Sinn Féin, ‘political wing’ of the IRA, 1948–70
Sinn Féin, ‘political wing’ of the IRA, 1948–70
The party that emerged after the Second World War was a spent force, one which the IRA nevertheless decided to reinvigorate after various unsuccessful attempts at setting up political organisations. Sinn Féin therefore became the political wing of the IRA and broadened its agenda to include the defence of prisoners and the fight against partition, making incursions into the political life on both sides of the border. The armed campaign that the IRA waged between 1956 and 1962 showed the limitations of Sinn Fein as a political party, and a profound restructuration of the Republican Movement was set in motion, one which would lead to the questioning of some key principles and to the eventual split between Offocials and Provisionals.
Keywords: Partition, Border campaign, Prisoners, Elections, Socialism, Wolfe Tone Clubs, Civil Rights
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