Irish Political History series

REPUBLICANISM

Republicanism - in Ireland - in Northern Ireland Physical force republicanism See also List of IRAs for organisation claiming that name. Image File history File links Ireland-up. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland. ... In 1921, Ireland was partitioned. ... Physical force Irish republicanism is a term used by historians in Ireland to describe the recurring appearance of non-parliamentary violent insurrection in Ireland between 1798 and the present. ... The IRA (Irish Republican Army) is a name used to describe several paramilitary movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries. ... Key documents Easter Proclamation Declaration of Independence Message to Free Nations Democratic Programme Dáil Constitution Anglo-Irish Treaty External Relations Act Bunreacht na hÉireann Republic of Ireland Act New Ireland Forum Report Anglo-Irish Agreement Belfast Agreement Articles 2 & 3 The Easter Proclamation, officially referred to as the Proclamation of the Republic, was a document read by Padraig Pearse at the start of the Easter Rising in Ireland in April 1916, in which a republican Provisional Government claimed the right to proclaim Irish independence from the United Kingdom of Great... The Declaration of Independence was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic, at its first meeting in the Mansion House, Dublin, on 21st January, 1919. ... In 1919 the First Dáil issued a Message to the Free Nations of the World. ... The Democratic Programme was a declaration of economic and social principles adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21st January, 1919. ... The Constitution of Dáil Éireann (Irish: Bunreacht Dála Éireann), more commonly known as the Dáil Constitution, was a short, provisional constitution adopted by the First Dáil in January 1919. ... Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially called the Articles of association between Ireland and the British Empire, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and representatives of the (extra-judicial) Irish Republic which concluded the Anglo-Irish War. ... The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936 was an enactment of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) in 1936. ... The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. ... The Republic of Ireland Act was an enactment of Oireachtas Éireann passed in 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949 and which declared that the official description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland. ... The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. ... The Belfast Agreement (the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. ... Article 2 and Article 3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, were adopted with the constitution as a whole in 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took full effect in 1999. ... Parties & Organisations Ancient Order of Hibernians Aontacht Éireann Clan na Gael Clann na Poblachta Cumann na Poblachta Cumann Poblachta nahÉ Córas na Poblachta Fianna Fáil · Ind FF Irish Citizens Army IRB · IRSP Molly Maguires Official Sinn Féin Red Republican Party Republican Congress Republican Sinn Féin Saor Éire · Sinn Féin Workers Party · 32CSM See also: Party youth wings Shield of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) is an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization. ... Aontacht Éireann was a short lived Irish political party founded by Kevin Boland (former Fianna Fail government minister) after his resignation from that party in 1971. ... With Irish immigration to the United States of America in the 18th_century there arose Irish ethnic organizations. ... Clann na Poblachta (literally meaning Family of the Republic) was an Irish republican political party founded by former IRA Chief of Staff Sean MacBride in 1946. ... Cumann na Poblachta (League of the Republic in English) was an Irish republican political party. ... Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann was a political party established by the Irish Republican Army in 1936. ... Córas na Poblachta (Republican Plan in English) was a minor Irish republican political party founded in 1940. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (IPA ; commonly translated roughly into English as Soldiers of Destiny (though the more literal translation is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland),¹ is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ... Splinter republican party created by Neil Blaney after his expulsion from Fianna Fáil following the Irish Arms Crisis (1969-1970). ... The Irish Citizen Army, or ICA, is a small band of trained members for the defense of worker’s rights. ... The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) played an important role in the history of Ireland. ... Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) describes itself as a republican socialist party and claims to be both Marxist-Leninist and republican. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Official Sinn Féin (later renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party) was a Stalinst political party which evolved from the split in Sinn Féin and the IRA that took place in 1970. ... The Republican Congress was an Irish Republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. ... Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) is a minor political party1 operating in Ireland. ... Saor Éire (meaning Free Ireland) was a left-wing political organisation established in September 1931 by communist-leaning members of the Irish Republican Army, with the backing of the IRA leadership. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... Categories: Ireland-related stubs | Irish political parties | Republic of Ireland political parties | Northern Ireland political parties ... The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm) is an Irish republican political organisation favouring a united Ireland and British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. ... Publications An Phoblacht · Daily Ireland Irish Press · Sunday Press Republican News · Saoirse The Nation· United Irishman Wolfe Tone Weekly An Phoblacht/Republican News is the official newspaper of the Republican movement in Ireland. ... Daily Ireland is a new daily newspaper launched in January 2005 throughout the island of Ireland to cover Irish news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. ... The Irish Press was an Irish newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 1931 and 1995. ... The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. ... An Phoblacht/Republican News is the official newspaper of the Republican movement in Ireland. ... SAOIRSE Irish Freedom is the monthly organ of Republican Sinn Féin. ... The Nation was an Irish nationalist newspaper, published in the 19th century, co-founded by Thomas Davis and Charles Gavan Duffy, its first editor. ... This article is about the newspaper. ... Cultural Abbey Theatre Gaelic League Irish Ireland A poster for the opening run at the Abbey Theatre from 27 December, 1904 to 3 January, 1905. ... Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League) is an organization for the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland. ... Songs Amhrán na bhFiann A Nation Once Again Boolavogue God Save Ireland The Bold Fenian Men The Men Behind the Wire The Minstrel Boy The Rising of the Moon The Wearing of the Green Amhrán na bhFiann1 is the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland. ... A Nation Once Again is a song, written sometime in the 1840s by Thomas Osbourne Davis (1814-1845). ... Boolavogue is a famous Irish ballad commemorating the Irish Rebellion of 1798. ... God Save Ireland was the unofficial national anthem of the Irish Free State from 1916 to 1926, when it was displaced by the official Amhrán na bhFiann. ... The Men Behind the Wire is an Irish republican song composed in the aftermath of the imposition of Internment without trial of some Irish republicans associated with Provisional Sinn Féin (now known simply as Sinn Féin), as well as others unconnected with militant republicanism who had been arrested... The Minstrel Boy is a song written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) who set it to the melody of The Moreen, an old Irish air. ... The Wearing of the Green is an anonymous Irish street ballad dating to 1798. ... Strategies Abstentionism Irish republican legitimatism Armalite and Ballot Box Boycotting · TUAS Abstentionism is the policy of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly. ... The armalite and the ballot box strategy was pursued by the Irish Republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, a strategy where elections in Northern Ireland and the Republic were contested by Sinn Féin, while the IRA continued to pursue a paramilitary struggle against the British army, the... This page is about boycott as a form of protest. ... Tuas is largely an industrial zone located in the western part of Singapore. ... Symbols The Tricolour · Easter Lily French tricolour flag A tricolour is a flag or banner having three colours, usually in approximately equal size (horizontally or vertically) and lacking additional symbols. ... The Easter Lily is an artificial paper badge worn around Easter by Irish republicans chiefly as symbol of remembrance for Irish combatants who died during or were executed after the 1916 Easter Rising. ... Other movements & links Loyalism {{IrishL}} Monarchism {{IrishM}} Nationalism {{IrishN}} Unionism {{IrishU}} The term Ulster Loyalist is used to describe militant unionists from Northern Ireland. ... King George V, the first monarch to reign in the Irish Free State. ... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... In the Irish context, Unionists form a group of largely (though not exclusively) Protestant people in Ireland, of all social classes, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern Ireland provincial state created in...

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Irish republican legitimatism is a term that may be used to describe a current within Irish republicanism that denies the legitimacy of the political entities of Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and argues that the Irish Republic continues to exist. Irish Republicanism is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Languages English (De facto) 3, Irish, Ulster Scots 4 Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th...

The term describes aspects of, but is not synonymous with, abstentionism. Abstentionism is the policy of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly. ...

A number of organisations subscribe to this ideology, including Republican Sinn Féin, the Continuity Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan and Fianna Éireann. Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) is a minor political party1 operating in Ireland. ... The Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation (which supporters recognise as the National Army of the 32-County Irish Republic) that split from the Provisional IRA in 1986. ... Cumann na mBan, (the ‘League of Women’), was an Irish republican womens paramilitary organisation formed in April 1914 as an auxilliary of the Irish Volunteers (IV). ... A recruitment poster for the now-defunct Fianna Éireann group associated with Provisional Sinn Féin. ...

Historical development

Republican legitimatists adopt a traditional Irish republican analysis that views the Irish Republic as proclaimed "in arms" during the 1916 Easter Rising as the sole legitimate authority on the island of Ireland. This view is shared by all political parties in the present-day Republic of Ireland, who believe see the secessionist and abstentionist First Dáil, which "ratified" the Republic proclaimed in 1916 and Easter Proclamation, read by Pádraig Pearse outside the GPO at the start of the Easter Rising, 1916. ... The First Dáil (Irish: An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. ...

It is on the issue of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty that republican legitimatism departs from mainstream Irish constitutional understanding. It views Anglo-Irish Treaty as incompatible with the Irish Republic and thus null and void. Although the Treaty was endorsed by the majority of TDs of the Second Dáil, republican legitimatists argue that the vote was invalid as all TDs had, previous to their election, taken a solemn oath to defend the Irish Republic. Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially called the Articles of association between Ireland and the British Empire, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and representatives of the (extra-judicial) Irish Republic which concluded the Anglo-Irish War. ... The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16th August, 1921 until 8th June, 1922. ...

On the basis of these views, republican legitimatism believes that:

• all Irish parliaments convened since the Second Dáil in 1921 are illegitimate as they were established by a piece of British legislation, the Government of Ireland Act 1920;
• the 64 TDs who voted for the Treaty in 1922 had violated their oath to the Irish Republic and abdicated their legitimacy;

The pro- and anti-treaty factions of Sinn Féin attempted to present a united block of candidates for the June 1922 elections for the Third Dáil; 58 pro-treaty Sinn Féin members were re-elected compared with 38 anti-treaty members. Led by Éamon de Valera and others, the Second Dáil TDs who had voted against the Treaty abstained from the Third Dáil and the subsequent Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16th August, 1921 until 8th June, 1922. ... An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (this is its official short title; the formal citation is 10 & 11 Geo. ... A Teachta Dála (Irish for Dáil Deputy, pronounced chock-ta dawla) is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower chamber of the Irish Oireachtas or National Parliament. ... A general election took place in southern Ireland in 16 June 1922 under the provisions of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty to elect a constituent assembly paving the way for the establishment of the Irish Free State. ... The Third Dáil, also known as the Provisional Parliament or the Constituent Assembly, was the parliament of the post-partition twenty-six county Irish state which met from 9th September, 1922 until 9th August 1923. ... Eamon de Valera[1] (born Edward George de Valera, Irish name Éamonn de Bhailéara (October 14, 1882 – August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Irelands struggle for independence from Britain in the early 20th Century, and the Republican anti-Treaty opposition in... Abstentionism is the policy of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly. ... The Great Seal of the Irish Free State All state documents were stamped with the Seal from 1931. ...

Although de Valera had resigned as President of the Republic in January, a meeting of the IRA Army Executive at Poulatar, Ballybacon on 17 October 1922 adopted a proclamation "reinstating" de Valera as "President of the Republic" and "Chief Executive of the State". The "Emergency Government," as de Valera called it in his autobiography, was established on 25 Oct 1922. ^[1] October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Members of this rump republican government were:

• Éamon de Valera - "President of the Republic" (after his arrest in 1923, substituted by Patrick J. Ruttledge)^[2]
• Patrick J. Ruttledge - "Minister of Home Affairs"
• Austin Stack - "Minister of Finance"

De Valera also appointed twelve members of the Second Dáil to act as a Council of State – they were Austin Stack, Robert Barton, Count Plunkett, JJ O’Kelly, Laurence Ginnell, Sean T. O’Kelly, Katherine O'Callaghan, Mary MacSwiney, PJ Ruttledge, Seán Moylan, Michael Colivet and Seán O’Mahoney.^[3] Patrick J. Ruttledge (1892-1952) was a senior Irish politician. ... Austin Stack (December 7, 1879 - April 27, 1929) was an Irish revolutionary. ... Robert Childers Barton (1881- August 10, 1975) was an Irish lawyer, statesman and farmer who participated in the negotiations leading up to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. ... George Noble Plunkett (1851–1948) was an Irish nationalist and father of Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916. ... John J. OKelly was an Irish politician. ...

This "Government of the Republic", however, was unable to assert the authority it claimed to possess. Effectively an internal government-in-exile, and one of its first acts was to rescind the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It continued to meet even after subsequent elections had been held in juristiction of the Free State. Styling themselves Comhairle na dTeachtaí, the members of the rump Second Dáil were joined by anti-Treaty republican TDs elected at subsequent elections. The IRA initially recognised the authority of the rump Second Dáil but increased distrust between the two bodies led the IRA to withdraw its support in 1925.

At the 1926 Sinn Féin ard fheis, Éamon de Valera (then president of the party) effectively called for the abandonment of the legitimist argument by proposing that the party accept the Free State constitution and return to electoral politics contingent on the abolition of the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown. Opponents of the proposal, led by Father Michael O’Flanagan, defeated his motion by a vote of 223 to 218. De Valera subsequently resigned as Sinn Féin president to form a new party, Fianna Fáil, which entered the Dáil of the Irish Free State in 1927, reducing the ranks of this rump Second Dáil even further. From this point onwards, de Valera and his followers were seen as having departed from the principles of republicanism by republican legitimatists, who set up Comhairle na Poblachta as a body to popularise its claims. Eamon de Valera[1] (born Edward George de Valera, Irish name Éamonn de Bhailéara (October 14, 1882 – August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Irelands struggle for independence from Britain in the early 20th Century, and the Republican anti-Treaty opposition in... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (IPA ; commonly translated roughly into English as Soldiers of Destiny (though the more literal translation is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland),¹ is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ... The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) (1922–1937) was the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties that were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and... Comhairle na Poblachta was an Irish republican organisation established in 1929. ...

1938 - from Second Dáil to Army Council

The 17 December 1938 issue of the Wolfe Tone Weekly carried a statement from a body calling itself the Executive Council of the Second Dáil. Above this statement was an introductory paragraph written by Seán Russell announcing that on 8 December, the anniversary of the executions of the "Four Martyrs" (Rory O'Connor, Liam Mellows Richard Barett and Joe McKelvey) in 1922, the group had transferred what they believed was their authority as Government of the Irish Republic to the IRA Army Council. The statement was published in both Irish and English and appeared below the banner headline "IRA take over the Government of the Republic". December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rory OConnor (1883 - 1922) was an Irish republican activist. ... Liam Mellows (1895-1922) was born in Manchester to Irish parents, and grew up in county Wexford, Ireland. ... The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to the removal of the British presence in Ireland. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The text of the statement is as follows:

DÁIL ÉIREANN

In consequence of armed opposition ordered and sustained by England, and the defection of elected representatives of the people over the period since the Republican Proclamation of Easter 1916 was ratified, three years later, by the newly inaugurated Government of the Irish Republic, we hereby delegate the authority reposed in us to the Army Council, in the spirit of the decision taken by Dáil Éireann in the spring of 1921, and later endorsed by the Second Dáil.

In thus transferring the trust of which it has been our privilege to be the custodians for twenty years, we earnestly exhort all citizens and friends of the Irish Republic at home and abroad to dissociate themselves openly and absolutely from England's unending aggressions: and we urge on them to disregard England's recurring war scares, remembering that our ancient and insular nation, bounded entirely by the seas, has infinitely less reason to become involved in the conflicts now so much threatened than have the neutral small nations lying between England and the Power she desires to overthrow.

Confident, in delegating this sacred trust to the Army of the Republic that, in their every action towards its consummation, they will be inspired by the high ideals and the chivalry of our martyred comrades, we, as Executive Council of Dáil Éireann, Government of the Republic, append our names.

Seán Ó Ceallaigh (Ceann Comhairle)

George Noble Plunkett

Professor William Stockley

Mary MacSwiney

Brian Ó hUiginn

Tom Maguire

Cathal Ó Murchadha

Dublin, December 8, 1938.

Henceforth, the IRA Army Council perceived itself to be the legitimate government of the Irish Republic. This allowed it to present its declaration of war on Britain in January 1939 (see S-Plan) as the act of a legitimate, de jure government. The Easter Proclamation, officially referred to as the Proclamation of the Republic, was a document read by Padraig Pearse at the start of the Easter Rising in Ireland in April 1916, in which a republican Provisional Government claimed the right to proclaim Irish independence from the United Kingdom of Great... Easter Proclamation, read by Pádraig Pearse outside the GPO at the start of the Easter Rising, 1916. ... The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to the removal of the British presence in Ireland. ... John J. OKelly was an Irish politician. ... George Noble Plunkett (1851–1948) was an Irish nationalist and father of Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916. ... Tom Maguire (1892–1993) was an Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the IRA. He was the longest living survivor of the Second Dáil of the Irish Republic. ... The S-Plan or Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign was a campaign of bombing and sabotage against the civil, economic, and military infrastructure of Britain 1939 – 1940. ...

1969 - the Official/Provisional split

In December 1969, the IRA General Army Convention decided to drop its policy of abstentionism. This resulted in a split in the organisation, leading to the emergence of the (then) majority Official IRA and (minority) Provisional IRA. The supporters of the latter approached Tom Maguire, the last surviving member of the 1938 seven-member rump Second Dáil, who declared that the Provisional IRA was the legitimate successor to the 1938 Army Council and, as such, was the legal embodiment of the Irish Republic. Abstentionism is the policy of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly. ... The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA refers to one of the two organisations - the other being the Provisional Irish Republican Army - that emerged from the split in the then Irish Republican Army in 1969-70. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... Tom Maguire (1892–1993) was an Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the IRA. He was the longest living survivor of the Second Dáil of the Irish Republic. ...

The text of the statement is as follows:

An IRA convention, held in December 1969, by a majority of the delegates attending, passed a resolution removing all embargoes on political participation in parliament from the Constitution and Rules of the IRA.

The effect of the resolution is the abandonment of what is popularly termed the "Abstentionist Policy". The " Abstentionist Policy" means that the Republican candidates contesting parliamentary elections in Leinster House, Stormont or Westminster give pre-election pledges not to take seats in any of those parliaments. The Republican candidates seek election to the 32-county Parliament of the Irish Republic, the Republican Dáil or Dáil Éireann, to give it its official title. The declared objective is to elect sufficient representatives to enable the 32-County Dáil Éireann to be reassembled. In December 1938, the surviving faithful members of the latest 32-county Republican parliament, the Second Dáil, elected in 1921, delegated their executive powers of government to the Army Council of the IRA. This proclamation of 1938 was signed by Seán Ó Ceallaigh, Ceann Comhairle, George Count Plunkett, Professor William Stockley, Mary Mac Swiney, Brian Ó hUiginn, Cathal Ó Murchadha and myself Tomas Maguire.

The majority of the delegates at the December, 1969, IRA Convention, having passed the resolution referred to above, proceeded to elect an Executive which in turn appointed a new Army Council, committed to implement the resolution. That convention had neither the right nor the authority to pass such a resolution. Accordingly, I, as the sole surviving member of the Executive of Dáil Éireann, and the sole surviving signatory of the 1938 Proclamation, hereby declare that the resolution is illegal and that the alleged Executive and Army Council are illegal, and have no right to claim the allegiance of either soldiers or citizens of the Irish Republic.

The delegates who opposed the resolution, together with delegates from units which were not represented at the Convention, met subsequently in Convention and repudiated the resolution. They re-affirmed their allegiance to the Republic and elected a Provisional Executive which in turn appointed a Provisional Army Council.

I hereby further declare that the Provisional Executive and the Provisional Army Council are the lawful Executive and Army Council respectively of the IRA and that the governmental authority delegated in the Proclamation of 1938 now resides in the Provisional Army Council and its lawful successors. I fully endorse their call for support for Irish people everywhere towards the realisation of the full freedom of Ireland.

Dated: 31 December 1969

Signed: Thomas Maguire, Comdt. Gen. (Tomás Mac Uidhir).

1986 - the Provisional/Continuity split

The Provisional Movement followed this analysis until 1986, when the IRA and Sinn Féin split over the issue of abstentionism once again. As in 1970, republican legitimatists approached Tom Maguire, who in two statements written in 1986 and 1987 but issued posthumously in 1994, maintained that the Army Council of the Continuity IRA was the sole legitimate successor to the 1938 Army Council.^[4] Tom Maguire (1892–1993) was an Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the IRA. He was the longest living survivor of the Second Dáil of the Irish Republic. ... The Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) is an Irish republican paramilitary group that split from the Provisional IRA in 1986 in a dispute over the attendance of the elected representatives of Sinn Féin (the political party affiliated to the Provisional IRA) at Dáil Éireann (the lower house of...

The texts of the statements are as follows:

There is no difference between entering the partition parliament of Leinster House and entering a partition parliament of Stormont. I speak as the sole surviving Teachta Dála of the Second Dáil Éireann and as the sole surviving member of the Executive of the Second Dáil Éireann. In December, 1969, as the sole surviving member of the Executive of the Second Dáil Éireann, I recognised the Provisional Army Council, which remained true to the Irish Republic as the lawful Army of the Thirty-two County Irish Republic. I do not recognise the legitimacy of any Army Council styling itself the Army Council of the Irish Republican Army which lends support to any person or organisation styling itself as Sinn Fein and prepared to enter the partition parliament of Leinster House. The majority of delegates to a recent IRA convention purported to accept the Leinster House partition parliament, and in so doing broke faith and betrayed the trust placed in their predecessors in 1969. The Irish Republic, proclaimed in arms in Easter Week 1916 and established by the democratic majority vote of the people in the General Election of 1918, has been defended by Irish Republicans for several generations. Many have laid down their lives in that defence. Many others have suffered imprisonment and torture. I am confident the Cause so nobly served will yet triumph.

"If but a few are faithful found, they must be all the more steadfast for being but a few" (Terence Mac Swiney, Principles of Freedom).

Dated: 22 October 1986.

Signed: Thomas Maguire Tomás Maguidhir Comdt. General

And:

I refer to my statement, dated 22 October 1986, and I speak again, as the sole surviving Teachta Dála of the Second Dáil Éireann, and the sole surviving member of the Executive of the Second Dáil. In that statement, I referred to my recognition in December, 1969, of the Provisional Army Council of the IRA, which had remained true to the Irish Republic, as the lawful Army of the Thirty Two County Irish Republic. I also stated on 22 October, 1986, that I did not recognise the legitimacy of an Army Council, styling itself the Army Council of the Irish Republican Army, which lent support to any person or organisation styling itself Sinn Féin, and prepared to enter the partition parliament of Leinster House. I referred, as well, to the IRA Convention, which had taken place shortly before the 22n October, 1986. The Executive of the IRA had, by a majority, opposed entering Leinster House. The faithful members of that Executive, in accordance with the IRA Constitution, filled the vacancies in the Executive, and that Executive continues as the lawful Executive of the Irish Republican Army. The Continuity Executive has appointed an Army Council of the IRA. I quote the following extract from my statement of 31 December 1969:

"In December, 1938, the surviving faithful members of the latest 32 County Republican Parliament, the Second Dáil elected in 1921, delegated their executive powers of government to the Army Council of the IRA. This Proclamation of 1938 was signed by S.S. Ó Ceallaigh (Sceilg), Ceann Comhairle, Mary Mac Swiney, Count Plunkett, Cathal Ó Murchú, Brian O'Higgins, Professor Stockley, and myself, Tomás Maguire".

I hereby declare that the Continuity Executive and the Continuity Army Council are the lawful Executive and Army Council respectively of the Irish Republican Army, and that the governmental authority, delegated in the Proclamation of 1938, now resides in the Continuity Army Council, and its lawful successors.

Dated: 25 July 1987

Signed: Thomas Maguire Tomás Maguidhir Comdt. General

Criticism of republican legitimatism

These claims are rejected not only by the vast majority of the Irish people, expressed by virtue of their participation in elections to Dáil Éireann and rejection of abstentionist candidates, as well as by the majority of republicans. The Dáil Chamber Dáil Éireann[1] is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ...

Senator Martin Mansergh, a prominent figure in Fianna Fail (the largest Irish republican party), has summed up the opinions of most Irish people when he described as "preposterous nonsense" the "concoction of a sort of pseudo-apostolic succession from Pearse to the Second Dáil to the IRA to the Sinn Fein party to the small irredentist movement currently claiming that it, not the elected government of the Republic, is the true government of Ireland". Dr. Martin Mansergh (born 1946) is an Irish politician and member of the 22nd Seanad Éireann for Fianna Fáil. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Pronounced fee-na fall.) (English: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ...

See also

• First Dáil
• Second Dáil

The First Dáil (Irish: An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. ... The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16th August, 1921 until 8th June, 1922. ...

References