Sinn Fein Lauds Gains in Ireland

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams pledged Sunday to end “anemic opposition” in Ireland after elections in which his hard-line republicans made solid gains.

“Our day has arrived,” Adams said in the wake of the balloting, whose results cast a shadow over European Union expansion plans despite a big win for Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.

“Sinn Fein is now a major political force for change in this state,” Adams said.

But Ahern, whose center-right Fianna Fail party won an overwhelming mandate for a second five-year term, threw down the gauntlet. He said it was time for Sinn Fein to get its military wing, the Irish Republican Army, to disarm.

“Sinn Fein will have to go the rest of the way,” Ahern said.

The IRA, which fought a bloody 30-year battle to end British rule in Northern Ireland, has put portions of its vast arsenal “beyond use,” but still has huge caches of arms in reserve.

“There cannot be ambiguity. You cannot have a position where you’ve some kind of allegiance and loyalty understanding with a paramilitary army,” Ahern said.

Sinn Fein, which sits in government in Northern Ireland and holds seats in the British Parliament, won five seats in Ireland’s 166-seat lower house of Parliament, giving it a significant voice there for the first time.

Counting of paper ballots continued Sunday to decide a handful of contests outstanding from Friday’s vote.

But the outlines of the victory for Fianna Fail, and the solid gains for Sinn Fein and the environmental Green Party, which got six seats, were clear.

As counting resumed, Fianna Fail had 75 seats, while the main opposition and second runner-up Fine Gael had 29, a huge loss that forced its leader to resign.

Adams, who campaigned but was not a candidate, said opposition in Ireland “was very anemic up until now” but he predicted change, with Sinn Fein, the Green Party and other small or mid-sized parties working together.

He also said the outcome was a mandate for “an alternative vision” for those who feel left out by Ireland’s booming economy, the fastest-growing in the EU.

The gains by Sinn Fein and the Greens have implications for EU enlargement because both strongly oppose the Nice Treaty, which provides a legal basis for enlargement to proceed and which must be ratified by all members.

Irish voters rejected the treaty in a referendum last year, but the government intends to hold another and ask voters to reconsider.

A recent opinion poll showed opposition to the treaty in Ireland growing.