FOR the first time since 2019, Sinn Féin came north to hold its ard fheis. More than 1,500 delegates attended the ICC in Belfast over the weekend.

After a run of successes in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Sinn Féin now holds 178 seats and is the leading party in our councils, at Assembly, and at Westminster.

Even its most ardent critics cannot deny its electoral success in recent years.

That’s great when you achieve it, but holding on to it is the hard part, and that’s the situation Sinn Féin found itself in as it met in Belfast.

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The reality is slowly dawning that in just over a year, it will be defending 171 seats across Northern Ireland. Trying to maintain the surge in support will be a mammoth task.

At this ard fheis, the campaign began with some of the greatest hits, as well as some new........

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