Irish republican legitimism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre-partition Irish Republic continues to exist. It is a more extreme form of Irish republicanism, which denotes rejection of all British rule in Ireland. The concept shapes aspects of, but is not synonymous with, abstentionism.
Historical development
Republican legitimists adopt a traditional Irish republican analysis that views the Irish Republic 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 significant political parties in the present-day Republic of Ireland, who believe the secessionist and abstentionist First Dáil, 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 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, 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 Second Dáil in 1921 are illegitimate as they were established by a piece of British legislation, the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922. The First Dáil 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 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 Second Dáil was never dissolved. Led by Éamon de Valera and others, the Second Dáil TDs who had voted against the Treaty abstained from the (26-county) Provisional Parliament of the Free State and the subsequent Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. 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 - "Minister for Economic Affairs" Liam Mellows - "Minister for Defence" Seán T. O'Kelly - "Minister for Local Government" P.J. Ruttledge - "Minister of Home Affairs" Austin Stack - "Minister of Finance"
De Valera also appointed twelve members of the Second Dáil to act as a Council of State. They were: Robert Barton (who had signed the Treaty) — chairman of the Agricultural Credit Corporation from 1934 to 1954 Michael Colivet — did not join Fianna Fáil, for he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance Laurence Ginnell — died 1923 Mary MacSwiney — signed 1938 statement Seán Moylan — 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 — signed 1938 statement P. J. Ruttledge — helped to found Fianna Fáil in 1926 Austin Stack — remained with Sinn Féin after the 1926 split; died 1929