Republican Sinn Féin (Sinn Féin Poblachtach) was formed in 1986, when delegates opposed to dropping the policy of abstention from Leinster House left the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis and reconstituted themselves as a separate party. The dispute echoed the split of 1970 from which the Provisional movement had itself emerged: once again the recognition of a partitionist parliament was treated not as a tactical question but as a matter of principle, and once again a section of the movement refused to follow. Those who walked out gathered around Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Dáithí Ó Conaill, figures whose republican careers reached back to the campaigns of the 1950s and who regarded the change as an abandonment of the republican position itself.
At the heart of Republican Sinn Féin’s outlook is the legitimist doctrine it claims to inherit: that the all-Ireland Republic proclaimed in 1916 and embodied in the Second Dáil of 1921 remains the only lawful authority in Ireland, and that the two states created by partition are therefore illegitimate. The recognition of Tom Maguire, the last surviving member of that Dáil, was held to pass this continuity to the new party, as it had earlier been claimed for the Provisionals. From it followed the party’s continued abstentionism, its rejection of the Good Friday Agreement, and its retention of the federal Éire Nua programme that the Provisionals had by then set aside.
Republican Sinn Féin describes itself as the custodian of traditional, uncompromising republicanism; in press and academic accounts it is more often placed among the strands of “dissident republicanism” that rejected the peace process, and it has been widely associated with the Continuity IRA, which emerged publicly in the mid-1990s, though the party has never formally acknowledged that link. The documents gathered in this section trace that position across more than three decades: presidential Ard Fheis addresses, the newspaper Saoirse – Irish Freedom, policy statements such as Éire Nua and Saol Nua, election material, and a long run of press releases and ephemera.
Saoirse – Irish Freedom
Saoirse – Irish Freedom is the monthly newspaper of Republican Sinn Féin. Click here for Saoirse – Irish Freedom section on the archive.
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Policy Documents
 Saol Nua |  Éire Nua |  Towards a Peaceful Ireland |
 Saol Nua Booklet |  Eire Nua |  Saol Nua |
 Towards a Peaceful Ireland |
Ard Fheis Presidential Address
Bodenstown Speeches
1986
1987
1988
 RSF New Year Message (1988) |  Cross Border Collaboration (July 1988) |  British Death Squads in Ireland (July 1988) |
1989
 A Totally New Ireland (September 1989) |  RSF Where we Stand (1989) (4) |  Restricted Franchise Shows British Contempt (16 May 1989) |
1990
1991
1993
1994
 Charlie Kerins |  Vote John MacElhinney (1994) (3) |  Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ard Fheis address (1994) |
 RSF Easter Statement (1994) |
1995
1996
1997
1998
2001
2002
2004
 2004 Local Election Manifesto |  RSF Local Election Manifesto (2004) |  Reject the RUC Leaflet (2004) |
 26 County Election Manifesto (2004) |
2005
2006
2007
2013
2014
2020
RSF Ephemera
A collection of miscellaneous RSF leaflets and posters. Click on the image to download.
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 |  RSF Leaflet |  Eire Nua Building Fund |
 40 Years of Eire Nua |  What is Irish republicanism |  Sinn Fein – Yesterday and today |
 Where RSF Stands |  RSF Peace Leaflet (4) |  Tomás Ó Curraoin Leaflet (4) |
 STAIR Leaflet RSF (4) |
(1) – Donated by Brian Hanley
(2) – Donated by Txente Rekondo
(3) Donated by @irish_republican_archive
(4) – Donated by Irish Election Literature
© Irish Republican Digital Archive. Historical documents are presented for educational and research purposes only. We do not endorse or promote any views expressed in the material. Some content may be politically or historically sensitive. [Read full disclaimer]
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