'''Irish republicanism''' ({{lang-langx|ga|poblachtánachas Éireannach}}) is the political movement for thean [[UnitedIrish IrelandRepublic|unity]]Irish and [[independence]] of [[Ireland]] under a [[republic]]., Irishvoid republicansof viewany [[British rule in Ireland|British rule in any part of Ireland]] as inherently illegitimate. AnThroughout ideologyits sincecenturies theof 17th centuryexistence, variousit methodshas haveencompassed beenvarious employedtactics toand achieve the republicidentities, includingsimultaneously rebellionselective and paramilitarymilitant campaigns. Although the makeup of republicanismand has been multidenominational,both itswidely relationsupported to catholicism increasingly becameand centraliconoclastic.

The development of [[nationalism|nationalist]]Modern and [[democracyera|democraticmodern]] sentimentemergence throughoutof Europenationalism, in the eighteenthdemocracy and nineteenth centuries, distilled into the contemporary ideology known as [[Classical radicalism|republican radicalism]], wasprovided reflecteda inbasis Ireland.for Groupsthe movement, with groups forming across the island emerged in hopes of independence. UprisingsParliamentary thereafterdefeats occurredprovoked uprisings and werearmed campaigns, quashed by British forces. Following the [[Fenian Rising]], in 1867, a [[Fenian dynamite campaign|dynamite campaign]] in [[England]] was pursed. [[Easter Rising|AnotherA rising]] transpired, amidst World War I, that ended in execution. Supportprovided forthe republicanismbasis surgedfor thereaftersuccess, including electorally. An Irish republic was declared in 1919 and officialized following the [[Irish War of Independence]]. The [[Irish Civil War]], beginning in 1922 and spurred by the [[Partition of Ireland|partition of the island]], then occurred (see [[Partition of Ireland]]).

In Europe, prior to the 18th and 19th centuries, republics were in a minority and monarchy was the norm, with few long-lasting republics of note at time, such as the fully-fledged [[Dutch Republic]] and the [[Republic of Venice]], as well as the [[Old Swiss Confederacy]] and the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], which had republican aspects. However, as noted by Cardinal [[Tomás Ó Fiaich]], the first ever document proposing a republic of Ireland independent from connections to England dates from 1627.<ref name="ofiaich"/> Summaries of these plans are held in the ''[[National Archives of Belgium|Archives générales du Royaume]]'' in Belgium and were made familiar to Irish historians by the work of Fr. Brendan Jennings, a [[Order of Friars Minor|Franciscan]] historian, with his work ''Wild Geese in Spanish Flanders, 1582-17001582–1700'' (1964).<ref name="ofiaich"/>

At this stage, the movement was led primarily by liberal Protestants,<ref>Kee Robert, ''The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism'', (1972) {{ISBN|0-297-17987-X}} p. 51</ref> particularly [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] from the province of [[Ulster]]. The founding members of the United Irishmen were mainly Southern Irish Protestant aristocrats. The key founders included [[Wolfe Tone]], [[Thomas Russell (rebel)|Thomas Russell]], [[Henry Joy McCracken]], [[James Napper Tandy]], and [[Samuel Neilson]]. By 1797, the Society of United Irishmen had around 100,000 members. Crossing the religious divide in Ireland, it had a mixed membership of Catholics, Presbyterians, and even [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] from the [[Protestant Ascendancy]]. It also attracted support and membership from Catholic [[Agrarianism|agrarian]] resistance groups, such as the [[Defenders (Ireland)|Defenders]] organisation, who were eventually incorporated into the Society.<ref>Kee Robert, ''The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism'', (1972) {{ISBN|0-297-17987-X}} p. 74</ref> The Society sought to unite the denominations of the island under the simple distinction of Irish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Malcolm |first=Elizabeth |date=2013 |title=A new age or just the same old cycle of extirpation? Massacre and the 1798 Irish rebellion |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623528.2013.789187 |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=151–166 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2013.789187 |issn=1462-3528}}</ref>

A second attempt at forming an independent Irish republic occurred under [[Robert Emmet]] in 1803. Emmet had previously been expelled from [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]], Dublin for his political views.<ref>Greoghan, Patrick M., ''Robert Emmet: A Life''. Gill & MacMillanMacmillan, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-7171-3675-9}}</ref> Like those who had led the 1798 rebellion, Emmet was a member of the United Irishmen, as was his brother [[Thomas Addis Emmet]], who had been imprisoned for membership in the organisation.

The Fenian Brotherhood was the IRB's counterpart organisation, formed in the same year in the United States by O'Mahony and Doheny.<ref>Ryan, Desmond, ''The Fenian Chief. A Biography of James Stephens'', Gill & Son (1967) p. 92</ref> The Fenian Brotherhood's main purpose was to supply weapons and funds for its Irish counterpart and raise support for the Irish republican movement in the United States.<ref>Kee, Robert, ''The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism'', (1972) {{ISBN|0-297-17987-X}} p. 312</ref> The term "Fenian" was coined by O'Mahony, who named the American wing of the movement after the ''[[Fianna]]''<ref>O Broin, Leon ''Fenian Fever: An Anglo-American Dilemma'', Chatto & Windus (1971) {{ISBN|0-7011-1749-4}} p. 1</ref> —– a class of warriors that existed in [[Gaelic Ireland]]. The term became popular and is still in use, especially in Northern Ireland and Scotland, where it has expanded to refer to all Irish nationalists and republicans, as well as being a pejorative term for Irish Catholics.

Public support for the Fenian movement in Ireland grew in November 1861 with the funeral of [[Terence MacManus]], a member of the Irish Confederation, which Stephens and the Fenians had organised —– having "recognized the potential of street parades for mobilizing supporters and influencing onlookers".{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=|2014|pp=200–201}} The popularity endowed by the procession and oration established the tradition of [[Republican plot|republican funerals]], a ritual instrumental as evidenced by the [[Ireland unfree shall never be at peace|oration at Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa's funeral]].{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=|2014|pp=201, 219–220}}{{Efn|Of republican funerals, [[Guy Beiner]] wrote "Unlike the near contemporaneous public funerals in Third Republic France, which were civic ceremonies, Irish nationalist funerals were demonstrations of opposition and resistance. The making of martyrs out of former rebels marked the rise of a nationalist counter-hegemony that challenged British hegemony by audaciously occupying a public sphere previously dominated by imperial iconography."{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=201|2014}}}} Popular perception elsewhere deemed the movement as terrorisitic —– a persistent perception of republicanism thereafter.{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=200|2014}} Nevertheless, the likes of [[Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa|Rossa]] would hightenraise the public profile of the movement by their evocation of martyrdom and highlighting of prisoner maltreatment.{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=204|2014}}{{Efn|The legitimacy and recognition of republican prisoners is a central concern of republican thought and action.{{Sfn|McGlinchey|2019|p=54}}}} Support from America proved both lucrative and troublesome as transatlantic members waged a dynamite campaign in Britain.{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=|2014|pp=210–212}} A total of twenty-five major explosions beset Irish nationalism's perception and dictated Britain's approach towards Ireland and the "[[Irish question]]".{{Sfn|Janes|Houen|p=|2014|pp=212–218}}

The National Council, was formed in 1903, by [[Maud Gonne]] and [[Arthur Griffith]], on the occasion of the visit of [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VII]] to Dublin. Its purpose was to lobby [[Dublin Corporation]] to refrain from presenting an address to the king. The motion to present an address was duly defeated, but the National Council remained in existence as a pressure group with the aim of increasing nationalist representation on local councils.<ref name="davis21">Davis, Richard P. (1974). Arthur Griffith and non-violent Sinn Féin. Dublin: Anvil Books. p. 21.</ref> The first annual convention of the National Council on 28 November 1905 was notable for two things: the decision, by a majority vote (with Griffith dissenting), to open branches and organise on a national basis; and the presentation by Griffith of his 'Hungarian' policy, which was now called the ''Sinn Féin'' policy.<ref>Davis (1974), pp. 23–423–24</ref> This meeting is usually taken as the date of the foundation of the Sinn Féin party.<ref>{{cite book |title=Arthur Griffith |last=Maye |first=Brian |year=1997 |publisher=Griffith College Publications |location=Dublin |page=101 }}</ref>

From 1919 to 1921 the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) was organised as a guerrilla army, led by [[Richard Mulcahy]] and with [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] as Director of Intelligence and fought against the British. During the [[Irish War of Independence|Anglo-Irish War]], the British government formed a paramilitary police force consisting of former soldiers, known as the "[[Black and Tans]]", to reinforce the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]]'s [[Auxiliary Division]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Republicans were the primary adversary of these forces, whose warfare included pillaging and extrajudicial executions.<ref>{{Cite book Sfn|last=Leeson |first=D. M. 2011|titlepp=The177, Black190–191}} andBoth Tans:sides Britishused Policesimilar andtactics: Auxiliaries[[Public inhumiliation|hair thecutting]], Irisharson attacks, Wartaking of Independence,hostages 1920-1921 (Oxford,and executions.{{Sfn|Leeson|2011 |datepp=2011157, 211, 222}}{{Sfn|publisherHughes|2016|p=140}} Republicans also established [[OxfordDáil UniversityCourts|sovereign Presscourts]], |isbn=9780191730597a considerable symbol of the movement's public support.{{Sfn|pagesHughes|2016|p=177, 190–19186}}</ref>

In August 1920 Irish Republican prisoners went on a [[Hunger strike|hunger strike]] demanding release from prison, and reinstatement of their status as political prisoners ([[1920 Cork hunger strike]]). Three men died during this time including the Sinn Féin [[Lord Mayor of Cork]] [[Terence MacSwiney]]. Among the most infamous of the Black and Tans actions were the [[Bloody Sunday (1920)|Bloody Sunday massacre]] in November 1920 and the [[Burning of Cork|burning of half the city]] of [[Cork (city)|Cork]] in December that same year. These actions, together with the popularity of the republican ideals in Ireland and repression of republican political expressions by the British government, led to widespread support across Ireland for the Irish rebels.

De Valera, who had strongly supported the Republican anti-treaty side in the Civil War, reconsidered his views while in jail and came to accept the ideas of political activity under the terms of the Free State constitution. Rather than abstaining from Free State politics entirely, he now sought to republicanise it from within. However, he and his supporters —which– which included most Sinn Féin TDs {{ndash}} failed to convince a majority of the anti-treaty Sinn Féin of these views and the movement split again. In 1926, he formed a new party called [[Fianna Fáil]] ("Soldiers of Destiny"), taking most of Sinn Féin's TDs with him. In 1931, following the enactment of the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]], the country became a sovereign state along with the other Dominions and the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=September 2002 |title=Black v Chrétien: Suing a Minister of the Crown for Abuse of Power, Misfeasance in Public Office and Negligence |url=http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n3/cox93.html |url-status=live |journal=Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law |volume=9 |issue=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626163652/http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v9n3/cox93.html |archive-date=26 June 2020 |access-date=2 October 2008}}</ref> The following year, De Valera was appointed President of the Executive Council of the Free State and began a slow process of turning the country from a [[constitutional monarchy]] to a constitutional republic, thus fulfilling Collins's prediction of "the freedom to achieve freedom".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foster |first=R. F. |title=The Oxford History of Ireland |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280202-6 |page=217}}</ref>

In 1948, Fianna Fáil went out of office for the first time in sixteen years. [[John A. Costello]], leader of the coalition government, announced his intention to declare Ireland a republic.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Feeney |first=Brian |title=Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years |date=2002 |isbn=9780862787707 |page=192 |publisher=O'Brien Press |oclc=48932356}}</ref> The [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948]], which "described" the state as the Republic of Ireland (without changing its name or constitutional status), led the British government to pass the [[Ireland Act 1949]], which declared that Northern Ireland would continue as part of the United Kingdom unless the Parliament of Northern Ireland consented to leave;{{Sfnp|Feeney|2002|page=139}} and Ireland ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth. As a result of this—andthis{{snd}}and also because continuing struggle against the Dublin government was futile—thefutile{{snd}}the republican movement decided to focus on Northern Ireland from then on. The decision was announced by the IRA in its Easter statement of 1949.{{Sfnp|Feeney|2002|pages=195–196}}

In 1921, Ireland was partitioned. Most of the country became part of the independent [[Irish Free State]]. However, six out of the nine counties of Ulster remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. During this time (1920-19221920–1922) the newly formed Northern Ireland saw "savage and unprecedented" [[communal violence]] between [[Unionism in Ireland|unionists]] and [[Irish nationalism|nationalists]] (see [[The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)]]).

*In [[County Fermanagh|Fermanagh]]–[[County Tyrone|Tyrone]] (which was a single constituency), the ratio 54.7% Nationalist / 45.3% Unionist. (Tyrone was 55.4% Catholic in the 1911 census and 55.5% in the 1926 census, though of course only adults had votes on the other hand religious and national affiliations while closely linked are not as absolute as commonly assumed.) Within most of these counties there were large pockets which predominantly nationalist or Unionist (South Armagh, West Tyrone, West Londonderry and parts of North Antrim were largely nationalist whereas much of North Armagh, East Londonderry, East Tyrone and most of Antrim were/are largely Unionist).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results 1921-291921–29: Counties |url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/counties.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527033004/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/counties.html |archive-date=27 May 2012 |access-date=21 October 2012}}</ref>

The [[Border campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border Campaign]] in the mid-50s was the last attempt at traditional military action and was an abject failure. The Movement needed to reconsider its strategy.

In the late 1960s, Irish political activists groups found parallels with their struggle against religious discrimination in the [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] campaign of [[African Americans]] the US against racial discrimination. Student leaders such a [[Bernadette Devlin McAliskey]] and Nationalist politicians such as [[Austin Currie]] tried to use [[Nonviolence|non-violent]] [[direct action]] to draw attention to the blatant discrimination.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Republicans, largely demilitarised at the time, engaged considerably with the [[Northern Ireland civil rights movement|civil rights campaign]].<ref name=":2" /> By 1968, Europe as a whole was engulfed in a struggle between radicalism and conservativism. In Sinn Féin, the same debate raged. The dominant analysis was that Protestant Irishmen and women would never be bombed into a [[united Ireland]]. The only way forward was to have both sides embrace socialism and forget their sectarian hatreds. They resolved to no longer to be drawn into inter-communal violence.

As a response to the civil rights campaign, militant loyalist paramilitary groups started to emerge in the Protestant community. The [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF) was the first. The UVF had originally existed among [[Loyalism|loyalist]] [[Ulster Protestants]] before [[World War I]] to oppose [[Irish Home Rule movement|Home Rule]]. In the 1960s it was relaunched by militant loyalists, encouraged by certain politicians, to oppose any attempt to reunite Northern Ireland with the [[Republic of Ireland]], which is how they saw any change in their status vis-a-vis Catholics.

During the late 1980s the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British Government]] became increasingly willing to give concessions to [[Irish nationalism|Irish Nationalism]], such as the [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]] and extending to, the [[Northern Ireland Office|Northern Ireland Secretary]], [[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke's]] declaration of "no selfish, strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland.", causing uproar amongst strands of [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McKittrick |first1=David |title=Making Sense of the Troubles: a History of the Northern Ireland Conflict |last2=McVea |first2=David |publisher=Penguin |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-241-96265-7 |edition=3rd |location=London, England |pages=208 |language=English}}</ref> However, violent Republican action didn't cease, giving Unionism and Britain less reason to work with violent Republicans. This situation changed in 1992–93 with Hume's-Adams' talks producing a commitment from [[Sinn Féin]] to move towards peaceful methods.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Hume-Adams Talks - The Downing Street Declaration, 1993 - GCSE History Revision -– CCEA |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zdb48mn/revision/1 |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}</ref>[[File:Funeral of Martin McGuinness (5).jpg|thumb|The funeral procession of Irish republican politician [[Martin McGuinness]], Derry, [[Northern Ireland]]]]

Today the republican movement can be divided into moderates who wish to reunite with the Republic through peaceful means and dissident republicans who wish to continue an armed campaign. Ideological divides in Northern republicanism has its origins in the late 1970s.{{Sfn|McGlinchey|2019|p=2}} Dissidents emphasis the importance of ideology and reject reformism, regarding institutional change as ineffective and whitewashing.{{Sfn|McGlinchey|2019|p=2}} Dissidents assert that basis of armed republicanism is sovereignty rather than equality.<ref name=":1" /> Some dissidents support the emergence of peace while critiquing the political means.<ref name=":3" />

According to [[Malachi O'Doherty]], Sinn Féin politicians often presented republican terrorist violence as an inevitable result of partition and British rule. This rhetorical device allowed republican politicians to evade responsibility for violence and further their political goals of a reunited Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grant|first1=P.|title=Rhetoric and Violence in Northern Ireland, 1968-981968–98: Hardened to Death|date=2001|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-59695-5|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0-EDAAAQBAJ&q=automatism+IRA&pg=PA20|language=en|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=11 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311054313/https://books.google.com/books?id=l0-EDAAAQBAJ&q=automatism+IRA&pg=PA20|url-status=live}}; {{cite book|last1=O'Doherty|first1=Malachi|title=The Trouble with Guns: Republican Strategy and the Provisional IRA|chapter-url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/odoherty.htm|date=1998|publisher=Blackstaff Press|isbn=978-0-85640-605-8|language=en|chapter=The Trouble with Guns|access-date=24 April 2020|archive-date=7 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707031435/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/odoherty.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Colonialism and neocolonialism have been invoked by republicans in relation to the movement's militancy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aveyard |first=Stuart C. |date=2023 |title=The Northern Ireland Conflict and Colonial Resonances |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03086534.2023.2168331 |journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History |language=en |volume=51 |issue=6 |pages=1143–1169 |doi=10.1080/03086534.2023.2168331 |issn=0308-6534}}</ref>

Irish republicanism was influenced by [[Liberalism and radicalism in France|French radicalism]]. Typical of these [[Classical radicalism|classical Radicals]] are 19th century such as the United Irishmen in the 1790s, [[Young Irelanders]] in the 1840s, [[Fenian Brotherhood]] in the 1880s, as well as [[Sinn Féin]], and [[Fianna Fáil]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Stephen John Small |title=Republicanism, Patriotism and Radicalism: Political Thought in Ireland, 1776-981776–98 |date=1998 |publisher=University of Oxford }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1=David Dickson |editor2=Dáire Keogh |editor3=Kevin Whelan |title=The United Irishmen: Republicanism, Radicalism, and Rebellion |date=1993 |page=125 |publisher=[[Lilliput Press]] |isbn=9780946640959 }}</ref> Although recurring, socialist thought has proven contentious: class interests prioritised by some while others emphasis nationalist rhetoric.{{Sfn|McGlinchey|2019|p=|pp=45–46}} The [[Land War]] was used to organise republican action with little regard to class conflict.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mulholland |first=Marc |date=2021 |title=How Revolutionary Was the "Irish Revolution"? |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/41/article/804416 |journal=Éire-Ireland |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=139–175 |doi=10.1353/eir.2021.0005 |issn=1550-5162}}</ref> Class politics – coupled with the Northern Irish civil rights movement - have been credited by some republicans to have unduly demilitarised the movement, especially at the onset of the Troubles.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Hanley |first=Brian |date=2013 |title='I ran away'? The I.R.A. and 1969: the evolution of a myth |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43654521 |journal=Irish Historical Studies |volume=38 |issue=152 |pages=671–687 |doi=10.1017/S0021121400001887 |jstor=43654521 |issn=0021-1214}}</ref>

A 1983 article examined statements by Irish republicans on the issue of religion, and found that the attitudes contrasted with "the commonsense view" that Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA supported Catholics and opposed Protestants. There has been long-standing mutual dislike between the Catholic hierarchy and the Republican movement, with the latter seeing the former as complicit in British occupation of Ireland.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berman|first1=David|last2=Lalor|first2=Stephen|last3=Torode|first3=Brian|date=Summer 1983|title=The Theology of the IRA|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=72|issue=286|pages=137–139|jstor=30090509}}</ref> In Articles in ''An Phoblacht'' oftenBelfast, upheldduring the moralitytime of parishpartition, priestsrepublicanism andwas pastorsrejected of all Christian denominations rather than bishops and church leaders, with respect forby the Christian tradition of social justice.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berman|first1=David|last2=Lalor|first2=Stephen|last3=Torode|first3=Brian|date=Summer 1983|title=The Theologymajority of the IRA|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=72|issue=286|pages=139–141|jstor=30090509}}</ref> The article said that ''An Phoblacht'' "bends over backwards to be sympathetic to men who have expressed consistently anti-Catholic sentiments"population, including at times the Loyalist leader [[Ian Paisley]], as they are seen as fellow Irish citizens whereas the British forces are seen as the principal enemyclergy.<ref>{{cite journalSfn|last1=BermanHughes|first1=David2016|last2pp=Lalor|first2=Stephen|last3=Torode|first3=Brian|date=Summer156, 1983|title=The Theology of the IRA|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=72|issue=286|pages=140–141|jstor=30090509158}}</ref>

Articles in ''An Phoblacht'' often upheld the morality of parish priests and pastors of all Christian denominations rather than bishops and church leaders, with respect for the Christian tradition of social justice.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berman|first1=David|last2=Lalor|first2=Stephen|last3=Torode|first3=Brian|date=Summer 1983|title=The Theology of the IRA|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=72|issue=286|pages=139–141|jstor=30090509}}</ref> The article said that ''An Phoblacht'' "bends over backwards to be sympathetic to men who have expressed consistently anti-Catholic sentiments", including at times the Loyalist leader [[Ian Paisley]], as they are seen as fellow Irish citizens whereas the British forces are seen as the principal enemy.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berman|first1=David|last2=Lalor|first2=Stephen|last3=Torode|first3=Brian|date=Summer 1983|title=The Theology of the IRA|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=72|issue=286|pages=140–141|jstor=30090509}}</ref>

Republicans have often denied that their attacks on the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] or [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] are sectarian attacks on Protestants by claiming that they attack these groups because they are seen as complicit in "the oppression of the nationalist people" and not because of the religious beliefs of the members.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berman|first1=David|last2=Lalor|first2=Stephen|last3=Torode|first3=Brian|date=Summer 1983|title=The Theology of the IRA|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=72|issue=286|pages=139|jstor=30090509}}</ref> However, a series of attacks in the Troubles, such as the [[Kingsmill massacre]], that collectively killed 130 Protestant civilians were classified as "sectarian" in Malcolm Sutton's work on those killed during the Troubles.<ref>Sutton, Malcolm, ed. (1994). ''Bear in Mind These Dead: Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland, 1969-931969–93''. Beyond the Pale Publications. {{ISBN|9780951422946}} accessed via {{cite web|publisher=Conflict Archive on the Internet|access-date=30 November 2019|url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/book/|title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths - extracts from Sutton's book|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801212932/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/book/|url-status=live}}</ref> This makes sectarian killings of civilians 7% of the total killings attributed to the IRA (1,823), as opposed to the [[loyalist paramilitaries]], of whose 1,027 killings, 70% or 718 were deliberate sectarian killings of Catholic civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths -– extracts from Sutton's book |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/book/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=cain.ulster.ac.uk}}</ref>

The history of republicanism is paramount to the ideology: "The story of the past told by republicans is one of oppression, resistance, solidarity, and sacrifice...which both defines and justifies the movement".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Grayson |first=Richard S. |date=2010-08-06 |title=The Place of the First World War in Contemporary Irish Republicanism in Northern Ireland |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2010.497635 |journal=Irish Political Studies |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=325–345 |doi=10.1080/07907184.2010.497635 |issn=0790-7184}}</ref> The remembrance of republicans as equally dutiful and ordinary is used to justify action and assert victimhood, with [[Memorialization|memorialisation]] at large assuming a rhetorical purpose.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Hearty |first=Kevin |date=2015 |title=The Malleability of Memory and Irish Republican Memory Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of the ‘Loughgall'Loughgall Martyrs’Martyrs' |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17449057.2015.1041291 |journal=Ethnopolitics |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=126–144 |doi=10.1080/17449057.2015.1041291 |issn=1744-9057}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/transitional-jurisprudence-and-the-echr/989F535DE5201F75D4A2D130F08417FD |title=Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR: Justice, Politics and Rights |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00301-9 |editor-last=Buyse |editor-first=Antoine |location=Cambridge |pages=55 |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511758515 |editor-last2=Hamilton |editor-first2=Michael}}</ref>

"[M]aintain[ing] fidelity" and upholding sacrificial notions function as an "imperative" for republicans: commemoration, thus, is both ubiquitous and political as evidenced by Sinn Féin's literature and rationale during the peace process.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maillot |first=Agnès |title=New Sinn Féin: Irish Republicanism in the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2003 |pages=169–170}}</ref>{{Sfn|McAuley|Braniff|Spencer|2023|p=102}} FurthermoreDuring the process, the ambitions of the civil rights movement were contended as "the ultimate goal of the conflict", thus emphasing a continuity.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Hoey |first=Paddy |date=2019 |title=Dissident and dissenting republicanism: From the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement to Brexit |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309816818818088 |journal=Capital & Class |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=73–87 |doi=10.1177/0309816818818088 |issn=0309-8168}}</ref> The predominance of memory is a point of critique, lambasted as limiting and dogmatic and, in terms of Northern Ireland, commemoration has inspired controversy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McDowell |first=Sara |date=2007 |title=Armalite, the ballot box and memorialization: Sinn Féin and the state in post-conflict Northern Ireland |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00358530701635306 |journal=The Round Table |language=en |volume=96 |issue=393 |pages=725–738 |doi=10.1080/00358530701635306 |issn=0035-8533}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=McEvoy |firstfirst1=Kieran |last2=Conway |first2=Heather |date=2004 |title=The Dead, the Law, and the Politics of the Past |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1410654 |journal=Journal of Law and Society |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=539–562 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6478.2004.00302.x |jstor=1410654 |issn=0263-323X}}</ref>

Events of particular significance include the United Ireland Rebellion, the Easter Rising and the War of Independence — {{snd}}the centenary of the Rising unified nationalists in commemoration, "loyalty to the 1916 Republic" being a fundamental present in all sects of republicanism.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|McAuley|Braniff|Spencer|2023|p=103}}{{Sfn|McGlinchey|2019|p=|pp=45–46}} The proclamation of said republic drew upon the past itself in justifying action.<ref name=":4" />

*[[Sinn Féin]]<ref name=Horgan164>John Horgan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7Bf-9w2kvKgC&pg=PT161 Divided We Stand: The Strategy and Psychology of Ireland's Dissident Terrorists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509032438/https://books.google.com/books?id=7Bf-9w2kvKgC&pg=PT161 |date=9 May 2016 }}, 2012, p. 164</ref> is a republican party in Ireland. Throughout the [[The Troubles|Northern Ireland troubles]], it was closely allied with the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]], publicly arguing for the validity of its armed campaign. Its policy platform combines civic nationalism with democratic socialist views on economic and social issues. It is led by [[Mary Lou McDonald]] and organises in both the [[Republic of Ireland]] and Northern Ireland. The Party was also known as "''Provisional''" Sinn Féin by the media and commentators, having split from what later became known as the "''Official''" Sinn Féin (later the [[Workers' Party (Ireland)|Workers' Party]]) in 1970, because the latter had voted to enter a 'partitionist parliament'.<ref>Jonathan Tonge (2006), Northern Ireland, Polity, pp. 132–133</ref> In 1986, it reversed its original policy of not taking seats in [[Dáil Éireann]], prompting another split, when [[Republican Sinn Féin]] was formed. By the early 21st century it had replaced the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) as Northern Ireland's largest nationalist party. As of 2020, it holds seven seats in the British parliament, thirty-seven seats in the Dáil, six in the [[Seanad Éireann|Seanad]] and 26 in the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]]. Sinn Féin members contest elections to the British parliament on an [[Abstentionism|abstentionist]] basis, that is, they refuse to take their seats in that parliament as they refuse to accept the right of that body to rule in any part of Ireland.

* [[Fianna Fáil]] was founded as an expressly republican party, one born out of Sinn Féin but which dropped abstentionism in order to engage in constitutional politics in Ireland. In fact, [[Seán Lemass]] had originally desired for the name of the party to simply be "The Republican Party",<ref name="Downing">{{cite news |last=Downing |first=John |date=19 September 2020 |title=John Downing: Martin is at serious risk of becoming the last ever Fianna Fáil Taoiseach |url=https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/martin-avoided-the-feared-fate-of-becoming-the-first-fianna-fail-leader-never-to-have-been-taoiseach-now-he-is-at-serious-risk-of-becoming-the-last-ever-fianna-fail-taoiseach-39543917.html |work=[[Irish Independent]] |location= |access-date=3 February 2021 |archive-date=11 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311063448/https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/martin-avoided-the-feared-fate-of-becoming-the-first-fianna-fail-leader-never-to-have-been-taoiseach-now-he-is-at-serious-risk-of-becoming-the-last-ever-fianna-fail-taoiseach-39543917.html |url-status=live }}</ref> however, Éamon de Valera muted that idea in favour of a name inspired by the Irish language and culture.<ref name="Downing"/> Since the 1930s and 1940s, a period which saw Fianna Fáil imprison physical force Republicans en masse, to what degree Fianna Fáil can be still described as "Republican" has been contested. The party itself, however, continues to frame itself as a Republican party; indeed in 1971 the party's commitment to this was signalled when the formal name of the party was altered to "Fianna Fáil -– The Republican Party".<ref name="Downing"/> Following the [[2020 Irish general election]], Sinn Féin leader [[Mary Lou McDonald]] spoke often of forming a coalition which would produce a "Republican programme for Government". Some suggested this choice of language was chosen to encourage Fianna Fáil to work with Sinn Féin under a united "Republican" banner.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Loughlin |first=Michael |date=11 February 2020 |title=Republicanism still a potent link between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/republicanism-still-a-potent-link-between-fianna-f%C3%A1il-and-sinn-f%C3%A9in-1.4170582?mode=amp |work=[[Irish Times]] |location= |access-date=3 February 2020 |archive-date=13 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213004412/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/republicanism-still-a-potent-link-between-fianna-f%C3%A1il-and-sinn-f%C3%A9in-1.4170582?mode=amp |url-status=live }}</ref>

* [[Aontacht Éireann]] were an Irish republican party set up in 1971 following a major political rift in [[Fianna Fáil]] caused by the [[Arms Crisis]], in which Fianna Fáil ministers [[Charles Haughey]] and [[Neil Blaney]] were dismissed from cabinet following allegations they were involved in arranging for the IRA to be supplied with weaponry. The fallout of this caused many Fianna Fáil members to resign, amongst them Fianna Fáil minister [[Kevin Boland]]. Boland left Fianna Fáil and setup Aontacht Éireann to be a more openly republican party in Irish politics. He was joined by the likes of sitting Fianna Fáil TD [[Seán Sherwin]]. Although there was quite an amount of interest in Aontacht Éireann initially, with branches set up across Ireland, the party struggled to maintain its momentum. When Boland had resigned from Fianna Fáil, he not only gave up his cabinet position but also his seat in the Dáil as well. Without the platform to the speak in the Dáil, Boland was somewhat sidelined. The party also struggled to meaningfully separate itself from Provisional Sinn Féin, with much of the policies and the rhetoric of the party membership mirroring each other. The party only managed to take 0.9% of the national vote at the [[1973 Irish general election]] and by 1976 the vast majority of the original membership had moved on from the party. It was formally wound up in 1984, after a period in which a far-right group has usurped the party's name and used it for their own ends for a time.<ref>{{cite podcast |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/1l39M5rcgI5GM1omyU9d0V |title=Aontacht Éireann -– Episode 33 |website= |publisher="'The Others"' The Alan Kinsella Podcast |host=Alan Kinsella |date=3 February 2021 |time= |access-date=3 February 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203100743/https://open.spotify.com/episode/1l39M5rcgI5GM1omyU9d0V |url-status=live }}</ref>

* {{Cite book |title=Troubles of the Past? History, Identity and Collective Memory in Northern Ireland |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2023 |editor-last=McAuley |editor-first=James W |pagespage=102 |editor-last2=Braniff |editor-first2=Máire |editor-last3=Spencer |editor-first3=Graham}}

* {{cite journal|author=Aoife Ui Phaolain|title=Language Revival and conflicting identities in Irish independence|journal=Irish Studies Review|date=2014|volume=22 |issue=1|ref=p.&nbsp;63-7963–79}}

* {{cite book|last=Fitzpatrick|first=David|title=Terror in Ireland 1916-231916–23|place=Dublin|date=2012}}

* {{cite book|last=Lawlor|first= Philip|title=The outrages, 1920-11920–1: IRA and the Ulster Specials in the Border Campaign|publisher=Mercier Press|place=Cork|date=2011}}

[[Category:CelticIrish nationalism]]