From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin Podcast By Daily Mail cover art

From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin

From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin

By: Daily Mail
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In 1981, ten young men starved themselves to death in a prison on the outskirts of Belfast. They were all members of the Irish Republican Army, and had been protesting their right to be treated as political prisoners. Their deaths shocked the world. The Hunger Strikes made martyrs of the young republican men who died and were the apex of a thirty year conflict in Ireland that – by its conclusion – had claimed the lives of 3,500 people, and gained a euphemism: The Troubles. The strikes also marked the moment that a little-known nationalist fringe group named Sinn Féin was catapulted from obscurity into the mainstream.


Four decades later, Sinn Féin made history when it won the popular vote in the Ireland’s 2020 General Election and came within touching distance of taking power on both sides of the Irish border. Now, with the country on the eve of another election, Sinn Féin should be riding high in the polls. Instead, they are bogged down in chaos and disorder. Criticised for failing to come up with a coherent policy on immigration, and dogged by allegations of sexual abuse and internal cover-ups. Their election prospects look dubious, at best.


Whatever you think of them, Sinn Féin remain one of the most consequential political movements in recent history, and, more so than any other political party, their political fortunes remain irrevocably shaped by their past. To understand Sinn Féin, you have to go back to their roots.


In this limited series launching on November 22, political editor John Lee, who has been covering Sinn Féin for three decades, explores the history of the conflict that came to be known as the Troubles to understand where Sinn Féin came from, and where it might be going. He has spoken to key players from both sides of the Irish border, including current and former politicians, peace activists, former Provisional IRA members and ordinary civilians. And he has asked them all... who are Sinn Féin, really?

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Episodes
  • Introducing... From Bomb to Ballot

    Introducing... From Bomb to Ballot
    Nov 4 2024

    Sinn Féin, the party that emerged as the political wing of the Provisional IRA, made history when it won the popular vote in the Ireland’s 2020 General Election and came within touching distance of taking power on both sides of the Irish border.


    Whatever you think of them, Sinn Féin remain one of the most consequential political movements in recent history, and, more so than any other political party, their political fortunes remain irrevocably shaped by their past. To understand Sinn Féin, you have to go back to their roots.


    With Ireland on the eve of another General Election, there has never been a more timely moment to do so.


    In this limited series launching on November 22, political editor John Lee, who has been covering Sinn Féin for three decades, explores the history of the conflict that came to be known as the Troubles to understand where Sinn Féin came from, and where it might be going.


    He has spoken to key players from both sides of the Irish border, including current and former politicians, peace activists, former Provisional IRA members and ordinary civilians.


    And he has asked them all... who are Sinn Féin, really?


    All seven episodes will be available on Friday November 22, just follow From Bomb to Ballot wherever you get your podcasts.


    Presenter: John Lee

    Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames

    Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan

    Sound Design: John Scott

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Podcast Artwork: Lindsay Fagan

    Script Consultant: Liam Thompson

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Host: John Lee

    Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames

    Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Sound Design: John Scott

    Script Consultant: Liam Thompson


    A Daily Mail podcast. Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    4 mins
  • 1: Power and Protest

    1: Power and Protest
    Nov 22 2024

    In 1969, violence explodes across Northern Ireland.


    Catholics, who were treated as second-class citizens by the Protestant majority, march in protest and are beaten back by the country’s sectarian police force. The British Army arrives to restore order, but the violence escalates further into guerrilla war, led by a revived Irish Republican Army. The Troubles have begun.


    All seven episodes of From Bomb to Ballot are available now.


    Host: John Lee

    Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames

    Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan

    Sound Design: John Scott

    Podcast Artwork: Lindsay Fagan

    Script Consultant: Liam Thompson

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Host: John Lee

    Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames

    Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Sound Design: John Scott

    Script Consultant: Liam Thompson


    A Daily Mail podcast. Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    32 mins
  • 2: Guerrilla War

    2: Guerrilla War
    Nov 22 2024

    The Provisional IRA run a disciplined and efficient operation and prove capable of bringing bloody war to the British Army. A cat and mouse game on the streets of Belfast and Derry intensifies with each passing week, each side becoming further entrenched in a brutal cycle of violence that will define the 1970s.


    And, at a pub in Armagh, near the Irish border, a young British army officer called Robert Nairac disappears. He will never be seen again.


    All seven episodes of From Bomb to Ballot are available now.


    Host: John Lee

    Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames

    Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan

    Sound Design: John Scott

    Podcast Artwork: Lindsay Fagan

    Script Consultant: Liam Thompson

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Host: John Lee

    Producers: Artemis Irvine and Bella Soames

    Assistant Producer: Sally McLennan

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Sound Design: John Scott

    Script Consultant: Liam Thompson


    A Daily Mail podcast. Seriously Popular.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    29 mins
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