I suppose that the Northern Bank robbery and the subsequent investigation into money laundering has become such a major crisis for Sinn F�in for three reasons. First, and probably least important, was the sheer size of the haul. That was guaranteed to generate headlines. Second, now that the armed struggle is over/suspended, the traditional rationale for armed robbery–given the state of undeclared war, “raids” were considered a legitimate way of funding operations–has evaporated. Third, and perhaps most significant, is that now that Sinn F�in is no longer a negligible force in the Republic’s politics, people in the South are actually waking up to the dubious characters and actions behind such shiny-happy representatives as recently elected MEP Mary-Lou McDonald. (On the other hand, the five “26 County TDs” (as described by the SF website) strike me as a rather truculent bunch.)The partition mentality is far from a Unionist trait. While it might have been OK for the elected representatives in the North to have alleged connections to bank robbers and kneecappers, moral concern in the South only seems to have bubbled up as SF began making inroads in traditional party fiefdoms. The belief among our political class that what’s good enough for the North doesn’t quite make the grade for the South was implicitly expressed on today’s Morning Ireland. In an interview, the leader of Fine Gael, Enda “Inda” Kenny–Bertie Ahern’s greatest asset–stated: “This is no longer just a Northern story. The people of Ireland are now talking about this.”Dear old Jeffrey Donaldson MP couldn’t have made the distinction between the North and Ireland any clearer.