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Friends of Sinn Féin is registered w the DOJ under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of Sinn Féin. Reg doesn't imply approval by the US Gov.

This material & the reg statement are on file & available for inspection at the DOJ & www.fara.gov. Friends of Sinn Féin is registered with the Department of Justice, Washington D.C. under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of Sinn Féin. This material and the registration statement are on file and available for inspection at the Department of Justice and on their website www.fara.gov.

Registration does not imply approval by the United States Government. Through FOSF USA people in the United States can support Sinn Fein, the Irish peace process and the efforts to bring about a united and free Ireland. FOSF USA is not a membership organization, but provides public forums for Sinn Fein to present their views throughout the United States. Such events are planned and scheduled for Sinn Fein leadership figures visiting the U.S., according to their availability. Sinn Fein’s representative to the United States, Ciaran Quinn, regularly briefs U.S. politicians, the media, and Irish America on the peace process. FOSF USA welcomes all donations, which it accepts and accounts for as the agent for Sinn Fein. FOSF USA is an efficient and effective channel through which people in the U.S. can support Sinn Fein and its efforts for peace with justice in a united Ireland.

06/22/2026

Resignation of Keir Starmer presents opportunity to advance relationships between Britain and Ireland in a positive manner – Mary Lou McDonald TD

Responding to today’s announcement that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to resign, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD said, “The announcement today by Keir Starmer that he will step down as British Prime Minister presents the opportunity to advance relationships between Britain and Ireland in a positive direction.

“The election result in Makerfield may have brought his premiership to an end, but the wider political picture is far more significant. The recent electoral victories of Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party press home the reality that pro-independence parties, including Sinn Féin, now play a hugely significant role in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and present a direct challenge to the Union.

“Politics is changing rapidly in Britain and Ireland. Whoever becomes the next British Prime Minister must recognise these new political realities.

“As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in two years’ time, we should recognise how far we have come. Peace is secure, and the next chapter in our national journey centres on constitutional change, the democratic pathway to Irish reunification, and a managed transition that demands strong British-Irish relations.

“Sinn Féin stands ready to work constructively with the incoming British Prime Minister. We will continue to press for the planning and preparation needed for constitutional change. The constitutional status quo is no longer sustainable. Partition has failed. Both the British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach have a responsibility to engage with these realities in a responsible, practical and direct way that shapes the future.”

Westminster chaos underlines need to build something better’ – O’Neill

Responding to the announcement this morning that Keir Starmer MP will resign, Leas Uachtarán Shinn Féin Michelle O’Neill said, “Today Keir Starmer has announced his intention to step down as British Prime Minister.

“His departure underscores the chaos of Westminster and how our future is better served by breaking our links with Britain.

“Successive British governments have cut our public services and weakened our economy, leaving ordinary people struggling to make ends meet while a small elite grows ever wealthier.

“I stand ready to work constructively with the incoming British Prime Minister, but I will be clear that a hugely different approach is needed.

“People here are not second-class citizens.

“They deserve proper and fair investment in our public services, real support through the cost of living crisis, and respect for our democratic right decide our own future.”

06/21/2026

An Unexpected Move in the Irish Unity Debate - A letter from Ireland

a Chara,

Last weekend, Simon Harris, the leader of Fine Gael, announced that the party would develop and publish a blueprint for a unified Ireland at its Ard Fheis (Annual Conference) in November.

Fine Gael is now joining the majority of parties across Ireland, Sinn Féin, the SDLP (the party of John Hume), the Irish Labour Party, the Social Democrats, and others, in advocating and preparing for Irish Unity. However, this announcement is significant as Simon Harris is also the Tánaiste (deputy Prime Minister) in the Irish Government. In a deal with their government partners, Fianna Fáil, he is due to become Taoiseach (Prime Minister) at the beginning of 2028.

Micheal Martin, the current Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, has set his face against planning, preparing, or even advocating for Irish Unity, with the constant refrain that “now is not the time.”

In a rebuff to that position, Simon Harris said, “…the necessary groundwork we need to do to develop unity of purpose, unity of vision, and unity of our island. That work begins now.”

Fianna Fáil has always claimed to be “The Republican Party”, yet has failed to advance the cause of Unity in its 100 years of existence, including a majority of that time in Government. It was the founders of Fine Gael who were the first to support the partition of Ireland, and they are now planning for its end.

The driver of this change is the reality that partition continues to limit economic and social development in the North and the South. Brexit demonstrated that decisions made in London had a direct and negative impact on Dublin. The cause of Irish Unity is also very popular in the Southern State, with a demand to begin preparations. Fine Gael is aligning with popular opinion, responding to the demand for action on Unity and also chasing a lead over their main election challenger, Fianna Fáil.

In leaked WhatsApp messages, reported in the Irish Examiner, Fianna Fáil elected representatives were seething in their commentary against their partners in Government and by the lack of action by their own party to progress Irish Unity.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald welcomed the announcement by Simon Harris, but added that party promises were not enough; it would require government action. It is the Irish Government that will negotiate with the British on the wording and timing of Irish Unity referendums.

It will be the Irish Government that will manage the transitions to a unified state, the economic model, governance structures, constitutional guarantees, the shape of public services, and the timing of the transfer of sovereignty after successful referendums. The preparatory work should begin today.

This week, Mary Lou McDonald introduced a Bill into the Dáil (Irish Parliament) that will compel the Irish Government to consult with the people, establish a Citizens’ Assembly on Unity, and develop a Government Green Paper setting out its ideas, vision and proposals for health, education, public services, economy, and ultimately, governance of a new unified State within the European Union.

This Bill is planned to be debated in early July. If Fine Gael is true to its word, and if Fianna Fáil is true to its rhetoric, both will support the passage of the Bill into legislation.

Over a hundred years after Ireland was divided, it is not too late to do the right thing. This week’s developments by Simon Harris and Fine Gael are to be welcomed, but if they are to be of value, they must be marked by their actions in Government.

Have a great weekend.

Is mise,

Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America. Each week he writes a letter from Ireland with news and analysis. It is featured in the weekly Friends of Sinn Féin USA Newsletter. Be sure you are subscribed to stay up to date.

06/19/2026

A day to celebrate and reflect on the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Juneteenth marks the anniversary of the announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas. We wish everybody celebrating a joyful & reflective Juneteenth!

06/18/2026

One week from today! DC - fewer than 20 regular tickets remain for Thursday's special event with Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald. Make your plans and get your tickets now to join us and The New 32 Project for a night of conversation and community! TICKETS HERE: https://donorbox.org/events/939152/steps/choose_tickets

06/17/2026

Mary Lou McDonald launches Bill to legislate for planning on Irish unity

Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald T.D, has today introduced legislation in the Dáil that would compel the Taoiseach to get the planning and preparation for constitutional change and Irish unity underway.

Ms. McDonald said, “This important Bill that I have introduced in the Dáil will legislate for the planning and preparation for constitutional change and Irish reunification.

“It will now allow all TDs, political parties, independents and the government to formally come into the debate.

“It crucially provides for the Taoiseach to publish a government Green Paper as a means of consultation with the people of the entire island. This will mean the Government setting out its ideas, vision and proposals looking at health, education, public services, economy, and ultimately governance of a new unified State within the European Union.

“The Bill also provides for the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly bringing together people and sectors from across the island, including unionists and protestants, to consider all of these crucial issues, which will inform and shape the debate.

“As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in 2028 it is important to recognise the scale of the transformation that has occurred across Ireland over the past three decades. today, peace is secure, and the next chapter of this island’s political journey centres on constitutional change.

“The lesson of Brexit is clear, refusing to prepare for major constitutional change does not prevent instability, it guarantees it. The central question now is whether the government are prepared to confront the reality responsibly.

“The Bill provides the Dáil and the Irish Government with the unprecedented opportunity to commence preparation and planning for constitutional change and the reunification of Ireland which must be grasped.

“I now look forward to the Bill being scheduled for full second stage debate in the coming weeks.”

06/16/2026

The time to prepare for Irish Unity is now.

Today Mary Lou McDonald is introducing a Bill in the Dáil that would begin structured and responsible planning for Irish Unity and constitutional change.

A Citizens’ Assembly would ensure everyone has the opportunity to formally enter this important conversation and help shape our shared future.

The future of Ireland should be shaped democratically by the Irish People.🇮🇪💚

06/15/2026

DC - did you get your tickets to see Mary Lou McDonald yet? Fewer than half of the available tickets remain! Make your plans and get your tickets today and join us on Thursday, June 25th at 6:00pm at Exiles for a special evening with the president of Sinn Féin the largest political party on the island of Ireland!

Link for tickets in comments.

06/14/2026

Violence in Belfast - A letter from Ireland

a Chara,

I am sure that many of you have seen the violent scenes that unfolded in Belfast this week. First, the brutal knife attack on Monday evening, and then the scenes of Unionist mobs attacking police, the fire service, families, homes, and cars.

The assailant on Monday night was a Sudanese man who had been granted the right to stay in the North by British Immigration officials. I only mention his ethnicity and status, as that was the basis for a racist mob to rampage and attack the homes of people of colour.

In Ireland, most violent attacks are carried out by white Irishmen. The vast number of abusers of women and children are white Irishmen. Yet these abusers are seen as exceptions to the norm.

When a person from an immigrant community engages in violence, regardless of circumstance, it is portrayed by some as the norm for that community. That is racism. In reality, there is good and bad in all communities.

Last week I was in San Francisco, with Sinn Féin Vice-President Michelle O’Neill. We celebrated the connections between our two great nations. We visited the proposed site of a monument to An Gorta Mór overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. The monument will remember all of those who fled hunger and poverty in Ireland to make a new life for themselves on the West Coast of America.

We stood beside a statue of Robert Emmet, the great Irish Patriot, and we thought of all those who fled political persecution in Ireland from Wolf Tone to the present day.

These were the economic immigrants and asylum seekers of their time. In the US, they faced intimidation and discrimination from nativists. The same played out in Britain. Portrayed as lazy, stupid, drunken, and violent. “No Irish need apply”, was added to job adverts.

They could not be fully American as they were Irish and “Roman” Catholic. It took generations for the Irish to find their place in America, and yet some of those offensive stereotypes persist.

On Monday, I was showing former Congressmember Jamaal Bowman around Belfast. I took him to Bombay Street to see the wall that separates the communities and that marks the spot at which pro-British Unionists mobs attacked and burnt down the homes of Irish Catholics in 1969. These sectarian pogroms lit the fuse for thirty years of conflict.

I never thought that within twenty-four hours I would be witnessing similar pro-British Unionist mobs attacking the homes of immigrants. Sectarianism and racism are two sides of the same coin. The Irish know the cost of both; however, some seem to have forgotten their history.

Immigration to Ireland is a relatively new phenomenon and has been poorly handled by the government parties of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They have created and sustained a housing crisis, increased inequality, and undermined public services. The easy answer for some is to blame immigrates for the failings of successive British and Irish governments.

Currently, asylum seekers make up a small proportion of immigrants. We have full employment, and immigrants are essential to our economy, particularly our health services.

In the South asylum seekers do not have the right to work and are entitled to the equivalent of only $50 per week and emergency accommodation. If no accommodation is available, they are provided with a tent to sleep on the streets.

The body that determines applications has been underfunded, leading to long delays. The current service does not work well for applicants nor for the state. The only people who prosper are the private providers of emergency accommodation.

There are many problems with the current immigration system, created by successive Irish Governments and exacerbated by partition, with the British Government controlling immigration in the North. This has failed the citizens and the new Irish alike.

The legacy of the British colonial project in Ireland based on sectarianism now morph into racist attacks for a minority in the unionist community.

Lastly, to read social media, you would believe that Ireland is full and our culture is under attack. Neither is true. Our population has still not recovered to pre-famine levels, and our language, music, and sports are going strong. We Irish come in all shapes, sizes, colours and faiths.

Given our history of emigration, the discrimination we faced abroad, and our experience of sectarianism at home; religious discrimination or racism has no place in Ireland. The tiny violent minority that took to the streets, or their keyboard warriors does not represent the people North or South.

Is mise,

Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America

06/13/2026

The SDLP: Give Us a Border Poll but not Too Soon - Unless the party sets a timeframe for a poll, its words will ring hollow

By Martin Burns for Irish Border Poll

Over the last several weeks, SDLP leaders like Claire Hanna, MP and Matthew O’Toole, MLA, have been articulate advocates for a united Ireland. For example, Hanna has been travelling throughout the north of Ireland talking to people about what a new Ireland might look like. As an SDLP page put it:

Over the last few months, SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP has been travelling across Northern Ireland on a different kind of political tour. From Limavady to Enniskillen, Cookstown to Holywood, these town hall events have brought together people of all backgrounds for real conversations about the present and the future. Because if we’re serious about creating change and building a New Ireland the right way, it has to start with people and communities right where they live.

This is all excellent work and necessary to start the planning process for a border poll. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Hanna discussed an event her party was holding on constitutional change. Hanna correctly identified the fact that “change is happening all around us” and that “the risk is unprepared change.” Hanna is right that the winds of change are blowing throughout Ireland and that not preparing for a border poll would be disastrous. All we need to do is remember the chaos a hasty and ill-conceived Brexit unleashed upon the north of Ireland.

Where Hanna and the rest of the SDLP miss the mark is in not calling for a date for a border poll. This is in sharp contrast with Sinn Fein which has called for a date for a border poll. The Irish Labour party has also called for a date for a border poll. When I read Hanna’s remarks in the Belfast Telegraph, I was reminded of St. Augustine’s famous quote in his Confessions his prayer to God to “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.”

By not putting a date to a border poll, Hanna is casting a border poll as something that is not something practical and real, but rather something that is theoretical that might happen in some future decade. Hanna’s refusal to press for a date for a border poll plays perfectly into the hands of the vested interests in the Irish republic who support the status quo.

What I found most troubling in Hanna’s remarks was her redefining of what it would take to win a border poll:

I want a border poll done properly. I don’t think you build the modern pluralist new nation, including the change in the Republic and how it does business and how the economy works. I don’t think you do that by slipping past a tiny majority in a period of chaos.

Now, I would be happy if a huge majority approved a border poll. But what Hanna is doing is reconfiguring what it would take to win a border poll. Would 55% be enough, 60% or more? In saying that you would need more than a “tiny minority” to pass a border poll, Hanna is giving the Unionists and their supporters veto over a border poll.

This is not how a democracy works. Democracy works by a 50% plus one logic. Furthermore, Hanna is rewriting the terms of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. There is nothing in the Agreement saying that it would take a supermajority to pass a border poll. Rewriting the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is a dangerous proposition.

The SDLP has taken some positive steps in encouraging the debate about what a new and united Ireland might look like. I would urge them to amend their position and call for a date for a border poll. Otherwise, their words in support of constitutional change, no matter how earnest and sincere, will ring hollow.

06/12/2026

Cowardice from government and FAI flies in the face of Irish public and football community’s demands to Stop The Game – Joanna Byrne TD

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Sport, Joanna Byrne TD, has said that today’s confirmation by the FAI that they intend to move Ireland’s Nations League fixture against Israel to a neutral venue behind closed doors is a cowardly decision that flies in the face of the will of the Irish public and the football community to Stop the Game.

She said that the board of the FAI has acted unilaterally without consultation with its own stakeholders and members, who a fortnight ago called for an EGM to discuss this issue, a date for which has still not been provided by the association.

She also criticised the government for voting down Sinn Féin’s motion this week that would have supported Irish football by providing a clear roadmap for the FAI to do the right thing.

Teachta Byrne said, “Today’s confirmation that the FAI will move the Nations League Fixture against Israel to a neutral venue and behind closed doors flies in the face of the demands of the Irish public and the Irish football community, including the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland (PFAI) and Irish Football Supporters Partnership (IFSP), to Stop The Game.

“Today’s hollow and self-serving statement from the FAI shows that while they have heard the growing discontent among the Irish public, predictably they have clearly not listened to it.

“The board of the FAI has acted unilaterally without consultation with the association’s own members, who on this day two weeks ago submitted enough signatures to call an EGM to discuss the call to Stop the Game. A fortnight on, and no date has been provided by the board for this EGM to take place.

“Moving these games to a neutral venue – locking out Irish supporters in the process – is the cowards’ way out. Not only should this match not be played in Ireland, it should not be played anywhere while a genocide in Palestine is ongoing.

“The daily slaughter of Palestinian people, including footballers, cannot be ignored. Not by the Irish government and not by the FAI.

“The motion brought forward by Sinn Féin this week gave government the opportunity to provide a clear roadmap for the FAI to do the right thing. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael chose to look the other way.

“Government spin has focused on sanctions, implications and consequences for the FAI should they refuse to fulfil these fixtures.

“Had the government backed Sinn Féin’s proposals, the FAI would have been empowered to take a moral and courageous stance that, rather than damaging Irish football, would have enhanced the FAI’s standing.

“Ireland being drawn against Israel was the nightmare scenario that no one wanted. We have been clear that Israel should not have been in the competition in the first place. UEFA should have expelled them as soon as Israel embarked on a genocidal, ethnic-cleansing mission in Gaza that has seen tens of thousands of innocents murdered, including hundreds of sports men and women.

“They should have been sanctioned long before that for their breaches on clubs in illegal settlements built on land stolen from Palestinians. No sanctions, no expulsion, because UEFA and FIFA are serving their own political interests cosying up to US and Israeli governments.

“Today’s decision by the FAI leaves the team – our international footballers – exposed and vulnerable, and carrying a burden they should never have to carry. Where is the support and leadership from the FAI? Where is the support and leadership from government?

“Today’s decision will not dampen the momentum around the Stop The Game Campaign, it will only make it stronger. The calls of the FAI’s own members, the PFAI, the Trade Union movement, and the vast majority of Irish footballing fans will not be silenced.

“We say no double standards, no to genocide and no to complicity in sportswashing. Stop The Game.”

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