Republican Movement (Ireland)

The Republican Movement is a collective term used to describe the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and other political, social and paramilitary organisations associated with it.

The term is not restricted to any one movement and can include:
*Irish Republican Army (1922-1969)
*Provisional Irish Republican Army [http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1695592,00.html 'No Irish model for Palestinians'] , Henry McDonald, The Guardian, 26 January 2006]
*Official Irish Republican Army [http://www.phoblacht.net/scostello1.html The Legacy of Seamus Costello] , Liam O'Ruairc, The Blanket, October/November 2002]
*Continuity Irish Republican Army [http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75411 "Easter Message To The Irish People from the Republican Movement" - Indymedia 12 April 2006] ]
*Real Irish Republican Army"The dissident republican movement has been dealt a serious blow" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3127355.stm Body blow to the Real IRA - BBC news 6 August 2003] ]
*Cumann na mBancite book | last = Dillon | first = Martin | authorlink = Martin Dillon | title = Killer in Clowntown: Joe Doherty, the IRA and the Special Relationship | publisher = Hutchinson | date = 1992 | pages = p. 24 | doi = | isbn = 0091753066]
*Fianna Éireann
*Sinn Féin
*Republican Sinn Féin
*32 County Sovereignty Movementand other organisations such as the An Cumann Cabhrach, Cabhair, Irish Republican Prisoners' Dependants Fund, Republican Prisoners Action Group or the National Commemoration Committee. Fact|date=August 2007

The term was in use at least as early as 1957 when the "United Irishman" reported::"Jim Dolan, election agent for the successful Sinn Féin candidate John Joe Mac Fhearghaill, went on to say that in the course of the election campaign the Republican Movement had been at a great disadvantage because, as a result of arrests and internments, some of their very best speakers north and south had not been not been available to them." ["The United Irishman", April 1957, page 8, quoted in [http://1169andcounting.blogspot.com/2005_05_08_archive.html 1169 and Counting] ] J. Boywer Bell, in "The Secret Army", uses the term throughout to refer to the several organizations 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, the Clan (Clan na Gael) in America, the "United Irishman" and the National Graves Association. [J. Bowyer Bell, "The Secret Army: The IRA", 3rd edition, page 337]
Peter Taylor, although he himself uses the term to refer to the IRA and Sinn Féin, claims that Republicans use it to refer to the IRA only. [Peter Taylor, "Provos: the IRA and Sinn Féin", page 380, note 1] However, a Sinn Féin 'members course' of around 1979 specifically states: "Sinn Féin is the political section of the Republican Movement". [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/sf/lecture/sf-lecture1to9.htm 'New Members Course: Notes for Sinn Féin education officers' - CAIN web service] ] Martin McGuinness, interviewed by John Humphrys for the BBC, denied that he was then a member of the IRA but did not contadict Humphrys when he described him as "a leader of the Republican Movement". [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/otr/intext/19991128_int_1.html BBC On The Record - Broadcast: 5.12.99] ] Similarly, Francie Molloy, chair of the National Commemorations Committee, in an interview with "An Phoblacht", said that "the growth in the attendance at Bodenstown (the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration) is a reflection of the growth of the Republican Movement. [ [http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/19467 "An Phoblacht", 14 June 2007] ]

The distinction between the Republican Movement and the IRA itself assumed greater importance with the start of the Northern Ireland peace process, when Sinn Féin participation in the process was seen to be dependent on IRA actions or commitments. As Tom McGurk wrote in The Sunday Business Post in May 2001: "At the outset the most powerful ripple effect from the hunger strike was the recognition by both political establishments that while in the immediate context of continuing IRA violence there seemed no way to bring it about, nevertheless the republican movement has somehow to be brought into any settlement." [ [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2001/05/06/story348043928.asp The "Sunday Business Post" online, 6 May 2001] ]

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