Sinn Féin's 2024 manifesto presented the party as the largest party in Northern Ireland building momentum toward an Irish unity referendum by 2030. The seven Westminster seats would continue to abstain. The Stormont leadership delivered Michelle O'Neill as First Minister, the first nationalist to hold the office. Twenty three months on, the institutional success is intact. The constitutional progress is not. The unity referendum has moved from possibility to aspiration.
On Irish unity the manifesto demanded the British and Irish Governments set a referendum date by 2030. Mary Lou McDonald has continued to make the demand, accusing Taoiseach Micheál Martin of being the "biggest barrier" to unity. The British Government's position remains that a referendum will be called only when conditions suggest majority support. Sinn Féin has published no evidence that such conditions exist. The 2030 demand has not become a 2030 plan.
On Westminster representation the manifesto reaffirmed abstention as principled opposition to British sovereignty over Northern Ireland. The seven Sinn Féin MPs do not sit, do not speak, and do not vote on legislation that applies to Northern Ireland on reserved matters. The Windsor Framework, the Illegal Migration Act, the Troubles legacy legislation, and Westminster budget decisions affecting Northern Ireland's block grant are all decided without Sinn Féin participation. A party pursuing Irish unity has chosen to absent itself from the chamber that decides Northern Ireland policy.
On Stormont the manifesto's primary commitment was Michelle O'Neill as First Minister. O'Neill was sworn in on 3 February 2024. The Stormont Executive has remained in operation through 2025 and 2026 with the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy First Minister. Sinn Féin has delivered the institutional achievement.
On the all Ireland framework the manifesto committed to working with Sinn Féin in the Republic to build the case for unity. The Sinn Féin Republic general election in late 2024 delivered fewer Dáil seats than polling suggested and returned the party to opposition. The unity momentum is now asymmetric: dominant in Northern Ireland, weakened in the Republic.
This is not a party that broke its manifesto. Sinn Féin delivered the institutional commitment: O'Neill is First Minister, the Stormont Executive operates, abstention continues as promised. But the constitutional progress the manifesto presumed has not happened. The 2030 referendum has not been promised by either Government. The Republic election did not deliver the all Ireland momentum required. The party dominant in Northern Ireland is unable to deliver the unity that justified its founding. Whether Stormont success can carry constitutional ambition when the party chose to absent itself from Westminster is the question Sinn Féin has not yet answered.