Sinn Féin – London Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin (‘[We] Ourselves’) was founded in Ireland while under British rule and became committed to the establishment of an Irish Republic. In the postwar period Sinn Féin maintained a presence in Britain, with branches in Birmingham and London. The split in the Republican movement at the onset of the conflict in Ireland in 1969–1970 was reflected in Britain, with Sinn Féin branches declaring themselves ‘Provisional’ (PSF). 

PSF in Britain campaigned for the withdrawal of British troops and a united Ireland, supported Republican prisoners and raised money for Republican causes.

From January 1971 to January 1973 PSF in London was spied on by undercover SDS officers HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ was the cover name used by a former Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer deployed between 1968 and 1974 into groups related to political violence in Northern Ireland. He held a managerial position as second-in-command of the SDS between 1981 and 1983 and retired from the Metropolitan Police in 1993. He is dead. Full page: HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’  and HN344 ‘Ian Cameron' also filed one report. HN344 'Ian Cameron' HN344 ‘Ian Cameron’ was an SDS undercover deployed into the Anti-Internment League and the Northern Minority Defence Force (NMDF) in 1971-1972. He was withdrawn after he was asked to travel to Derry with three members of the NMDF, in which he had assumed a position of responsibility. Full page: HN344 'Ian Cameron'  Lynch gained access to the Hammersmith branch of PSF through his infiltration of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed in Belfast in 1967 by those opposed to the denial of civil rights and social opportunities to ethnic Roman Catholics. Active in London from 1969-1972. At its height NICRA had 12 branches that organised pickets, demonstrations and rallies. NICRA was spied on by the HN68 ‘Sean Lynch’ and HN301 ‘Bob Stubbs’. Full page: Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA)  

In November 1971 Lynch was elected chairman of the branch, appointed as a delegate to the district committee of PSF, then elected finance officer for the latter. Lynch suffered a potential compromise of his cover identity in 1974. After this, the SDS stopped targeting groups with direct links to armed Irish Republican groups until at least the 1990s. SDS Annual Report 1976, inc letter from Assistant Commissioner to Home Office, 6 Apr 1976, Metropolitan Police Special Branch, MPS-0728980.View Document

However, PSF was monitored from March 1978 to January 1983 by SDS undercover officer HN96 ‘Michael James’ HN96 'Michael James' 'Michael James' is the cover name used by a former Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer who, between late 1978 and Spring 1983, infiltrated the Socialist Workers Party in Hackney and the national leadership of the Troops Out Movement. He also spied on Red Action and the Irish Republican Socialist Party. His real name has been restricted. , who infiltrated the Troops Out Movement (TOM). Troops Out Movement (TOM) The Troops Out Movement (TOM) was an Irish solidarity organisation active from 1973 to the mid-2000s, campaigning for an end to British rule in Northern Ireland, a single-issue campaign that worked with a range of groups, including Irish cultural and religious organisations and trade unions. It was spied upon by HN297 'Rick Gibson', HN298 'Michael Scott' and HN25 'Kevin Douglas'. Though it sometimes distanced itself from the IRA, TOM nonetheless maintained that armed resistance was a legitimate response to British rule. Full page: Troops Out Movement (TOM)

PSF in Britain was partly created out of a split within Clann na hÉireann Clann na hÉireann Clann na hÉireann is an Irish republican organisation closely associated with Sinn Féin. It sided with the Official IRA after its split from the Provisional IRA. Clann na hÉireann was reported on by HN68 'Sean Lynch’ and HN344 'Ian Cameron’ but was not a main target of the SDS in the early 1970s. The group was of interest to Special Branch, as is reflected in their mentions in their annual reports between 1970 and 1979. Full page: Clann na hÉireann , a support organisation for Irish emigrants founded in 1964 by the merger of SF branches in Birmingham and London. The leadership of Clann na hÉireann sided with Official SF (OSF) in 1969-1970, causing many members to leave and create new branches of PSF around the country. 

By mid-1972, PSF could claim 500-600 members and branches in Bletchley, Oxford, Leeds, Huddersfield and Luton, London operating five branches and Birmingham operating three.

PSF was organised in a similar manner to SF in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, operating a network of cumainn (‘associations’ or branches) that sent delegates to the comhairle ceantair (district committee). 

London and Birmingham each had their own comhairle ceantair. In London, cumainn in the north, east and west of the city were named after the Irish martyrs Roger Casement, Wolfe Tone, Paddy McAdorey and Terence MacSwiney. Lynch attended meetings of the Terence MacSwiney cumann. The name of the fifth Cumann is not known.

PSF cumainn raised money in their local areas for Republican causes including An Cumann Cabhrach (Prisoners’ Defence Fund), sold the relaunched SF newspaper An Phoblacht (The Republic) and organised protests such as sit-ins at Irish clubs and centres. In July 1971, PSF in Britain became responsible for supporting political prisoners on the mainland. 

The group’s members and cumainn were linked with several other pro-Republican organisations such as NICRA, Anti-Internment League Anti-Internment League The Anti-Internment League was formed in response to the introduction of mass internment in Northern Ireland in August 1971. Most active in the 1970s, and affiliated with the International Marxist Group, AIL worked with trade unions, republican groups, pacifists, and the broader left in Britain and Ireland. It was spied on by numerous SDS officers. Full page: Anti-Internment League  and TOM and were instrumental in setting up the Irish Civil Rights Association (ICRA) in January 1973. However, these other organisations often differed in their attitudes towards Sinn Féin and the IRA.

In the late  1970s and early 1980s, PSF helped to organise pickets, protests and commemorations for the victims of Bloody Sunday, for Irish Republican prisoners who died on hunger-strike and for those who had been executed by the British state.

Sources

Sinn Féin. New Members’ Course: Notes for Sinn Féin education officers, Republican Lecture Series. Sinn Féin, New Members Course: Notes for Sinn Féin education officers., CAIN Archive, 1979.