SINN Fein golden girl Toireasa Ferris has launched an astonishing attack on her own party.

Ms Ferris accused Sinn Fein of being irrelevant, 'out of touch' and suffering an identity crisis.

"Sinn Fein means nothing to the bulk of people in the South," the 29-year-old councillor said.

The former Mayor of Kerry claimed that "the party (is) out of touch with its base" and "must return to being community activists, not politicians".

The attack is a further blow to Sinn Fein, which has seen a string of long-time activists leave -- including Dublin councillor Christy Burke.

The opinion piece in the latest edition of Republican newspaper An Phoblacht, is accompanied by a photograph of Gerry Adams and Mary Lou McDonald with the caption: "As a party, what are we at and where are we going?"

Ms Ferris wrote: "If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that the majority of those who we need to put a 1 or a 2 after our logo on a ballot paper unfortunately see us as a Northern-based party."

However, when contacted, the daughter of convicted IRA gun-runner Martin Ferris who has herself attracted criticism for failing to condemn the IRA murder of Det Gda Jerry McCabe, insisted the article was not an attack on the leadership of the party.

"Voters are unclear about what we stand for, which is not surprising as I'm sure many of us are starting to wonder about this also.

"We have been trying to appeal to too broad a spectrum of people and as a result have lost touch with our base.

"For this reason, amongst others, we were seen as neither a credible alternative to the Government nor a party of protest."

Ms Ferris, who was re-elected to Kerry County Council in June, insisted the debate about the party's future could not wait.

"This debate needs to take place now," she said.

"It's more than four weeks since the election and we, the activists, are waiting.

"The party is suffering an identity crisis -- what are we trying to achieve in the 26 (counties) and what do we stand for besides a united Ireland?

"We can't afford to wait any longer to answer these questions." She wrote the article in the aftermath of Sinn Fein's poor showing in June's local elections.

Ms Ferris also encouraged the party to get back to its roots.

"I believe we need to get back to the basics of representing people on the ground -- and building republicanism from the ground up. We must return to being community activists, not politicians," she said.

She added: "Forget the notion of trying to be a catch-all party that appeals to everyone. That way we'll end up attracting the loyalty of no one.

"Let's focus on building an electoral coalition that can bring us 20 to 30pc of the vote."

Sinn Fein has been thrown into turmoil by poor election results and by high-profile members leaving the party.

Shortly after June's local elections, Christy Burke announced he was quitting Sinn Fein and becoming an independent on Dublin City Council.

His announcement left the party without one of its most recognisable Dublin politicians.

It came after other members like Nicky Kehoe and Tony Smithers resigned from the city council.

comurphy@herald.ie

- Cormac Murphy