"The lights dimmed as Frances Black took to the west Belfast stage. It was August 1995, and the singer had just come from the anti-internment commemoration march in the city centre, where Gerry Adams had uttered his now famous "They haven't gone away, you know" line. Black, who was sporting a green ribbon in support of a Sinn Féin campaign calling for the release of IRA prisoners, told her enthusiastic audience, which included me, how the march had been an "amazing experience"."
"Then she put her hand on her hip, and, smiling, said: "As Gerry Adams said today, 'Welcome all Fenian bastards'." The place erupted with applause. "Fellow Fenian bastards," she added, laughing."
Sinn Féin's handling of the presidential race has damaged its reputation for strategic mastery. In August 1995 in west Belfast, Frances Black attended an anti-internment commemoration march where Gerry Adams said, "They haven't gone away, you know." Black wore a green ribbon supporting a Sinn Féin campaign to release IRA prisoners and told the audience the march had been an "amazing experience." She then quipped, "Welcome all Fenian bastards," prompting applause. Public gestures, campaign choices and historical associations with republican activism have shaped perceptions of the party's political acumen in later contests.
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