The evolution of Sinn Féin

But a surge in public support, especially among an online generation, brings with it new challenges and difficulties. Ahead of any election Mary Lou McDonald's party - which now has a real potential to lead the next coalition - will be held to a higher standard, its policies picked apart and public utterances forensically assessed like never before.

A Sinn Féin-led Government would also be under intense public pressure to deliver on housing, healthcare and all of the other promises it has made in opposition.

Before being appointed Taoiseach, Mary Lou McDonald must ensure her party is actually ready for power.

That path to power is decades in the making. During the 1997 general election, the loudest and most sustained applause at the count centre in Tralee came as Martin Ferris was shouldered high by his supporters who gave him the clinched fist salute.

The Sinn Féin candidate, having polled 5,691 first preferences failed to win a seat but had stayed in the race right to the end, which in itself was seen as a victory for the party.

"Nobody can predict in absolute terms what the future may bring," Ferris told reporters gathered at Cumann Iosaef Community Centre.

His comment was made when he was asked whether he would approve the use of violence in future after he said the conditions to bring about a ceasefire in Northern Ireland were not there at present.

But when it comes to the rise of Sinn Féin, nobody, not even members of the party, could predict the breakthrough that has been made in the intervening period.

While Mr Ferris failed to gain a seat, the 1997 election was a watershed moment for the party.

It saw Caoimhín Ó Caoláin elected the first member of Sinn Féin to the Dáil since 1957, and the first to actually take their seat since 1922.

Ó Caoláin cited the ending of the broadcasting ban in 1994 as a major advance for the party when interviewed by the BCC in 2020.

"People, for the first time, could hear us debate on the airwaves and could make an informed judgement on our policy platform," he said.

But Leinster House was still a cold place for the lone Sinn Féin representative.

"There was a sense of shock at the arrival of Sinn Féin into the bear pit of electoral politics in this state," he said.

"Despite the hostility, we just got on with it. We had a job to do."

Five years later, the party returned four TDs and since then each election has brought with it a steady increase in numbers, rising to 14 TDs in 2011 and 23 in 2016.

But the groundswell of support in the 2020 election took even took the most senior members by surprise.

A bad performance in the 2019 local elections, where the party lost 151 council seats, had perhaps diminished expectations in the national poll.

The party is more than aware it made a severe error in not running more candidates in the last election, with McDonald citing it as a political regret of hers.

“We should have run more candidates and if I had been in the possession of a crystal ball and I could have accurately predicted what we were going to meet out on the campaign trail and the fact that that momentum for change would just grow so strongly, yes of course we would have run more candidates and we would have had more parliamentarians, more Teachta Dalaí elected," she said afterwards.

While the party flourished under the leadership of Gerry Adams, who enjoyed an almost celebrity persona amongst a younger generation, it is clear it has risen to yet another level under McDonald.

This dramatic increase in Dáil representation brings with it other issues including allegations of bullying and tensions which seem to constantly bubble under the surface.

Although Sinn Féin has no control over what people tweet, anyone who questions the party is likely to face a barrage of abuse from supporters online.

But what they can control is how they manage their staff and elected representatives.

Several councillors have resigned from the party over the years with claims of bullying within the organisation and allegations of inaction over complaints made by members.

A former Sinn Féin student activist resigned from the party after a member called to her house to demand she delete tweets that were critical of the party.

Clare TD Violet-Anne Wynne resigned from Sinn Féin earlier this year alleging she was the victim of a campaign of "psychological warfare."

She also said she “learned very fast that the party does not take kindly to autonomy and those who do not follow their plans.” She claimed “gatekeepers” pressured her into making decisions that she couldn’t stand over.

Sources have also said they expected more support from the party when it was aware they were going through a difficult period in their lives with one saying “after all, it is our workplace.” It becomes hard to ignore when a pattern begins to emerge.

Ms McDonald denies the bullying allegations but one thing she can’t challenge is the number of embarrassing apologies members of her team have had to issue.

Less than 24 hours after apologising for a tweet about an IRA ambush, Brian Stanley was forced to defend himself and issues a second apology for a tweet which made reference to Leo Varadkar's sexuality.

Tipperary TD Martin Browne said sorry in 2020 for old Facebook posts linking to conspiracy theories about 9/11 and for sharing content comparing the US to the Nazis.

Last year, Mayo representative Rose Conway-Walsh apologised for comparing the partial reopening of indoor dining during Covid-19 to discrimination faced by civil rights worker Rosa Parks faced.

And there are more.

This is something that McDonald is very much aware of and should be worried about and some believe there will need to be a clean-up of the backroom team before heading to the Government benches in the Dáil.

It’s known that the party is working behind the scenes on scoping out fresh talent and particularly young potential candidates to stand in the next general election.

Even though she will deny it, it’s also clear who Mary Lou McDonald has in mind for ministerial positions if the party gets into power.

Despite having 36 TDs, the same six are constantly put out to defend any criticism or scandal facing the party. These are Eoin Ó Broin, Pearse Doherty, Louise O’Reilly, Mairead Farrell, David Cullinane and Matt Carty.

But speaking of this to party members is like speaking to a baseball pitcher who is throwing a perfect game - seen as tempting fate or being overly ambitious. 

Make no mistake, this is a party burned by a missed opportunity in 2020 TDs in the background have admitted privately that there is an “inner circle,” and the party is not exactly as tight as it is portrayed.

Sources have said how they find the “virtue signaling” hard to get on board with, particularly when encouraged to post on Twitter that they are refusing a pay increase for TDs and returning it back to the Exchequer.

The fact that the next Dáil could have as many as 21 extra seats, should be good news for a party like Sinn Féin that is only going one way in the polls, but an influx of first-time TDs and senators would require significant management, especially if Mary Lou finds herself leading the country.

To that end, the party has begun planning how to maximise the return on its vote. Former TD for Cork North-Central Jonathan O'Brien is already playing a role in selecting candidates and attention is being paid to where seats can be turned into two and where electoral breakthroughs can be made.

Areas such as Waterford, Dublin Bay North, and Dublin South West are being touted as areas where Sinn Féin will aim to build on existing seats, with Green Party seats in Waterford and Dublin South West among those targeted. 

Sinn Féin sources say that of the Green Party's 12 seats, "around eight" could be targeted, with Waterford, Wicklow, Dublin Central, Dublin Fingal, Dublin West, and Dublin South Central included.

Party sources say that nearly every member of the front bench will get a running mate and will have to make an argument for why they should not.

In 2020, for example, Sinn Féin's Waterford TD David Cullinane took over 20,000 first preference votes, nearly twice the quota, and he is likely to have two running mates in the next election, with the party believing it has an outside shot at taking three seats in the four-seater. Sources say that will be replicated across the board, with multiple candidates to be run in all constituencies.

But reaching an 80-seat plus majority will require a lot of votes, a perfect strategy and a number of breaking balls on the day.

And, even after that, the question on many lips now is just what kind of government Sinn Féin would be and, whether Mary Lou McDonald can become the first female Taoiseach.

Within the party, some are quick to dismiss the notion that there's anything particularly radical about how Sinn Féin would go about government. 

They point to the fact that key potential ministers - Pearse Doherty and David Cullinane in particular - have met with big business, with former ministers for health and other so-called establishment figures.

They say Sinn Féin's differences are "there for everyone to see" but the notion that the party would gut the civil service or tear up existing policies on day one are "just not true".

However, one thing that the party will have to pay attention to is the increased scrutiny that comes with being the presumptive next government. 

This played out just last week when it came to light that housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin, usually the party's most measured speaker, had suggested that the Government's chief economist John McCarthy should be "sacked". 

Mr Ó Broin has expressed remorse over his comments about the chief economist at the Department of Finance, saying they were “ill-judged” and the party was forced to distance itself from the comments, but it was an unnecessary spat to become involved with and ammo for the coalition parties who wish to paint Sinn Féin as "not a normal party".

McDonald, too, had focus turned on her choice of words in a Leaders' Questions debate last week.

“Not content with denying our own people the right to an affordable, secure roof over their heads, the government now extends its catastrophic failure to those coming to Ireland seeking humanitarian assistance,” she said, slamming government policy on Ukrainian refugees.

But Taoiseach Micheál Martin turned that phrase "our own" against McDonald. Those who know her and within the party insist the phrase was not meant in any way other than as criticism, but as someone aspiring to the highest office, McDonald will have to recognise that he words are being analysed at a level like never before, much like the rest of the party.

It's a long road to power, but it seems it's one McDonald and her party now hopes to take.