the Czar of Russia 
I don’t see this as important at all.
SF activists work hard on the ground in each and every of the 32 counties of Ireland.
That is where it counts.
No its not important at all.
It is amusing that Sinn Féins well oiled machine of enthusiastic people on the average industrial wage screwed up.
The over-reaction of SF and the nonsensical charges of sexism arealso amusing….especially that old spoofer Danny Morrison.
More serious is that SF have chosen themselves to mis-use the memory of Bobby Sands…and it seems a calculated gamble that they think they can make advances in the south on a (perceived) northern issue.
There is bound to have been debate within Sinn Féin about whether the Past should be played up or played down.
Like everyone else, I expect SF will make gains in the south but I think they have limited their own potential.
The question is how many seats will they win with this tactic and how many they would have won with a different tactic.
I think they have made a mistake.
I confess that I know nothing about Fiscal Space but at least I have the brains to keep my mouth shut…so the spectacle of Mary Lou and Pearse Doherty being embarrassed by Gerry Adams stumbling over it is also amusing.
SF believes in its own invincibility so those of us who think that SF are a bunch of shameless spoofers are entitled to have a wee laugh.
Of course, the past 72 hours in Dublin are a serious matter. Thats the real story and while nothing to do directly with political violence, this is not the climate that suits Sinn Féin.