The worrying rise of Sinn Fein

摘要

NOT SINCE the days of Eamon de Valera has Ireland had a leader as globally recognisable as Leo Varadkar. Both men owe their prominence to vexed Irish relations with Britain. De Valera emerged as the senior surviving leader of the Easter uprising against British rule in 1916. Mr Varadkar rallied eu support in a stand-off with Boris Johnson over the terms of Brexit last year. Yet whereas de Valera spent half a century in and out of high office, building modern Ireland in the process, Mr Varadkar faces the sack. Polls suggest that his centre-right Fine Gael party will slump to third place in an election on February 8th, falling behind not only its traditional rival, Fianna Fail, another party of the centre-right, but also Sinn Fein, the shock leader. If so, it would be the first time since the 1930s that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have not been the top two.