Dissident republicans, renegade republicans, anti-Agreement republicans or anti-ceasefire republicans ( ga, poblachtach easaontach) are Irish republicans who do not support the current peace agreements in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The agreements followed a 30-year conflict known as

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

, which claimed over 3,500 lives. During the conflict, republican paramilitary groups such as the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

waged a campaign to bring about a united Irish republic. Peace negotiations in the 1990s led to an IRA ceasefire in 1994 and to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

of 1998. Mainstream republicans, represented by

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

, supported the Agreement as a means of achieving Irish unity peacefully. 'Dissidents' saw this as an abandonment of the goal of an Irish socialist republic and acceptance of

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. They hold that the Northern Ireland Assembly and

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

(PSNI) are illegitimate and see the PSNI as a "British paramilitary police force". Some dissident republican political groups, such as Republican Sinn Féin (which was established by a split from Sinn Féin, and no longer has a connection to the party) and the

32 County Sovereignty Movement The 32 County Sovereignty Movement, often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm, is an Irish republican group that was founded by Bernadette Sands McKevitt. It does not contest elections but acts as a pressure group, with branches or ''cumainn'' org ...

, support political violence against the British security forces. Thus, they oppose the Provisional IRA's 1994 ceasefire. However, other groups, such as the

Republican Network for Unity The Republican Network for Unity () is a small Irish republican political party. It was formed in 2007 in opposition to the Sinn Féin special Ard Fheis's vote of support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. A number of commentators vie ...

, wish to achieve their goals only through peaceful means. Since the IRA called a ceasefire, splinter groups have continued an armed campaign against the British security forces in Northern Ireland. Like the Provisional IRA, each of these groups sees itself as the only rightful successor of the original IRA and each calls itself simply "the IRA", or ''

Óglaigh na hÉireann (), abbreviated , is an Irish-language idiom that can be translated variously as ''soldiers of Ireland'', ''warriors of Ireland'', '' volunteers of Ireland''O'Leary, Brendan. ''Terror, insurgency, and the state: ending protracted conflicts''. ...

'' in Irish (see also

Irish republican legitimism Irish republican legitimism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre-partition Irish Republic continues to exist. It is a more extreme form of Irish republicanism, wh ...

Groups described as dissident republican

Paramilitary

* Continuity Irish Republican Army (Continuity IRA) *

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; literally "The Women's Council" but calling themselves The Irishwomen's Council in English), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and d ...

Fianna Éireann Na Fianna Éireann (The Fianna of Ireland), known as the Fianna, is an Irish nationalist youth organisation founded by Constance Markievicz in 1909, with later help from Bulmer Hobson. Fianna members were involved in setting up the Irish Volun ...

Irish Republican Liberation Army The Irish Republican Liberation Army (IRLA) is an Irish paramilitary "self-styled vigilante group". Origins The IRLA is centred on Belfast in the Ardoyne area. The Irish News suggested that its membership were from a County Antrim family with li ...

(IRLA) *

Irish Republican Movement Irish Republican Movement is a dissident republican vigilante group founded in April 2018. They formed as a splinter group of Óglaigh na hÉireann, after they went on ceasefire in 2018. See also * Republican movement (Ireland) Referenc ...

(IRM) *

New Irish Republican Army The New Irish Republican Army, or New IRA, is a paramilitary organisation founded in July 2012. It was formed after the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA), Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small Irish republican paramilitary gr ...

(New IRA) *

Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group) Óglaigh na hÉireann (; ONH) was the title taken by a small dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that took part in the dissident Irish Republican campaign. The organisation started carrying out attacks around 2009 and was formed a ...

(2009-2018) *

Real Irish Republican Army The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a United Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the ...

(Real IRA)

Political

(32CSM) *

Irish Republican Voice Irish Republican Voice was a political group founded by dissident republicans. The group was believed to be the political wing of the group Saoirse na hEireann (itself an RIRA splinter group). The IRV denied this though they said they recognise ...

(IRV) (disbanded 2014) *

(RNU) * Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) *

Saoradh Saoradh (, "Liberation") is a far-left political party and pressure group formed by dissident Irish republicans in 2016. It is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and independent ...

References

{{CIRA/RSF Dissent Dissident Irish republican campaign Irish republicanism Northern Ireland peace process Politics of Northern Ireland