Founded in 1905, Sinn Fein means “We Ourselves” in Gaelic. The party still operates out of a four-story building on the 18th-century Parnell Square on the north side of city.

From this office, on what republicans sometimes call Revolutionary Square, Sinn Fein watched the 1916 Easter rebellion aimed at ending British rule of Ireland.

“In Ireland, there’s always a rebellion going on,” said Padraig MacFionnlaig, as he guides a Sinn Fein walking tour around some of the buildings where the rising was planned and rebels died. “Or someone is planning something.”

The party still trades on its revolutionary past. The Sinn Fein store in the city is filled with blue jerseys emblazoned with the number 16 and the message: “Dublin: the city that fought an empire,” and is filled with posters of Bobby Sands, an IRA member who died while on hunger strike in 1981.

The death of Sands, and nine other hunger strikers, triggered massive shows of support for the republican movement, and prompted a change in its approach to politics. As part of a strategy known as the “Ballot Box and the Armalite,” Sinn Fein began contesting elections in Northern Ireland in 1982, and now shares power with unionists in the U.K. province.

Adams Rebranding

Across the border, in the south, the party has worked on recasting its image, partly through social media. Banned from Irish national airwaves until 1994, party leader Adams, 66, is presenting a new face to voters through Twitter.

Adams’s 70,000 followers are routinely greeted with his latest culinary exploits. Last month, it was “garlicky chicken, floury spuds and Teds ice cream.” He also expresses his love for teddy bears and sends pictures of rubber ducks.

Voter satisfaction with Adams is now on a par with other party leaders, polls show. Adams still ranked above Kenny, the Millward Brown poll showed last month, even after he faced weeks of questions about his role in handling sex abuse allegations against IRA members in the 1990s.

“It appears that the allegations against the party leadership are having little impact on the party support,” said Richard Colwell, a pollster at Red C in Dublin. “The reality is that many normal everyday voters are more than happy to see someone stand up to the established parties who they often feel have failed them once again.”