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1 8 July 2016
O
n a Saturday in April Republican Sinn Féin
(RSF) gathered outside the Garden of
Remembrance at Parnell Square in Dublin
for their national centenary
commemoration.
As Garda Special branch approached members and
onlookers from the public for their names and
addresses, the RSF colour party formed up in front of
the garden. To the music of the Coatbridge band which
lined up behind the colour party, they marched down
O’Connell Street, passing the Gresham hotel and the
now closed Clerys department store. The
parade marched alongside barricades
present in the middle of O’Connell
Street which had been erected
ahead of the official State com
-
memoration that took place on the
27th March, Easter Sunday.
The symbolism of the colour
party’s flags brushing against the
barricades as they marched was
not lost. The parade turned at the
Middle Abbey Street junction to con-
tinue their march up the other side of
O’Connell Street to the GPO, where they
ceased. Once again Garda Special Branch con-
stituted an obvious presence, looking on as the colour
parties of Republican Sinn Féin, Na Fianna Éireann and
Cumann na mBan formed up facing the GPO and stood
to attention. The occasion was in great contrast to
Provisional Sinn Féin’s Easter Rising commemoration
in Dublin the following day, which has been described
in the Irish Times by historian Eunan O’Halpin as “nec-
essarily decommissioned”.
Mandates and Support
When we hear the words ‘dissident republican’ in popu-
lar outlets they are ubiquitously followed by references
to violence, the Omagh bombing in 1998 or low levels
of public support. Since May of this year the threat level
from republicans has been raised by security ser-
vices from moderate to substantial. Sinn
Féin President Gerry Adams has
announced that “dissidents have no
support”. Moreover, in the aftermath
of the killing of two British soldiers
at Masareen and PSNI Constable
Stephen Carroll in 2009 the Deputy
First Minister of Northern Ireland,
Martin McGuinness, while standing
on the steps of Stormont Castle,
famously labelled so-called dissidents
as “traitors to Ireland”, and referred to
an absence of support for such groups in the
community. Narratives about so-called dissident
republicanism are shrouded in questions of mandates
and legitimacy. A common criticism levelled at Repub-
lican Sinn Féin, and the Continuity IRA (CIRA) which
shares RSF’s ideology, is that they lack public support
Unbroken Continuity
In 96-year-old John Hunt, Republican
Sinn Féin traces the Fenian tradition,
via the 1940s, into the present
"It is because of
people like John Hunt
that our Fenian faith
has survived"
by Marisa
McGlinchey
Wolfe Tone Patrick Pearse
NEWS
July 2016 1 9
- in votes - and that they fail to secure elected
representatives. In fact Republican Sinn Féin
does have an elected Councillor in Galway,
namely Tomás O’Curraoin who has held the
position since 2009. Councillor O’Curraoin has
always contested the election on an RSF plat-
form. However, to concentrate on mandates in
an electoral sense neglects the historical reality
that republicanism has not traditionally taken
its mandate from the polls. 1798, 1916 and the
First and Second Dáileanna are invoked as legit-
imising the current republican campaign.
Legitimacy is not sought at the polls; rather, a
line of continuity is drawn through republican
history. To put undue emphasis on electoral
mandates fails to acknowledge the core of
republican ideology.
A dream deferred
As talk of continuity and unfinished business
hung in the air that Saturday outside the GPO,
I snapped the adjoining photo of RSF President
Des Dalton and the commemoration’s guest
speaker John Hunt. The image coincidentally
captured the reflection of a blowing tricolour on
the glass of the GPO; the reflected flag was on
a pole in the centre of O’Connell Street. This
image embodies more than a 1916 commemo-
ration. It reveals a living historical link between
the 1940s and present day republicanism. Com-
peting with a helicopter over-head, John Hunt
addressed the crowd with an oration entitled,
‘1916: A dream deferred’. After the speech Hunt
was congratulated on his oration and the
ninety-six year old veteran replied “if I hadn’t
got a cold you’d have heard me at the other end
of Connell Street”.
A rebel till the end
John Hunt travelled to the commemoration from
Chicago in the US where he has lived since the
Continuity is central to
republicanism and explains
their vehement rejection
of the word ‘dissident’. The
common criticism of the RSF
position is the belief that one
person conferred legitimacy
on the Continuity IRA in 1987
John Hunt Des Dalton
Gerry Adams
Republican Veteran John Hunt
and RSF President Des Dalton
?
2 0 July 2016
late 1940s. Originally from Limerick he is one of
only two surviving internees of the Curragh
internment camp in the 1940s, Tom Doran being
the other. Hunt was born in Athea in Limerick in
1920. His childhood memories include attend-
ing republican commemorations. The earliest
commemoration he can recall took place when
he was nine-years old. He attended a commem-
oration at Gortagleanna in Knockanure in
County Kerry with his Father. A few years later
John was among the crowd listening to a speech
by Tom Barry in Abbeyfeale, County Limerick.
John worked as a cobbler and was an active
member of the local unit of the Irish Republican
Army. Early in 1940, along with approximately
500 other men John was interned for IRA
activity.
He was first taken to police barracks in Lim-
erick and was then transferred to Cork jail. His
final destination was Tintown at the Curragh
military camp. In the huts the IRA maintained
its structures and members reported to the
Officer Commanding. In protest at poor condi-
tions and at the treatment meted out by Free
State soldiers, who were former comrades,
internees burnt a number of the huts on 14
December 1940. The resulting punishment was
solitary confinement for a number of the men
including Hunt. In 1941 Hunt was sentenced to
four years and was transferred to Mountjoy
prison and then on to Arbour Hill where he
spent one year before being transferred back to
the Curragh. His eventual release came in 1945
when he was one of the last men active in that
era to be released.
Hunt’s attendance at the commemoration
was viewed through the RSF lens as conferring
legitimacy to the organisation. A line of succes-
sion was stressed reaching back to the Fenians,
the Young Irelanders, Robert Emmet, Wolfe
Tone and the United Irishmen.
From the podium John Hunt bellowed out “as
a young man, in the darkness of my prison cell,
I understood that the sacrifices of the
republicans before me would inspire genera-
tions yet unborn”. Hunt went on to quote the
oft-cited words of Patrick Pearse at republican
commemorations: “The fools, the fools, the
fools. They have left us our Fenian dead”. Hunt’s
presence at the commemoration was in itself
part of a republican tradition of conferring legit-
imacy on the present by invoking the past. The
final oration was delivered by the President of
Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton, who suc-
ceeded Ruairí Ó Brádaigh in 2009.
Dalton addressed the crowd: “The presence
here today of John Hunt, one of the last surviv-
ing republicans of the 1940s, underlines that
unbroken continuity. It is because of people like
John Hunt that our Fenian faith has survived”.
Goodly company and a right
noble succession
As Des Dalton addressed the 2000 strong
crowd, members of RSF stood in front of him
facing the crowd and holding pictures of the
seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation.
It is interesting to note that observers close
to the colour party could witness a woman
attempting to ensure that the colour party’s
lines were not broken. As members of the crowd
occasionally attempted to walk through the
colour party they were politely advised on walk-
ing around and not breaking the ranks, much to
the amazement of some bewildered tourists.
The incident indicated that some members of
the crowd, having got caught up in the occa-
sion, treated the colour party more as symbolic
pageantry rather than an active army. In his
speech Dalton linked earlier generations of
republicans with current republican prisoners
in Maghaberry and sent a salute to the prison-
ers stating, “in the words of Roger Casement we
stand here in goodly company and a right noble
succession”. After the release of CIRA prisoner
Willie Wong this year there are currently two
CIRA prisoners in Maghaberry prison which is
located just outside Lisburn. The 2009 period
saw approximately nine CIRA prisoners in
Maghaberry. In his address Dalton went on to
describe the 1916 Proclamation as “our free-
dom charter”.
Another key-note address was given by John-
Joe McCusker, a former political prisoner and
lifelong republican from Fermanagh who occu-
pies a position on the RSF Ard Chomhairle. In
his oration McCusker sent greetings to Irish
people across the world and throughout his
address married the historical with the contem-
porary. McCusker blasted: “The Proclamation
of 1916 is a document which pre-empts the
imposition of partition and pre-empts the
treacherous establishment of the Free State
and it pre-empts the St Andrews Agreement”.
The proceedings concluded with Amhrán na
bhFiann, played by the Coatbridge republican
flute band as the crowd joined in singing the
national anthem. The concluding parade
marched behind the colour party back to RSF’s
head office in Parnell Street.
A feisty guest of honour
John Hunt’s passing on of the torch to the next
generation is in itself part of a republican tradi-
tion. At the 50th anniversary of the First Dáil,
republican veteran Joe Clarke ensured that he
made his presence known in the Oireachtas.
Clarke was a survivor of the Mount Street battle
in Dublin in 1916 and he was usher-in-charge for
the First Dáil. Clarke, based on his activity in
1916 and his veteran status, continued to be
issued formal invitations to commemorations
which he largely refused until 1966 when an
invitation arrived for the 50th anniversary of the
First Dáil. He used the occasion to protest the
“subversion of the all-Ireland Republic” by Free
State forces and in support of the Housing
Association, the DHAC. As the main speaker
Éamon De Valera rose to address the crowd,
Some members of the
crowd, having got caught
up in the occasion, treated
the colour party more as
symbolic pageantry rather
than an active army
Colour Party: RSF, Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Éireann
NEWS
July 2016 2 1
Clarke leaning on his crutches stood up in pro-
test and shouted “The programme of the old
Dáil has never been implemented. This is a
mockery. There are people on hunger strike in
Mountjoy”, as was reported in the Irish Times
the next day. Ushers speedily carried Clarke to
the door where he was given his crutches and
shown out. The 86 year old was not going qui-
etly. He died in 1976 on the eve of the 60th
anniversary of the Rising.
Dissident; a dirty word
The emphasis on continuity which is central to
republicanism explains the vehement rejection
of the word ‘dissident’ by republicans. While
internationally the word dissident has com
-
manded a respect among revolutionary
organisations, we must ask what exactly is
meant by the word ‘dissident’ in the Irish con-
text? Dissenting from what? It is a word which
has been propagated by Sinn Féin and has
entered into common usage. When used by
members of Sinn Féin they are in fact referring
to republicans who dissent from their organisa-
tion and their current strategy, rather than
dissenting from traditional republican ideology.
This battle for legitimacy is reflected in the
wider republican family.
Cumann na mBan
There was one organisation present at the RSF
commemoration that day, which is the only
organisation to have never split, and that is
Cumann na mBan. The women standing to
attention behind the RSF colour party and
alongside the Fianna Éireann colour party were
not there in a commemorative capacity. They
were not in dress uniform. Nor were their silver
badges which were striking when the sun
caught them, commemorative. Rather these are
the active members of Cumann na mBan, an
organisation which formed in 1914. 2016 has
witnessed women partaking in pageantry,
dressing up in Cumann na mBan uniforms or
flying Cumann na mBan flags and regarding the
organisation as of historical interest. Sharing
the ideology of Republican Sinn Féin, Cumann
na mBan are very much still in existence, con-
trary to popular treatment of the organisation
as historical. While the organisation is illegal in
the North it is legal in the South of Ireland. On
Saturday 28 May twelve male members of RSF
were arrested on their way home from the
unveiling of a monument in Lurgan to republi-
cans who have died on active service in North
Armagh. Travelling with some of the men
arrested were active members of Cumann na
mBan returning South after the event.
The Second Dáil and the
illegitimacy of Leinster House
Historical legitimacy is important politically and
morally to Republican Sinn Féin. Writing in the
parties paper Saoirse, RSF President Des Dalton
stated “it provides justification for the revolu-
tionary position vis-á-vis the two partitioned
states and reaffirms the position of the repub-
lican movement as the extension of the
all-Ireland”. Leading members of Sinn Féin have
questioned the legitimacy which RSF claims in
its constitution to have had conferred on the
organisation by Commandant-General Tom
Maguire. Maguire was the last surviving
member of the Second Dáil which in 1938 del-
egated powers to the army council of the IRA.
The most common criticism of the RSF position
is the belief that one person conferred legiti-
macy on the Continuity IRA in 1987. The dispute
revolves around the fact that the second Dáil
was never officially dissolved thus leading
republicans such as RSF to reject claims of con-
tinuity made by Leinster House. After De Valera
had entered Leinster House he still maintained
the legality of the Second Dáil. As quoted in
Ruairí O’Brádaigh’s book titled 'Dílseacht: The
story of Comdt. General Tom Maguire and the
second (all-Ireland) Dáil' De Valera announced
to the Free State assembly on 14th March 1929:
"I still hold that our right to be regarded as the
legitimate government of this country is faulty".
Conclusion:
The passing of the torch
The passing of the baton by Tom Maguire to RSF
has influenced relations with other republican
groups. The question of republican groups uni-
fying under one structure has commonly arisen
in recent times and there has been occasional
suggestion in media reports of such a coming
together, such as at Coalisland on Easter
Sunday 2016. But in fact the RSF constitution
does not permit unity to take place with organi-
sations such as the 32 County Sovereignty
Movement, Éirígí, the IRPWA, RNU or the Repub-
lican Socialist movement. The constitution is
clear on the point of legitimacy and names RSF
as the legitimate republican movement. RSF
maintains the name Sinn Féin and in April 2016
RSF prisoners in Maghaberry jail called on Pro-
visional Sinn Féin to cease using the name Sinn
Féin. Those who walked out of the 1986 Ard
Fhéis in the Mansion House reassembled in the
West County Hotel in Dublin to reorganise. At
that meeting Ruairí Ó’Brádaigh’s brother Seán
O’Brádaigh proposed the name Republican
Sinn Féin for pragmatic purposes to differenti-
ate themselves from those who remained at the
Mansion House that day, who continued to use
the name Sinn Féin and are often referred to as
Provisional Sinn Féin as a point of differentia-
tion, echoing the earlier split which took place
at the 1970 Ard Fhéis at which emerged Official
and Provisional Sinn Féin.
RSF has rejected calls from PSF for a border
poll as the unit of decision making is central to
republican ideology. Therefore a border poll
which would take place solely in the state of
Northern Ireland is deemed illegitimate by RSF.
Further, RSF rejects the 1916 societies' ‘one Ire-
land one vote’ campaign on the basis that the
1916 Proclamation unequivocally states: “We
declare the right of the people of Ireland to the
ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered con-
trol of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and
indefeasible”. Therefore this right already
exists and cannot be decided upon by one gen-
eration. Consequently battles around legitimacy
and ownership of the past rage between the
Provisional Sinn Féin world and the so-called
dissident world. Significantly, these battles
also rage among republican groups. In an
address to the first Ruairí O’Brádaigh summer
school in County Roscommon on 7 June 2014
RSF President Des Dalton stated “at a time of
confusion as to what defines a republican, it is
important to get back to the essential definition
as one who’s loyalty is to the all-Ireland of
Easter week. That is the rock upon which we
build”.
Marisa McGlinchey is a Research Fellow at
Coventry University.
Cumann na mBan
The only organisation to
have never split is Cumann
na mBan, which though
illegal in the North is legal
in the South
