Irish republican legitimism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

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 ...

and posits that the pre-

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 ...

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

continues to exist. It is a more extreme form of

Irish republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

, which denotes rejection of all British rule in Ireland. The concept shapes aspects of, but is not synonymous with,

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 ...

Historical development

Republican legitimists adopt a traditional Irish republican analysis that views the

as proclaimed "in arms" during the 1916 Easter Rising as the sole legitimate authority on the island of Ireland. This view is partly shared by all political parties in the present-day

, who believe the secessionist and abstentionist

First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the United ...

, which "ratified" the Republic proclaimed in 1916, is a predecessor to the current, internationally recognised, Dáil, the lower house of the Irish Parliament. It is on the issue of the 1921

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

that republican legitimism departs from mainstream constitutional understanding. It views the Anglo-Irish Treaty as incompatible with the Irish Republic and thus null and void. Although the Treaty was endorsed by the majority of TDs of the

Second Dáil The Second Dáil () was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elect ...

, republican legitimists argue that the vote was invalid as all TDs had, prior to their election, taken a solemn oath to defend the Irish Republic, and that people could not possibly express their true desires on the treaty, as the British had threatened a massive escalation, "immediate and terrible war" as they phrased it, if it was not accepted. On the basis of these views, republican legitimism argued that: * all Irish parliaments convened since the

in 1921 are illegitimate as they were established by a piece of British legislation, the

Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 (12 & 13 Geo. 5 c. 4) was an Act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was scheduled to the Act. Main provisions Section 1(1) of th ...

.This applies directly in the case of the

Third Dáil The Third Dáil was elected at the general election held on 16 June 1922. This election was required to be held under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921. It first met on 9 September and until 6 December 1922, it was the Provisio ...

; by proxy of the

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,fourth to Ninth Dáils; and by proxy of both the Constitution of the Irish Free State and the current

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

enacted by the ninth Dáil for the tenth and all subsequent Dáils. * The

passed a resolution which provided that if enemy action ever succeeded in preventing the Dáil from functioning democratically, the Army should have the power to proclaim an Emergency Government; * the 64 TDs who voted for the Treaty in 1922 had violated their oath to the Irish Republic and abdicated their legitimacy; * The Second Dáil had never formally dissolved itself. The pro- and anti-treaty factions of

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 ...

attempted to present a united block of candidates for the 1922 general election in the 26 counties for the Third Dáil; 58 pro-treaty Sinn Féin members were re-elected compared with 36 anti-treaty members. Of these, 17 of the 58 and 16 of the 36 were returned unopposed. Following the outbreak of the Irish Civil War, the

was never dissolved. Led by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

and others, the Second Dáil TDs who had voted against the Treaty

abstained Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...

from the (26 county) Provisional Parliament of the Free State and the subsequent

Oireachtas of the Irish Free State The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State ( ga, Oireachtas Shaorstát Éireann) was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. ...

. They and their opponents engaged in the Irish civil war in 1922-23. Although de Valera had resigned as President of the Republic on 7 January 1922, and had not been re-elected on a very close Dáil vote two days later, a meeting of the IRA Army Executive at Poulatar, Ballybacon on 17 October 1922 adopted a proclamation "reinstating" de Valera as "President of the Republic" and "Chief Executive of the State". The "Emergency Government," as de Valera called it in his autobiography, was established on 25 October 1922. Members of this Republican government were: * Éamon de Valera - "President of the Republic" (after his arrest in 1923, substituted by Patrick J. Ruttledge) *

Robert Barton Robert Childers Barton (14 March 1881 – 10 August 1975) was an Anglo-Irish politician, Irish nationalist and farmer who participated in the negotiations leading up to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. His father was Charles William Ba ...

- "Minister for Economic Affairs" *

Liam Mellows William Joseph Mellows ( ga, Liam Ó Maoilíosa, 25 May 1892 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician. Born in England to an English father and Irish mother, he grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to Irelan ...

- "Minister for Defence" * Seán T. O'Kelly - "Minister for Local Government" * P.J. Ruttledge - "Minister of Home Affairs" *

Austin Stack Augustine Mary Moore Stack (7 December 1879 – 27 April 1929) was an Irish republican and politician who served as Minister for Home Affairs from 1921 to 1922. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1927. Early life Stack was born in Ball ...

- "Minister of Finance" De Valera also appointed twelve members of the Second Dáil to act as a Council of State. They were: *

(who had signed the Treaty) - chairman of the Agricultural Credit Corporation from 1934–1954 * Michael Colivet - did not join Fianna Fáil as he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance *

Laurence Ginnell Laurence Ginnell (baptised 9 April 1852 – 17 April 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary ...

(died 1923) * Mary MacSwiney - signed 1938 statement *

Seán Moylan Seán Moylan (19 November 1889 – 16 November 1957) was a senior officer of the Irish Republican Army and later a Fianna Fáil politician. He served as Minister for Agriculture from May 1957 to November 1957, Minister for Education from 1951 ...

(joined Fianna Fáil in 1926) * Kathleen O'Callaghan * Seán Ó Ceallaigh (John J. O'Kelly) - signed 1938 statement * Seán T. O'Kelly (helped to found Fianna Fáil in 1926) * Seán O'Mahony (remained with Sinn Féin after the 1926 split-died 1934) *

Count Plunkett George Noble Plunkett (3 December 1851 – 12 March 1948) was an Irish nationalist politician, museum director and biographer, who served as Minister for Fine Arts from 1921 to 1922, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1919 to 1921 and Ceann Comha ...

- signed 1938 statement * P. J. Ruttledge (helped to found Fianna Fáil in 1926) *

(remained with Sinn Féin after the 1926 split-died 1929) This "Government of the Republic", however, was unable to assert the authority it claimed to possess. Effectively an internal government-in-exile, one of its first acts was to rescind the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It continued to meet even after subsequent elections had been held in

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

of the Free State. Styling themselves Comhairle na dTeachtaí, the members of the rump Second Dáil were joined by anti-Treaty republican TDs elected at subsequent elections. The IRA initially recognised the authority of the rump Second Dáil but increased distrust between the two bodies led the IRA to withdraw its support in 1925. At the 1926 Sinn Féin

Ard Fheis or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for i ...

(then president of the party) effectively called for the tactical abandonment of the legitimist argument by proposing that the party accept the Free State constitution and return to electoral politics contingent on the abolition of the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown. Opponents of the proposal, led by Father Michael O'Flanagan and Mary MacSwiney,Maria Luddy, 'MacSwiney, Mary Margaret (1872–1942)',

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004 defeated his motion by a vote of 223 to 218. De Valera subsequently resigned as Sinn Féin president to form a new party,

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

, which entered the Dáil of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

in 1927, reducing the ranks of this rump Second Dáil even further. From this point onwards, de Valera and his followers were seen as having departed from the principles of republicanism by republican legitimists, who set up

Comhairle na Poblachta Comhairle na Poblachta was an Irish republican organisation established in 1929. The organisation had the support of the IRA, which had agreed to its formation at its General Army Convention in January 1929. The IRA envisaged it as a co-ordinat ...

as a body to popularise its claims. However, on 14 March 1929, de Valera made a remarkable statement in the Free State Parliament: ''"I still hold that our right to be regarded as the legitimate Government of this country is faulty, that this house itself is faulty - you have secured a de facto position."'' He accused the Free State of having brought off a coup d'état in the summer of 1922 and stated: ''"Those who have continued on in that organisation which we have left can claim exactly the same continuity that we claimed up to 1925. They can do it..."''

1938 – Second Dáil to Army Council

The adoption of the 1937 Constitution changed the name of the state from "Irish Free State" to "Ireland", but legitimists continued to use the obsolete "Free State" to refer derisively to the regime it considered illegitimate; a practice continued past the

Republic of Ireland Act 1948 The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (No. 22 of 1948) is an Act of the Oireachtas which declared that the description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland, and vested in the president of Ireland the power to exercise the executive authority ...

and down to the present day. The 17 December 1938 issue of the ''

Wolfe Tone Weekly The ''Wolfe Tone Weekly'' (1937–1939) was an Irish republican newspaper, edited by Brian O'Higgins. It first appeared in September 1937. Unlike its republican predecessor, An Phoblacht (edited by Peadar O'Donnell), the Wolfe Tone Weekly lack ...

'' carried a statement from a body calling itself the Executive Council of the Second Dáil. Above this statement was an introductory paragraph written by Seán Russell announcing that on 8 December, the anniversary of the

executions Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

of the "Four Martyrs" ( Rory O'Connor,

, Richard Barrett and

Joe McKelvey Joseph McKelvey (17 June 1898 – 8 December 1922) was an Irish Republican Army officer who was executed during the Irish Civil War. He participated in the anti-Treaty IRA's repudiation of the authority of the Dáil (civil government of the Iri ...

) in 1922, the group had transferred what they believed was their authority as Government of the

to the

IRA Army Council The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about independence to the whole island of Ireland and the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and Grea ...

. The statement was published in both

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and appeared below the banner headline "IRA take over the Government of the Republic". The legalistic basis for this transfer of authority was a resolution of the

on 11 March 1921 in response to the arrest of many TDs during the IRA's war with British security forces. Rather than nominate substitute members, Plunkett had said "it was usual to substitute military dictatorship in countries invaded", and the Dáil decided that "when the number f TDsfell to five the Army RAshould take control" and "resolve itself into a Provisional Government". During the period 1922-1938, all seven signatories stood for re-election in the Irish Free State, but by 1938 none were successful. Therefore, they considered that their past electoral status in 1921-22 was more important than their subsequent attempts to be elected, as the Second Dáil arose from the last election held in the whole island of Ireland. The signatories now argued that the seven general elections that the Irish Free State electorate had voted in, from 1922 to mid-1938, had all been illegitimate and unconstitutional; even though they had themselves stood as candidates and had on occasion been elected in some of them. The text of the statement is as follows: Henceforth, the IRA Army Council perceived itself to be the legitimate government of the

. This allowed it to present its declaration of war on Britain in January 1939 (see

S-Plan The S-Plan or Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign was a campaign of bombing and sabotage against the civil, economic and military infrastructure of the United Kingdom from 1939 to 1940, conducted by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). ...

) as the act of a legitimate, ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' government.

1969 – Official/Provisional split

In December 1969, the IRA General Army Convention decided to drop its policy of

. This resulted in a split in the organisation, leading to the emergence of the (then) majority

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...

and (minority)

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

. The supporters of the latter approached

Tom Maguire Tom Maguire (28 March 1892 – 5 July 1993) was an Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and led the South Mayo flying column. Early life Tom Maguire was born 28 Ma ...

, the last surviving member of the 1938 seven-member rump Second Dáil, who declared that the Provisional IRA was the legitimate successor to the 1938 Army Council and, as such, was the legal embodiment of the

. The text of the statement is as follows: The Provisional IRA's political wing,

, decided not to field candidates for the

1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Europe ...

- the first 32-county election in Ireland since 1921. In the 1983 Sinn Féin

ardfheis or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for i ...

, it was decided to contest the

1984 European Parliament election Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

on a non-abstentionist basis, that is, elected Sinn Féin candidates in the 1984 European election would serve as Members of the European Parliament, not as TDs of a new revolutionary Dáil.

1986 – Provisional/Continuity split

The Provisional Movement followed this analysis until 1986, when the IRA and Sinn Féin split over the issue of abstentionism once again. As in 1970, republican legitimists approached

, who in two statements written in 1986 and 1987 but issued posthumously in 1994, maintained that the Army Council of the

Continuity IRA The Continuity Irish Republican Army (Continuity IRA or CIRA), styling itself as the Irish Republican Army (), is an Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It claims to be a direct continuation of the or ...

was the sole legitimate successor to the 1938 Army Council. The texts of the statements are as follows: And: In the years after the split, the Provisionals moved towards a complete cessation of armed struggle, while Sinn Féin entered constitutional politics. The party now contests elections to the Dáil Éireann and the Northern Ireland Assembly - "partitionist parliaments" in the legitimist view - and takes up the seats it wins. However, Sinn Féin maintains an abstentionist stance towards the

Westminster Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

. Republican Sinn Féin uphold the abstentionist tradition to both "partitionist parliaments" plus Westminster, and view themselves as the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905.

Notes

References