Dissident republicans () are

Irish republicans Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

who do not support the

Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political develop ...

. The peace agreements followed a 30-year conflict known as

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

, in which over 3,500 people were killed and 47,500 injured, and in which republican paramilitary groups such as the

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

waged a campaign to bring about a

united Ireland United Ireland (), also referred to as Irish reunification or a ''New Ireland'', is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically: the sovereign state of Ireland (legally ...

. Negotiations in the 1990s led to a Provisional IRA ceasefire in 1994 and to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

of 1998. Mainstream republicans, represented by

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

, supported the Agreement as a means of achieving Irish unity peacefully. Dissidents saw this as an abandonment of the goal of an independent Irish republic and acceptance of partition. They hold that the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

and

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

(PSNI) are illegitimate and see the PSNI as a British paramilitary police force. Some dissident republican political groups, such as

Republican Sinn Féin Republican Sinn Féin or RSF () is an Irish republican political party in Ireland. RSF claims to be heirs of the Sinn Féin party founded in 1905; the party took its present form in 1986 following a split in Sinn Féin. RSF members take seats w ...

and the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, support

political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...

against the British security forces and oppose the Provisional IRA's 1994 ceasefire; other groups, such as the

Irish Republican Socialist Party The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP () is a minor communist, Marxist–Leninist and Irish republican party in Ireland. It is often referred to as the "political wing" of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) paramilitary group. ...

, wish to achieve their goals only through peaceful means. Since the IRA 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 Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

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).

Groups currently described as dissident republican

Paramilitary

* Arm na Poblachta (ANP) *

Continuity Irish Republican Army 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 o ...

(Continuity IRA) *

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; but in English termed The Irishwomen's Council), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and dissolving Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and in 191 ...

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

* Irish Republican Liberation Army (IRLA) * Irish Republican Movement (IRM) *

New Irish Republican Army The New Irish Republican Army, or New IRA, is an Irish republican paramilitary group. It is a continuation of the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA), which began to be called the 'New IRA' in July 2012 when Republican Action Against Drugs ...

(New IRA) *

Óglaigh na hÉireann (Real IRA splinter group) Óglaigh na hÉireann (; ONH) is a small dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that took part in the dissident Irish republican campaign. The organisation started carrying out attacks around 2009 having been formed after a split, le ...

(ONH)

Political

* 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) * Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland (AIA) * Irish Republican Prisoners' Welfare Association (IRPWA) *Irish Republican Resistance (IRR) *

(IRSP) *Lasair Dhearg * Republican Network for Unity (RNU) *

(RSF) * Saoradh

Groups previously described as dissident republican

Paramilitary

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ) is an Irish republicanism, Irish republican Socialism, socialist paramilitary group formed on 8 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seeks to remove ...

(INLA) (Armed campaign ended in 2009) *

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

(Real IRA) (merged into the New IRA in 2012) * Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) (merged into the New IRA in 2012)

Political

* Irish Republican Voice (IRV) (disbanded 2014)

References

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