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:
The Dissident Republican Movement itself consists of multiple movements:
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]
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.
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
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
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)
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.
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).
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.
Similarly, the RIRA and 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) can be combined to show the membership of the Real Republican Movement.
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
'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