I agree that petty nationalism isn't worth the candle, but I wouldn't say that nationalism has no positive function in modern democracies. Nonetheless, it's the capitalist excesses of the past decade that are the much greater threat to Ireland, not petty nationalism. All that changed with the IRA ceasefire in 1994.

Sinn Fein has a meaningful role to play north and south, as a serious alternative to Labour's and Fianna Fail's political and economic ideologies. They certainly backed the right horse on the EU vote in the Republic, and they have been one of the few voices on the political landscape that has dared to challenge the Celtic Tiger propaganda.

BTW, I would disagree that Sinn Fein is the worst party when it comes to petty nationalism. Historically speaking, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael managed to drive that stake through the nation's heart without any help whatsoever from Sinn Fein, which was never a viable party (or even a political force) until 1996. You can't argue the fact that it is one of the few parties in Western Europe to make any meaningful gains on the traditional parties in recent decades. Most countries, like Britain and France, are moribund in that sense. Europe's success will only come with as substantial an infusion of new blood to the political landscape as Ireland has seen with Sinn Fein and, to a lesser extent, the Greens.

The Greens could have had a much broader impact in Ireland, if only they hadn't absorbed the morally bankrupt position on the north of Fine Gael, Labour, and the PDs. Terrorist or not, Sinn Fein has been the only party that ever put forward realistic solutions to the Troubles and institutional discrimination in the north. The reason why their platforms were more realistic than any other party's is quite simple: they actually represented the constituency which was the aggrieved party, north and south.