Sinn Fein’s long-time leader Gerry Adams steps down

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Amid tributes in speeches, songs and pictures, Gerry Adams stepped down as the leader of Ireland's Sinn Fein party on Saturday, ending 35-years as the de facto head of the Ireland's republican movement.

Mr. Adams was hailed as a patriot, a statesman and a peacemaker during a party conference in Dublin which elected long-time deputy Mary Lou McDonald to replace him as president. Mr. Adams didn't speak during the meeting but he was surrounded by dozens of well-wishers afterward as he tried to make his way out of the arena.

In a blog post before the conference he said the change in leadership marked "a new chapter in the story of our party and of our efforts to achieve independence and unity for the island of Ireland."

Mr. Adams, 69, has been a controversial figure in Irish politics for decades. He has been vilified as a sympathizer of the Irish Republican Army and its militaristic cause, and praised for bringing the IRA into peace talks that led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which ended The Troubles, the many years of sectarian violence that killed more than 3,500 people.

Along the way he built Sinn Fein into a political force in Northern Ireland and Ireland. However, in recent years he has been seen as out of date and a drag on Sinn Fein's growing popularity. He's also run into trouble over allegations of sexual assault by his brother, which Mr. Adams failed to bring to police attention for years, and new questions about his alleged role in the IRA murder of an informant in 1972.

While the 2,000 delegates at Saturday's conference gave Mr. Adams a warm sendoff, many are hoping that Ms. McDonald, 48, can set a new course for the party and move away from Mr. Adams' ties to the IRA. Unlike Mr. Adams, who was born into a working class family in Belfast steeped with IRA members, Ms. McDonald was raised in a wealthy part of Dublin and she has no connection to the IRA.

"It's a new start," said Neil Rush, 22, a Sinn Fein party member who lives in Newry, Northern Ireland, and works for Paypal in Ireland. "You have to embrace change. We always knew that Gerry was going to step down at some stage…I think for Ireland, north and south, even for European politicians, Mary Lou seems the more acceptable face of Sinn Fein."

Ms. McDonald immediately signalled her intention of setting a new course, telling delegates on Saturday that while she recognized the party's long traditions; "Now a new generation takes the reigns of leadership and our job is to bring innovative and modern ways to advancing our politics." She tried to carefully balance the issue of honouring IRA members who died during The Troubles, while also reaching out to other communities.

"Nobody should be asked to forget. Nobody should be asked to forgive if they cannot do so," she said. "The war is long over. There is no value either in engaging in the blame game. We do not have to agree on the past. There is no single historical narrative. We must only agree that the past is never again repeated. On other things, we can agree to disagree."

It's unclear how successful Ms. McDonald will be in breaking with the party's past and expanding its appeal. There is no doubt that Sinn Fein has had political success in recent years, forming a power-sharing government in the north, with the main Protestant-backed party the Democratic Unionists, and rising to third place in the Irish parliament behind the ruling Fine Gael and opposition Fianna Fail parties.

However, the government in Northern Ireland collapsed more than a year ago and the two main Irish parties have refused to enter into a coalition with Sinn Fein because of its ties to the IRA. Sinn Fein's deputy leader, Michelle O'Neill who runs the party in Northern Ireland, also has close IRA ties and she has infuriated many unionists by attending commemorations of IRA fighters.

Ms. McDonald hopes to make her mark quickly. She's been involved in negotiations to re-establish the Northern Ireland government and there are indications a deal could be struck next week. She's also pushing Sinn Fein into more socially liberal positions, such as embracing same-sex marriage and calling for reform of the country's strict abortion laws.

On Saturday, she said Sinn Fein will campaign actively in a planned referendum this spring on whether to repeal a section of the country's constitution, known as the Eight Amendment, which effectively bans abortion. Ms. McDonald said the party will support repealing the amendment and giving women greater choice. That could be a tricky position given that Sinn Fein draws much of its support from Catholic communities.

However, she also made it clear she will not waver from Sinn Fein's main reason for existing; pushing for a united Ireland. "We are the generation of republicans who will see the rising of the moon," she said on Saturday. "Irish unity in our time."