If the release of Deaglán De Bréadún’s book Power Play: The Rise of Modern Sinn Féin last November was timely, ahead of February’s general election in the Irish Republic, then so too was its launch at Belfast’s Linenhall Library this afternoon.

Just yesterday Sinn Féin MLA for North Antrim Dathí McKay resigned and was suspended from the party following revelations that he had ‘coached’ loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson before he gave evidence to Stormont’s NAMA inquiry. Mr McKay was then Chair of the inquiry, and Bryson a witness.

Although Mr De Bréadún’s book primarily focuses upon the rise of the party in the Irish Republic, it is hard to imagine his lecture and subsequent Q&A session occurring without mention of this week’s controversy. As the author said, we haven’t heard the end of the story but we still don’t have all the facts.

Even every tweet he [Gerry Adams] posts is analysed scrupulously by his political opponents.

Mr De Bréadún spoke of the rise of Sinn Féin in the Irish Republic from 2007 when the party won just 4 TDS in the Dáil, to 2011 when it won 14 seats, and then 23 at this year’s vote.

The 2011 election was a significant moment for Sinn Féin – the first since the collapse of the Irish economy and subsequent IMF bailout, and which saw the near implosion was Fianna Fáil.

Despite Sinn Féin’s low moment of 2007, things started to change: the emergence of the young, articulate Pearse Doherty in a Donegal South-West by-election in 2010 was significant; his election followed a High Court ruling that the very delay in holding the vote was ‘unreasonable’.

Deaglán De Bréadún

Deaglán De Bréadún

Martin McGuinness’s campaign for the Irish presidency in 2012 followed. In 2014’s European elections the party saw its candidates elected MEPs in each of the South’s three constituencies, in addition to electing Martina Anderson in the North. Across Ireland the party recorded around half a million votes.

Since then, controversy has persisted with widely reported revelations brought forward by Máría Cahill; allegations against Liam Adams by his daughter; and against Gerry Adams with the revival of the Jean McConville case.

Had Sinn Féin performed as well in February as opinion polls had suggested, the party would have won around 30 Dáil seats. In the end, the party had to settle for 23 seats. Perhaps certain “media car crashes” with Mr Adams placed “front of house” throughout the campaign may be to blame. Even every tweet he posts is analysed scrupulously by his political opponents.

Questions persist over Gerry Adams’s intentions – if he has any – to retire as party President, but Mr De Bréadún said the climate in the Dáil and amongst the political establishment generally does not seem to be reflected on the ground where he still has lots of appeal, and not least with potential funders from the US.

Mr De Bréadún said February’s election had produced a “peculiar result” with no party in a real position to rule alone, resulting in the current ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement between the minority governing party Fine Gael and opposition Fianna Fáil.

Various options existed then and still exist for Sinn Féin in this Dáil term, some of which might test the party’s principles and pragmatism. Interestingly, Mr De Bréadún highlighted policies the modern Sinn Féin party has dropped, like EU opposition and hiking the Republic’s corporation tax rate.

But, for Mr De Bréadún, whereas Northern Ireland may be a model of political stability, events in the Republic are difficult to predict. Should Sinn Féin enter into government in the Republic, this would have huge implications for Northern Ireland.