From analysing TDs’ expenses to digging the dirt on rivals, a look inside the Sinn Féin electoral toolkit

An image from the Sinn Féin toolkit showing how press photos should be staged - with no pointing at potholes

Sinn Fein toool kit photo - How NOT to do it

An image from the Sinn Féin toolkit showing how press photos should be staged - with no pointing at potholes

Sinn Fein toool kit photo - How NOT to do it

Sinn Fein toolkit photo - How to do it

Photo from Sinn Fein toolkit

An image from the Sinn Féin toolkit showing how press photos should be staged - with no pointing at potholes

Philip Ryan Twitter Email

June 14 2021 02:30 AM

FAKE polling is just one weapon in a political party’s arsenal of strategies to convince members of the public to give them their vote. Sinn Féin’s Election Tool-kit 2015 offers a fascinating glimpse into how the party trains members for the battlefield of electoral politics.

Many of the strategies would not be unique to Sinn Féin but the party’s decision to outline the tricks of the trade in a glossy training manual for members would be considered unusual.

Take the age-old art of digging for dirt on your political rivals – generally something that is discussed by political party operatives in hushed tones in party headquarters or public house snugs.

But in Sinn Féin’s case it has an entire section called “analysing our opponents” in its election training manual.

“Challenging our political opponents on matters relating to their effectiveness as politicians does not conflict with the running of a positive campaign on our own strengths,” the document said.

It then goes on to tell members it should be a “matter of course that we research and have at our fingertips information on our major political opponents”.

It even highlights where members should look to dig dirt on other politicians.

This includes looking at their Dáil attendance and voting records.

They are even told to look into individual TDs’ expense claims and check the Register of Members Interests for the Dáil to see if there is “anything obvious that they have failed to declare”.

“It is vital to link anything critical about your opponent to a negative outcome for individual voters,” the tool-kit said. There’s even an example: “A simple stating of the action that ‘opponent X voted in favour of welfare cuts’ has much less impact than linking the action with a negative for the voter ‘opponent X voted in favour of cutting the Christmas bonus and that means that 1,000 families in Cork will have €200 less to spend this Christmas’.”

However, Sinn Féin activists are told not to get too dirty and should “not engage with issues regarding political opponents beyond that of their role as elected representatives”.

Sinn Féin prides itself on its dominance of social media and the training manual naturally has instructions on how members should portray themselves online.

They are told to “avoid the use of vulgar language” and are reminded that personal photos stop being personal once they are uploaded.

“So be careful that party members on identifiable Facebook pages are sober, decent and not engaged in any behaviour which could embarrass the party,” the manual added.

There is also an entire section on how to take photographs which can be sent to local newspapers or used for campaign literature. Pointing at things, such as potholes, is banned and there is a big focus on composing images to take into account the issue a representative is seeking to highlight.

There is a lengthy section on how to deal with the media including instructions on monitoring press coverage and how to answer phone calls from journalists.

Sinn Féin members are told: “If a paper fails to carry what you consider to be an important story, only accuse them of censorship when all other approaches have failed and you are sure that this is the case.”

When talking to journalists, they are told, “nothing is off the record, ever”, before adding: “Don’t talk off the record.”

They are told to always respond to phone calls and to never say “no comment”.

“Don’t ever lose your temper, no matter what the provocation,” the document added.

They are told not to “waffle” when speaking to journalists and “don’t let a reporter put words in your mouth”.

However, it is noted that if a journalist is putting their comments to them it is “to check that they have it correct, rather than anything sinister”.