BELFAST: Mary Lou McDonald will succeed Gerry Adams as Sinn Fein leader, the party said on Saturday, completing a generational shift for the Irish nationalist party as it bids to enter government on both sides of the Irish border.
Adams, a pivotal figure in the political life of Ireland for almost 50 years, announced he would step down as leader of the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) last November after more than three decades in charge.
McDonald, an English literature graduate from Trinity College Dublin who has been at the forefront of a new breed of Sinn Fein politicians softening the party’s image, was the only Sinn Fein lawmaker to put her name forward for the leadership ahead of a special convention on Feb. 10.
“For us in Sinn Fein in the time ahead, we have to grow our party, not just our mandate but also our capacities. We have to modernize, we have to be fit for purpose, fit for our task,” McDonald said in a speech to party members in Belfast.
“As we enter a new era, we look ahead with confidence as a party that is about being in government here in the north, in government in the south also, working forward all the time for the realization of our ultimate goal of Irish unity.”
Adams, still reviled by some skeptical voters as the face of the IRA during its campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, hands over to a successor with no direct involvement in the three decades of conflict that came to an end in 1998.
It also means the left-wing party will be led on both sides of the border by women in their 40s after Michelle O’Neill succeeded Martin McGuinness as leader in Northern Ireland shortly before the former IRA commander’s death in March.
Sinn Fein has shared power in Northern Ireland since 2007 and is in negotiations to try to restore the devolved executive there but it has never governed in the south where it has grown to establish itself as the third largest party.
While it trails the center-right Fine Gael and Fianna Fail parties by some distance in opinion polls, recent surveys suggest some voters would be more willing to vote for a party led by McDonald than Adams.
With the big two parties likely to be able to form another minority government at best at elections that could come as soon as this year, McDonald’s leadership could also make Sinn Fein a more palatable coalition partner.
McDonald to succeed Adams as Sinn Fein leader in striking shift
McDonald to succeed Adams as Sinn Fein leader in striking shift
Russia’s Putin, in New Year address, voices confidence in victory in Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin used his annual televised New Year’s address to rally his troops fighting in Ukraine, saying he believed in them and in victory in a war that he has framed as part of an existential struggle with the West.
US President Donald Trump is trying to broker an end to the nearly four-year-old conflict, Europe’s bloodiest conflagration since World War Two, with both sides’ negotiating stances still far apart.
Dressed in a black coat, Putin — whose forces are advancing slowly but steadily in Ukraine — spoke about Russia’s destiny and the unity of its people, which he said guaranteed the sovereignty and security of the “Fatherland.”
He paid tribute in particular to his forces fighting in Ukraine, calling them heroes.
“Millions of people across Russia — I assure you — are with you on this New Year’s Eve,” said Putin.
“They are thinking of you, empathizing with you, hoping for you. I wish all our soldiers and commanders a happy coming New Year! We believe in you and our Victory!“
His speech, which was first broadcast in Russia’s far east, came as Russia released video footage of what it said was a downed drone, presenting it as evidence that Ukraine had tried this week to attack a presidential residence. Kyiv has dismissed Russia’s allegation as a lie designed to derail peace talks.
In another video released on Wednesday, Russia’s top general told troops to keep carving out buffer zones in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions and said Moscow’s forces had advanced faster in December than in any other month in 2025.
Reuters could not verify his battlefield assertion.
