Republican Sinn Féin
Encyclopedia
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland
or the Republic of Ireland
. minor political party
operating in Ireland
. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin
. The party views itself as representing "true" or "traditional" Irish republicanism
, while in the mainstream media the party is portrayed as a political expression of "dissident republicanism". Republican Sinn Féin refuses to reject the use of political violence (see physical force Irish republicanism
) and has been linked to the Continuity Irish Republican Army
(CIRA). It holds that the Irish Republic
continues to exist and that the Continuity Irish Republican Army Council is its de jure
government (see Irish republican legitimatism
). Hence, if elected, its members refuse to take their seats in both the Northern Ireland Assembly
and the Oireachtas
(see abstentionism
).
's decision at its 1986 ardfheis to end its policy of abstentionism
and to allow elected Sinn Féin Teachtaí Dála take their seats in Dáil Éireann
. Those who went on to form RSF opposed this move as it signalled a departure from the traditional republican analysis which viewed the parliament of the Republic of Ireland
as an illegal assembly, set up by an act of the British parliament. They argued that republicans owed their allegiance to the All-Ireland (32 County) Irish Republic
, maintaining that this state existed de jure and that its authority rested with the IRA Army Council
. (See: Irish republican legitimatism
)
Although it was passed by a two-thirds majority, those who went on to form RSF claimed that the decision to end abstention was invalid under the Sinn Féin constitution, Section 1b of which stated: "No person [...] who approves of or supports the candidature of persons who sign any form or give any kind of written or verbal undertaking of intention to take their seats in these institutions, shall be admitted to membership or allowed to retain membership". They pointed out that in their opinion the correct procedure was to drop or amend Section 1b of the constitution in one year, then come back the next year and propose entering Leinster House, when Section 1b was no longer in operation. In protest, they staged a walkout from the ardfheis and reconvened the ardfheis at another venue. RSF subsequently claimed that the delegates who had voted to drop abstentionism had in effect expelled themselves from the party. It is on this basis that RSF views itself as the only party entitled to the name of Sinn Féin and the sole legitimate successor to the original Sinn Féin established in 1905. Supporters of abstentionism also claimed that the vote at the ardfheis was gerrymandered. Journalist Ed Moloney, for example, points out that in 1986 the number of votes at the ardfheis, which reflects the size of Sinn Féin, almost doubled from 1985 to 1986, and then reverted to the 1985 level in 1987.
This claim is rejected by most people who see themselves as Irish republicans. Sinn Féin points out that a previous party ardfheis in 1983 amended the constitution so that "no aspect of the constitution and rules be closed to discussion". This was done to enable the ardfheis to debate a motion to allow Sinn Féin candidates to stand in elections to the European Parliament
and to take their seats if successful. Some argue that this argument is weakened, by the fact that candidature to the European Parliament had already been debated at the 1978 ardfheis, when a motion to stand candidates in the 1979 European elections was defeated at the Sinn Féin ardfheis. A vote to change abstentionism from a principle to a tactic failed to achieve a two-thirds majority vote in 1985. The results were 181 opposed and 161 in favour.
There is disagreement on the number of people who walked out. Brian Feeney claims that after the vote was passed about 20 members, led by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
, walked out. J. Bowyer Bell
, in The Irish Troubles, states that Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill
"and about one hundred others walked out to form Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) at a previously hired hall in a hotel outside Dublin". Whatever the number, that evening, approximately 130 people, including some of the delegates who voted against the motion, reconvened at Dublin's West County Hotel and established RSF. By itself, the RSF Officer Board formed that evening had 6 members, also formed was an organising committee of 15 members. Bell also notes that in response to the split, there was a "flurry of military operations in and around Belfast" by the Provisional IRA during the remainder of the year to show "country militants that the city was not a centre of politics".
At the centre of those who formed Republican Sinn Féin were key people who formed the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin, including Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
, Des Long, Joe O'Neill, Frank Glynn, and Dáithí Ó Conaill
. Among those in attendance at the first Bodenstown
commemoration, staged by the version of the Continuity Republican Movement which RSF sees itself as forming part of, were four members of the first Provisional IRA Army Council
: Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
(Longford), Dáithí Ó Conaill
(Cork/Dublin), Leo Martin (Belfast), and Paddy Mulcahy (Limerick). Among those present at the West County Hotel when RSF was formed was Billy McKee
, an early member of the Provisional IRA Army Council, and the former O/C Belfast Brigade
of the Provisional IRA. Another early supporter of RSF was Sean Tracey, a member of the first Provisional IRA Army Council, who later "drifted away" from RSF. The influence of those who founded Provisional Sinn Féin should not be understated. Of the 20 people on the Sinn Féin Caretaker Executive formed in January 1970, ten were still involved in PSF in 1986. Nine of the ten joined Republican Sinn Féin.
as a "colonial possession" it supports other national liberation struggles around the world and "feel[s] a sense of solidarity with all peoples who are struggling for freedom and justice". It also quotes Wolfe Tone who said of an urgent need to "break the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political evils" in calling for the "complete overthrow of British rule in Ireland".
The party calls itself "internationalist
" as it says it recognises that "we all have a common identity as human beings, as members of the great family of peoples [and] we wish to play our role in this wider world community on the basis of equality and respect for the rights of others". In that vein, it supports debt relief
for Third World
countries. It also advocates Ireland's neutrality in avoiding military alliances and power blocs.
The party is also an eurosceptic
one in that it says there is a "danger of the growing European Union becoming a world superpower in its own right" and that it could be a participant in potential "resource wars" of the 21st century, something it says Ireland cannot support as it would end up "swapping British domination for European domination" .It further criticised the EU as taking a "highly centralised political and economic power-bloc" whose decision making is made in what they termed "completely undemocratic institutions"; and that EU bureaucrats work against the interest of small farmers and restructure industry so that the EU centre can prosper at our expense. Amongst all these issues it said that Ireland's neutrality is under threat.
Other policies of the RSF include the separation of church and state
and the importance of Gaelic
"to the Irish identity
". It is also abstentionist as both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were created by acts of the British Parliament
against what it called the "wishes of the Irish people".http://www.rsf.ie/intro.htm
It also opposes the Northern Ireland Assembly
as it believes that this further entrenches British presence in Ireland, and that "those nationalists who took their seats in the new Stormont" were "guilty of treachery to the Irish Republic".
It also refuses to recognise the validity of the Good Friday Agreement as it argues that the referendum on the agreement did not offer the people of Ireland the choice of living in a united Ireland, and that the referendum was invalid since separate polls were held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
It stands on a platform of the establishment of social justice based on what it describes as the principles of Irish Republican Socialism
, based on the 1916 proclamation of an Irish Republic. This is outlined in the party's social and economic policy document Saol Nua. It also has a policy named Éire Nua
("New Ireland"), which would see the establishment of a 32 county
Ireland completely independent of the United Kingdom and set up as a federation
of the four Irish provinces
.
. At the party's first Ard-Fheis, they elected their first President, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
, who was President of Sinn Féin from 1970 to 1983. He was joined by Dáithí Ó Conaill, another prominent figure in Sinn Féin and the IRA in the 1970s. On 28 September 2009 Ó Brádaigh announced that he was to step down as RSF leader, citing age and health grounds for his decision. On 15 November 2009, Des Dalton
was elected RSF president. Vice-Presidents Geraldine Taylor and Fergal Moore. Peig King and John O'Connor are the joint Treasurers and Líta Ní Chathmhaoil and Josephine Hayden
are the General Secretaries. Geraldine McNamara is the Publicity Officer.
. As a consequence of this dispute, a number of people resigned from RSF and formed the Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners
to raise funds and provide moral support for the former Continuity IRA-aligned prisoners they supported. However a majority of the prisoners choose to return and the organisation as of 2011 is now defunct.
In August 2010 it was reported that members of the Limerick cumann were expelled, and had first adopted the name Limerick Independent Republican Organisation, before changing it to Real Sinn Féin
.
with a number of organisations which share a similar or identical ideological and political perspective. These include (but are not limited to) the Continuity IRA, Cumann na mBan
, Fianna Éireann
, Cabhair and the National Commemmoration Committee and the Republican Prisoners Action Group. Across these organisations there is believed to be some level of dual membership with RSF. RSF strenuously rejects the allegation that it is the "political wing" of the Continuity IRA, as it denies any assertion that the latter is its "military wing".
along with the Continuity IRA. The State Department states on its website that the "CIRA is a terrorist splinter group formed in 1994 as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Féin, which split from Sinn Féin in 1986. 'Continuity' refers to the group's belief that it is carrying on the original Irish Republican Army's (IRA) goal of forcing the British out of Northern Ireland. CIRA's alleged aliases, Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Féin, were also included in its FTO designation."
Though the RSF's policy of abstentionism means that it would not take seats in Dáil Éireann
, the Northern Ireland Assembly
or the British House of Commons, if elected, it has contested local elections and did field candidates in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
despite its opposition to the Stormont assembly.
The party occasionally stands in local elections in the Republic of Ireland and, after 2007, in Northern Ireland (RSF now contests elections in Northern Ireland on an abstentionist ticket on the basis that there is no political oath to the British crown.)
RSF refused to do so on the grounds that such an oath "calls for the public disowning of the Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan, Fianna Éireann and a repudiation of the right of the Irish people to use force of arms to end British occupation". Consequently its candidates became ineligible. It is not registered with the Electoral Commission
as a political party in Northern Ireland meaning that in elections in Northern Ireland, the party name cannot appear on the ballot paper, the party cannot make party political broadcasts or incur expenditure of more than £5,000 in an election.
, and Jimmy Kavanagh in Wexford
. Two sitting councillors, Joe O'Neill (Bundoran UDC) and Seán Lynch (Longford County Council
) were re-elected. Sitting county councillor Frank Glynn lost his seat on Galway County Council
which he had held for 24 years.
Among the unsuccessful were Peter Cunningham South Dublin County Council
and Joe O'Neill Donegal County Council
.
Seán Lynch Longford County Council
was reelected.
The following were unsuccessful: Joe O'Neill Donegal County Council
who also lost his seat on the Bundoran
Urban District Council, John MacElhinney Letterkenny
Urban District Council, Des Long Limerick City Council
, Tomás Ó Curraoin Galway County Council
and Geraldine McNamara Tipperary
Urban District Council.
. The party's only elected representative lost his seat in the elections. Netting a total of 2,403 first preference votes, the RSF share of the total valid poll (1,819,761) was 0.13 per cent. Unsuccessful candisates were Seán Lynch who lost his seat on Longford County Council
, Tomás Ó Curraoin Galway County Council
, Seán O'Neill Limerick City Council
, Mick Ryan Limerick City Council
, Des Dalton
Kildare County Council
, Terence Varian Midleton Town Council
and Donal Varian Cobh Town Council
.
candidates in the 2007 Assembly Election
. As the party did not register with the Electoral Commission
in Belfast, the candidates had no party affiliation recorded on the ballot paper, apart from Geraldine Taylor who appeared as an Independent.
The RSF aligned candidates netted a total of 2,522 first preference votes. The candidates share of the total valid poll (661,191) was 0.38 per cent. Their share of the total valid poll in the six constituencies in which it fielded candidates (242,860) was 1.03 per cent. They were Michael McGonigle East Derry, Geraldine Taylor West Belfast, Michael McManus Fermanagh and South Tyrone
, Joe O’Neill West Tyrone
, Brendan McLaughlin Mid Ulster
and Barry Toman Upper Bann
.
. As the party is not registered, the party's candidates were labelled non-party or independents.
One of the candidates was successful-Tomás Ó Curraoin in the Connemara
electoral area for Galway County Council
, receiving 1,387 votes or 8.4% of the valid poll. The quota was 2,059.
The unsuccessful candidates were Seán Lynch Longford County Council
, Mick Ryan and Sean O'Neill Limerick City Council
, Des Dalton
Athy Town Council
, Paddy Kenneally Clare County Council
, Peter Fitzsimons Kells Town Council
, Séamus Ó Suilleabháin Limerick County Council
and Pat Barry Bundoran
Town Council.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
or the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. minor political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
operating in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. The party views itself as representing "true" or "traditional" Irish republicanism
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, while in the mainstream media the party is portrayed as a political expression of "dissident republicanism". Republican Sinn Féin refuses to reject the use of political violence (see physical force Irish republicanism
Physical force Irish republicanism
Physical force Irish republicanism, is a term used to describe the recurring appearance of non-parliamentary violent insurrection in Ireland between 1798 and the present...
) and has been linked to the Continuity Irish Republican Army
Continuity Irish Republican Army
The Continuity Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Continuity IRA and styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann, is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA in 1986 but did not become active until...
(CIRA). It holds that the Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
continues to exist and that the Continuity Irish Republican Army Council is its de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
government (see Irish republican legitimatism
Irish republican legitimatism
A concept within Irish republicanism, Irish republican legitimatism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre-partition Irish Republic continues to exist...
). Hence, if elected, its members refuse to take their seats in both the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
and the Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
(see abstentionism
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
).
Formation of party
The decision to form, or to reorganise or reconstitute as its supporters see it, the party was taken in response to Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
's decision at its 1986 ardfheis to end its policy of abstentionism
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
and to allow elected Sinn Féin Teachtaí Dála take their seats in Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
. Those who went on to form RSF opposed this move as it signalled a departure from the traditional republican analysis which viewed the parliament of the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
as an illegal assembly, set up by an act of the British parliament. They argued that republicans owed their allegiance to the All-Ireland (32 County) Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
, maintaining that this state existed de jure and that its authority rested with the IRA Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
. (See: Irish republican legitimatism
Irish republican legitimatism
A concept within Irish republicanism, Irish republican legitimatism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre-partition Irish Republic continues to exist...
)
Although it was passed by a two-thirds majority, those who went on to form RSF claimed that the decision to end abstention was invalid under the Sinn Féin constitution, Section 1b of which stated: "No person [...] who approves of or supports the candidature of persons who sign any form or give any kind of written or verbal undertaking of intention to take their seats in these institutions, shall be admitted to membership or allowed to retain membership". They pointed out that in their opinion the correct procedure was to drop or amend Section 1b of the constitution in one year, then come back the next year and propose entering Leinster House, when Section 1b was no longer in operation. In protest, they staged a walkout from the ardfheis and reconvened the ardfheis at another venue. RSF subsequently claimed that the delegates who had voted to drop abstentionism had in effect expelled themselves from the party. It is on this basis that RSF views itself as the only party entitled to the name of Sinn Féin and the sole legitimate successor to the original Sinn Féin established in 1905. Supporters of abstentionism also claimed that the vote at the ardfheis was gerrymandered. Journalist Ed Moloney, for example, points out that in 1986 the number of votes at the ardfheis, which reflects the size of Sinn Féin, almost doubled from 1985 to 1986, and then reverted to the 1985 level in 1987.
This claim is rejected by most people who see themselves as Irish republicans. Sinn Féin points out that a previous party ardfheis in 1983 amended the constitution so that "no aspect of the constitution and rules be closed to discussion". This was done to enable the ardfheis to debate a motion to allow Sinn Féin candidates to stand in elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and to take their seats if successful. Some argue that this argument is weakened, by the fact that candidature to the European Parliament had already been debated at the 1978 ardfheis, when a motion to stand candidates in the 1979 European elections was defeated at the Sinn Féin ardfheis. A vote to change abstentionism from a principle to a tactic failed to achieve a two-thirds majority vote in 1985. The results were 181 opposed and 161 in favour.
There is disagreement on the number of people who walked out. Brian Feeney claims that after the vote was passed about 20 members, led by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army , former president of Sinn Féin and former president of Republican Sinn Féin.-Early life:...
, walked out. J. Bowyer Bell
J. Bowyer Bell
J. Bowyer Bell was an American historian, artist and art critic.-Background and early life:Bell was born into an Episcopalian family on 15 November 1931 in New York City. The family later moved to Alabama, from where Bell attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, majoring in...
, in The Irish Troubles, states that Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
"and about one hundred others walked out to form Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) at a previously hired hall in a hotel outside Dublin". Whatever the number, that evening, approximately 130 people, including some of the delegates who voted against the motion, reconvened at Dublin's West County Hotel and established RSF. By itself, the RSF Officer Board formed that evening had 6 members, also formed was an organising committee of 15 members. Bell also notes that in response to the split, there was a "flurry of military operations in and around Belfast" by the Provisional IRA during the remainder of the year to show "country militants that the city was not a centre of politics".
At the centre of those who formed Republican Sinn Féin were key people who formed the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin, including Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army , former president of Sinn Féin and former president of Republican Sinn Féin.-Early life:...
, Des Long, Joe O'Neill, Frank Glynn, and Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
. Among those in attendance at the first Bodenstown
Bodenstown
Bodenstown is a townland on the outskirts of Sallins in County Kildare, Ireland.The most notable local features are a golf club and the parish cemetery for Sallins. The cemetery is best known as the gravesite of Theobald Wolfe Tone, the eighteenth century Irish revolutionary and leader of the...
commemoration, staged by the version of the Continuity Republican Movement which RSF sees itself as forming part of, were four members of the first Provisional IRA Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
: Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army , former president of Sinn Féin and former president of Republican Sinn Féin.-Early life:...
(Longford), Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
(Cork/Dublin), Leo Martin (Belfast), and Paddy Mulcahy (Limerick). Among those present at the West County Hotel when RSF was formed was Billy McKee
Billy McKee
Billy McKee is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Early life:McKee was born in Belfast in the early 1920s, and joined the Irish Republican Army in 1939. During the Second World War, the IRA carried out a number of armed...
, an early member of the Provisional IRA Army Council, and the former O/C Belfast Brigade
Belfast Brigade
"Belfast Brigade" is an Irish folk song, to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Context:The song is about the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army , and in particular the 1st, or West Belfast battalion, during the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s...
of the Provisional IRA. Another early supporter of RSF was Sean Tracey, a member of the first Provisional IRA Army Council, who later "drifted away" from RSF. The influence of those who founded Provisional Sinn Féin should not be understated. Of the 20 people on the Sinn Féin Caretaker Executive formed in January 1970, ten were still involved in PSF in 1986. Nine of the ten joined Republican Sinn Féin.
Goals
RSF says that because of Ireland's historyHistory of Ireland
The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge. Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals, particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were...
as a "colonial possession" it supports other national liberation struggles around the world and "feel[s] a sense of solidarity with all peoples who are struggling for freedom and justice". It also quotes Wolfe Tone who said of an urgent need to "break the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political evils" in calling for the "complete overthrow of British rule in Ireland".
The party calls itself "internationalist
Internationalism (politics)
Internationalism is a political movement which advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations for the theoretical benefit of all...
" as it says it recognises that "we all have a common identity as human beings, as members of the great family of peoples [and] we wish to play our role in this wider world community on the basis of equality and respect for the rights of others". In that vein, it supports debt relief
Debt relief
Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particular agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves...
for Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
countries. It also advocates Ireland's neutrality in avoiding military alliances and power blocs.
The party is also an eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
one in that it says there is a "danger of the growing European Union becoming a world superpower in its own right" and that it could be a participant in potential "resource wars" of the 21st century, something it says Ireland cannot support as it would end up "swapping British domination for European domination" .It further criticised the EU as taking a "highly centralised political and economic power-bloc" whose decision making is made in what they termed "completely undemocratic institutions"; and that EU bureaucrats work against the interest of small farmers and restructure industry so that the EU centre can prosper at our expense. Amongst all these issues it said that Ireland's neutrality is under threat.
Other policies of the RSF include the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
and the importance of Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
"to the Irish identity
National identity
National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status....
". It is also abstentionist as both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were created by acts of the British Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
against what it called the "wishes of the Irish people".http://www.rsf.ie/intro.htm
It also opposes the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
as it believes that this further entrenches British presence in Ireland, and that "those nationalists who took their seats in the new Stormont" were "guilty of treachery to the Irish Republic".
It also refuses to recognise the validity of the Good Friday Agreement as it argues that the referendum on the agreement did not offer the people of Ireland the choice of living in a united Ireland, and that the referendum was invalid since separate polls were held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
It stands on a platform of the establishment of social justice based on what it describes as the principles of Irish Republican Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, based on the 1916 proclamation of an Irish Republic. This is outlined in the party's social and economic policy document Saol Nua. It also has a policy named Éire Nua
Éire Nua
Éire Nua, or "New Ireland", was a political strategy of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin during the 1970s and early 1980s. It was particularly associated with the Dublin based leadership group centred around Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill who were the authors of the policy...
("New Ireland"), which would see the establishment of a 32 county
Counties of Ireland
The counties of Ireland are sub-national divisions used for the purposes of geographic demarcation and local government. Closely related to the county is the County corporate which covered towns or cities which were deemed to be important enough to be independent from their counties. A county...
Ireland completely independent of the United Kingdom and set up as a federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
of the four Irish provinces
Provinces of Ireland
Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. The Irish word for this territorial division, cúige, literally meaning "fifth part", indicates that there were once five; the fifth province, Meath, was incorporated into Leinster, with parts going to...
.
Leadership
At their reorganisation, the Chairman of Republican Sinn Féin was Dáithí Ó ConaillDáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
. At the party's first Ard-Fheis, they elected their first President, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army , former president of Sinn Féin and former president of Republican Sinn Féin.-Early life:...
, who was President of Sinn Féin from 1970 to 1983. He was joined by Dáithí Ó Conaill, another prominent figure in Sinn Féin and the IRA in the 1970s. On 28 September 2009 Ó Brádaigh announced that he was to step down as RSF leader, citing age and health grounds for his decision. On 15 November 2009, Des Dalton
Des Dalton
Des Dalton is the president of Republican Sinn Féin . Previously a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil, he joined RSF aged 18 and has been a member of the RSF Ard Comhairle for over a decade. Dalton ran in the Athy town council Elections in 2004 and 2009 in his home town of Athy, Co Kildare. In both...
was elected RSF president. Vice-Presidents Geraldine Taylor and Fergal Moore. Peig King and John O'Connor are the joint Treasurers and Líta Ní Chathmhaoil and Josephine Hayden
Josephine Hayden
Josephine Hayden is the General Secretary along with Líta Ní Chathmhaoil of Republican Sinn Fein. Hayden is a former Republican Prisoner who served five years in prison for possession of weapons which were found in a van she was travelling in at Tallaght, Dublin, in 1995.-External links:* *...
are the General Secretaries. Geraldine McNamara is the Publicity Officer.
Membership
The party's membership is primarily made up of members from all 32 Counties of Ireland, with Cumainn worldwide.Splits
In September 2005, a number of cumainn (or branches) and individual members of RSF left the party in protest over the party's treatment of Continuity IRA prisoners held in Portlaoise PrisonPortlaoise Prison
Portlaoise Prison is the Republic of Ireland's only high security prison. It is located in Portlaoise, County Laois. It should not be confused with the Midlands Prison, which is a newer, medium security prison situated directly beside it....
. As a consequence of this dispute, a number of people resigned from RSF and formed the Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners
Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners
The Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners was an Irish republican prisoners' support group.The CGRP was established on September 10, 2005 as the result of an internal dispute within the ranks of Continuity Irish Republican Army prisoners being held at Portlaoise Prison. That dispute led to a...
to raise funds and provide moral support for the former Continuity IRA-aligned prisoners they supported. However a majority of the prisoners choose to return and the organisation as of 2011 is now defunct.
In August 2010 it was reported that members of the Limerick cumann were expelled, and had first adopted the name Limerick Independent Republican Organisation, before changing it to Real Sinn Féin
Real Sinn Féin
Real Sinn Féin is a fringe political party which formed from a split within Republican Sinn Féin in August 2010. It firstly adopted the name Limerick Independent Republican Organisation, then in late 2010 changed it to Real Sinn Féin...
.
Relationship to other republican organisations
RSF sees itself as forming part of a wider Republican MovementRepublican Movement (Ireland)
The Republican Movement is a collective term used to describe the Irish Republican Army and other political, social and paramilitary organisations associated with it.The term is not restricted to any one movement and can include:...
with a number of organisations which share a similar or identical ideological and political perspective. These include (but are not limited to) the Continuity IRA, Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan
Cumann na mBan is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914 as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers...
, Fianna Éireann
Fianna Éireann
The name Fianna Éireann , also written Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann , has been used by various Irish republican youth movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries...
, Cabhair and the National Commemmoration Committee and the Republican Prisoners Action Group. Across these organisations there is believed to be some level of dual membership with RSF. RSF strenuously rejects the allegation that it is the "political wing" of the Continuity IRA, as it denies any assertion that the latter is its "military wing".
Proscription
Despite these protestations, RSF has been proscribed by the United States State Department as terrorist organisationU.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
"Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation of non-United States-based organizations declared terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act...
along with the Continuity IRA. The State Department states on its website that the "CIRA is a terrorist splinter group formed in 1994 as the clandestine armed wing of Republican Sinn Féin, which split from Sinn Féin in 1986. 'Continuity' refers to the group's belief that it is carrying on the original Irish Republican Army's (IRA) goal of forcing the British out of Northern Ireland. CIRA's alleged aliases, Continuity Army Council and Republican Sinn Féin, were also included in its FTO designation."
Electoral participation
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
, the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
or the British House of Commons, if elected, it has contested local elections and did field candidates in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...
despite its opposition to the Stormont assembly.
The party occasionally stands in local elections in the Republic of Ireland and, after 2007, in Northern Ireland (RSF now contests elections in Northern Ireland on an abstentionist ticket on the basis that there is no political oath to the British crown.)
First elections
It initially planned to field 23 candidates, including three sitting councillors elected for Sinn Féin in 1985, in the 1989 local government elections in Northern Ireland. However, shortly before the elections, the British Parliament introduced the 'Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act' which required that all prospective candidates sign the following declaration renouncing:-
- "(a) any organisation that is for the time being a proscribed organisation specified in Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978: or
- (b) acts of terrorism (that is to say, violence for political ends) connected with the affairs of Northern Ireland".
RSF refused to do so on the grounds that such an oath "calls for the public disowning of the Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan, Fianna Éireann and a repudiation of the right of the Irish people to use force of arms to end British occupation". Consequently its candidates became ineligible. It is not registered with the Electoral Commission
Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
as a political party in Northern Ireland meaning that in elections in Northern Ireland, the party name cannot appear on the ballot paper, the party cannot make party political broadcasts or incur expenditure of more than £5,000 in an election.
1991 local elections
The results for 1991 are only partially available. A number of other people stood for RSF, including Tomás Ó Curraoin, David Joyce and Frank Glynn in GalwayGalway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, and Jimmy Kavanagh in Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
. Two sitting councillors, Joe O'Neill (Bundoran UDC) and Seán Lynch (Longford County Council
Longford County Council
Longford County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Longford in Ireland. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The head of the council has the title of Mayor...
) were re-elected. Sitting county councillor Frank Glynn lost his seat on Galway County Council
Galway County Council
Galway County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Galway in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The county seat is at Galway County Hall in Galway...
which he had held for 24 years.
Among the unsuccessful were Peter Cunningham South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council
South Dublin County Council is the local authority for the county of South Dublin in Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolition, and one of four councils in the Dublin Region...
and Joe O'Neill Donegal County Council
Donegal County Council
Donegal County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Donegal in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The head of the council has the title of Mayor...
.
1999 local elections
In the 1999 local elections in the Republic of Ireland, RSF candidates received 1,390 votes in county/city council elections, and 149 votes urban district council level.Seán Lynch Longford County Council
Longford County Council
Longford County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Longford in Ireland. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The head of the council has the title of Mayor...
was reelected.
The following were unsuccessful: Joe O'Neill Donegal County Council
Donegal County Council
Donegal County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Donegal in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The head of the council has the title of Mayor...
who also lost his seat on the Bundoran
Bundoran
Bundoran is a town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. The town is located on the N15 road near Ballyshannon, 3 hours drive from Dublin and around two and a quarter hours drive from Belfast...
Urban District Council, John MacElhinney Letterkenny
Letterkenny
Letterkenny , with a population of 17,568, is the largest town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. The town is located on the River Swilly...
Urban District Council, Des Long Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council is the local authority which is responsible for the city of Limerick in Ireland. It is the responsible for local government, sanitation, motor vehicles tax, and social housing.-History:...
, Tomás Ó Curraoin Galway County Council
Galway County Council
Galway County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Galway in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The county seat is at Galway County Hall in Galway...
and Geraldine McNamara Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
Urban District Council.
2004 local elections
RSF ran seven candidates in the local elections in the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The party's only elected representative lost his seat in the elections. Netting a total of 2,403 first preference votes, the RSF share of the total valid poll (1,819,761) was 0.13 per cent. Unsuccessful candisates were Seán Lynch who lost his seat on Longford County Council
Longford County Council
Longford County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Longford in Ireland. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The head of the council has the title of Mayor...
, Tomás Ó Curraoin Galway County Council
Galway County Council
Galway County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Galway in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The county seat is at Galway County Hall in Galway...
, Seán O'Neill Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council is the local authority which is responsible for the city of Limerick in Ireland. It is the responsible for local government, sanitation, motor vehicles tax, and social housing.-History:...
, Mick Ryan Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council is the local authority which is responsible for the city of Limerick in Ireland. It is the responsible for local government, sanitation, motor vehicles tax, and social housing.-History:...
, Des Dalton
Des Dalton
Des Dalton is the president of Republican Sinn Féin . Previously a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil, he joined RSF aged 18 and has been a member of the RSF Ard Comhairle for over a decade. Dalton ran in the Athy town council Elections in 2004 and 2009 in his home town of Athy, Co Kildare. In both...
Kildare County Council
Kildare County Council
Kildare County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Kildare in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The council is governed by the Local Government...
, Terence Varian Midleton Town Council
Midleton
Midleton, historically Middleton , is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies some 22 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare...
and Donal Varian Cobh Town Council
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
.
2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election
It ran six abstentionistAbstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
candidates in the 2007 Assembly Election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...
. As the party did not register with the Electoral Commission
Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
in Belfast, the candidates had no party affiliation recorded on the ballot paper, apart from Geraldine Taylor who appeared as an Independent.
The RSF aligned candidates netted a total of 2,522 first preference votes. The candidates share of the total valid poll (661,191) was 0.38 per cent. Their share of the total valid poll in the six constituencies in which it fielded candidates (242,860) was 1.03 per cent. They were Michael McGonigle East Derry, Geraldine Taylor West Belfast, Michael McManus Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Fermanagh and South Tyrone (Assembly constituency)
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
, Joe O’Neill West Tyrone
West Tyrone (Assembly constituency)
West Tyrone is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996...
, Brendan McLaughlin Mid Ulster
Mid Ulster (Assembly constituency)
Mid Ulster is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
and Barry Toman Upper Bann
Upper Bann (Assembly constituency)
Upper Bann is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996...
.
2009 local elections Results
Republican Sinn Féin fielded nine candidates in the 2009 Irish local electionsIrish local elections, 2009
The 2009 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections .-Overview:...
. As the party is not registered, the party's candidates were labelled non-party or independents.
One of the candidates was successful-Tomás Ó Curraoin in the Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
electoral area for Galway County Council
Galway County Council
Galway County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Galway in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment. The county seat is at Galway County Hall in Galway...
, receiving 1,387 votes or 8.4% of the valid poll. The quota was 2,059.
The unsuccessful candidates were Seán Lynch Longford County Council
Longford County Council
Longford County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Longford in Ireland. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The head of the council has the title of Mayor...
, Mick Ryan and Sean O'Neill Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council
Limerick City Council is the local authority which is responsible for the city of Limerick in Ireland. It is the responsible for local government, sanitation, motor vehicles tax, and social housing.-History:...
, Des Dalton
Des Dalton
Des Dalton is the president of Republican Sinn Féin . Previously a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil, he joined RSF aged 18 and has been a member of the RSF Ard Comhairle for over a decade. Dalton ran in the Athy town council Elections in 2004 and 2009 in his home town of Athy, Co Kildare. In both...
Athy Town Council
Athy
The town developed from a 12th century Anglo-Norman settlement to an important British military outpost on the border of the Pale.The first town charter dates from the 16th century and the town hall was constructed in the early 18th century...
, Paddy Kenneally Clare County Council
Clare County Council
Clare County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Clare in Ireland. The Council is responsible for Housing and Community, Roads and Transportation, Urban planning and Development, Amenity and Culture, and Environment....
, Peter Fitzsimons Kells Town Council
Kells, County Meath
Kells is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. In recent years Kells has grown greatly with many Dublin commuters moving to the town....
, Séamus Ó Suilleabháin Limerick County Council
Limerick County Council
Limerick County Council is the local authority which is responsible for County Limerick in Ireland. The Council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The head of the council has the title of...
and Pat Barry Bundoran
Bundoran
Bundoran is a town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. The town is located on the N15 road near Ballyshannon, 3 hours drive from Dublin and around two and a quarter hours drive from Belfast...
Town Council.