Republican movement (Ireland)

The republican movement refers to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and other political, social and paramilitary organisations and movements associated with it. It can refer to:

• Republican Movement, which consisted of the IRA and Sinn Féin prior to 1969.^[1]

• Provisional Republican Movement or simply Republican Movement,^[2][3] which consisted of the Provisional IRA, Provisional Sinn Féin and other associated organisations.^[2][3][4]

• Official Republican Movement, which consisted of the Official IRA, Official Sinn Féin and other associated organisations.^[5]

• Irish Republican Socialist Movement, which consists of the Irish National Liberation Army and the Irish Republican Socialist Party.^[6]

• Dissident Republican Movement, which includes the Continuity IRA, Republican Sinn Féin, the Real IRA and 32 County Sovereignty Movement.^[7][8][9]

The Dissident Republican Movement itself consists of multiple movements:

• Continuity Republican Movement, which consists of the Continuity IRA and Republican Sinn Féin.^[10]

• Real Republican Movement, which consisted of the Real IRA and 32 County Sovereignty Movement.^[11]

Usage

The term was in use at least as early as 1949 when Criostóir O'Neill, the vice president of Sinn Féin, gave a speech at Bodenstown Graveyard:

The Republican movement is divided into two main bodies – the Military and the Civil Arms, the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Féin. Each has an important task to do. In the final analysis the work of either is as important as that of the other.^[12]

J. Bowyer Bell, in The Secret Army, uses the term throughout to refer to the several organisations associated with the IRA in the 1960s and beyond. For instance, in chapter XVII he says: "But beneath the smooth patina applied by MacGiolla, The Republican movement seethed with bitter faction and the advanced rot of despair." Specifically mentioned in relation to this are Sinn Féin, Clan na Gael in America, the United Irishman and the National Graves Association.^[1] Martin Dillon writes the term includes the IRA,^[13] Sinn Féin,^[13] Na Fianna Éireann,^[14] and Cumann na mBan.^[14] Dillon and Peter Taylor state the term is used by members of the IRA to avoid making an incriminating statement, since membership of the IRA is illegal.^[14][2] A Sinn Féin 'members course' of around 1979 states: "Sinn Féin is the political section of the Republican Movement".^[15] Robert White states in the early 1980s Sinn Fein was the junior partner in the relationship with the IRA, and they were separate organisations despite there being some overlapping membership.^[16]

See also

• Irish republicanism
• Irish Republican Army (disambiguation)

References

1. Bowyer Bell, J. (1997). The Secret Army: The IRA. Transaction Publishers. p. 337. ISBN 1-56000-901-2.
2. Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 380. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. Whereas I use the Republican Movement as the generic name for the 'Provos' - the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin - the term the 'Movement' is used by republicans to mean the IRA.
3. O'Donnell, Ruán (2012). Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons Vol.1: 1968-78. Irish Academic Press. p. xiv. ISBN 978-0-7165-3142-5. Republican Movement: Collective term for the IRA, Cumann na mBan, Sinn Féin, National Graves Association, republican youth and marching bands which emerged from the 1969/1970 split
4. 'No Irish model for Palestinians', Henry McDonald, The Guardian, 26 January 2006
5. O'Donnell, Ruán (2012). Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons Vol.1: 1968-78. Irish Academic Press. p. xiii. ISBN 978-0-7165-3142-5. Official Republican Movement: Collective term for the Official IRA, Official Sinn Féin, Official Na Fianna Éireann and allied republican groups following the 1969/1970 split
6. Morrison, John F. (2015). The Origins and Rise of Dissident Irish Republicanism. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 85. ISBN 978-1501309236. This chapter covers the relatively short process which resulted in the division in the Official Republican Movement resulting in the formation of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement (IRSM) which consisted of an armed wing, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and a political wing, the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP)
7. The Omagh Bombing: Some Remaining Questions Fourth Report of Session 2009-10 Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence (House of Commons Papers). Stationery Office Books. 2010. p. 10. ISBN 978-1501309236. Although the Belfast Agreement was signed on Good Friday in April that year, the dissident republican movement, principally through the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA, continued to be active.
8. Jackson, George (22 April 2014). "Dissident republican criticises Martin McGuinness's toast to queen". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
9. Taylor, Max (2011). Dissident Irish Republicanism. Continuum. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1441154675. It also confirms that the seemingly large contingent from the South is not biased by data collection on members from the wider dissident movement that do not necessarily engage in the violence itself (e.g. Republican Sinn Féin).
10. Morrison, John F.; Busher, Joel (2018). "Micro Moral Worlds of Contentious Politics: A Reconceptualization of Radical Groups and Their Intersections with One Another and the Mainstream". Mobilization. 23 (2): 9. doi:10.17813/1086-671X-23-3-219. S2CID 149187634. The relationship between RSF and CIRA is however difficult to unpick. It is publicly known, and privately acknowledged, that RSF is the political wing of the CIRA, with the two organisations sometimes collectively referred to as the Continuity Republican Movement.
11. Horgan, John (2013). Divided We Stand: The Strategy and Psychology of Ireland's Dissident Terrorists. Oxford University Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0-19-977285-8. Similarly, the RIRA and 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) can be combined to show the membership of the Real Republican Movement.
12. Coogan, Tim Pat (2000). The I.R.A. HarperCollins. p. 257. ISBN 978-0006531555.
13. Dillon, Martin (1992). Killer in Clowntown: Joe Doherty, the IRA and the Special Relationship. Hutchinson. p. 171. ISBN 0-09-175306-6. Some might even be members of the republican movement, a term used broadly to define all the groupings, the IRA included, who shape and promote the republican idea of a United Ireland, with the specification that the 'armed struggle' of the IRA is central to achieving that ideal. Therefore the umbrella term 'republican movement' is politically and intrinsically linked to the IRA. Not all those within the republican movement, whether they be members or supporters of the political party Sinn Féin, are necessarily volunteers in the IRA
14. Dillon, Martin (1992). Killer in Clowntown: Joe Doherty, the IRA and the Special Relationship. Hutchinson. p. 24. ISBN 0-09-175306-6. 'Republican movement' is a euphemism to cloak the illegality of all those proscribed IRA organisations which come under that umbrella term, such as Na Fianna Éireann, the Irish Republican Army and Cumann na mBan (the women's grouping). It is not unlawful to be a republican or to express the republican aspiration that Ireland should be unified. Therefore members of those organisations which are illegal use the term 'republican movement' to mask their true affiliations
15. "CAIN: Issues: Politics: Sinn Fein (1979?) New Members Course: Notes for Sinn Fein education officers - Republican Lecture Series".
16. White, Robert (2017). Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement. Merrion Press. p. 201. ISBN 9781785370939.