32 County Sovereignty Movement

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32 County Sovereignty Movement
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Chairman	Francis Mackey
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Founded	1997
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Political Ideology	Physical force Irish republicanism (Linked to the Real Irish Republican Army), Socialism
Colours	Green
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Website	32csm.info
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See also	Irish politics Irish political parties Real IRA

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (Irish: Gluaiseacht Ceannasachta na Dhá Chontae is Tríocha), often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm, is an Irish republican political organisation.

The 32CSM's objectives are:

• "The restoration of Irish national sovereignty".

• "To seek to achieve unity among the Irish people on the issue of restoring national sovereignty and to promote the revolutionary ideals of republicanism and to this end involve itself in resisting all forms of colonialism and imperialism."

• "To seek the immediate and unconditional release of all Irish republican prisoners throughout the world."

Many of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement's founding members had previously been members of Sinn Féin and they were also involved with a sub-group within Sinn Féin called the "32 County Sovereignty Committee".

The 32CSM are often referred to as the ‘political wing’ of the Real IRA, and are considered a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the United States.

History

The organisation was founded on 7 December 1997 at a meeting in Fingal in Dublin by republican activists who were opposed to the direction taken by Sinn Féin and other mainstream republican politicians in the peace process, which would lead to the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) the following year. The same division in the republican movement led to the paramilitary group now known as the Real IRA breaking away from the Provisional Irish Republican Army at around the same time. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement is often considered to be the ‘political wing’ of the Real IRA, although members reject the term. As of 2010 it has had no electoral success.

Most of its founders had been members of Sinn Féin; some had been expelled from the party and others felt they had not been properly able to air their concerns within Sinn Féin at the direction its leadership had taken. Bernadette Sands McKevitt, a sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands and wife of Michael McKevitt, was a prominent member of the group until a split in the organisation.

The name refers to the 32 counties of Ireland which were created by the Kingdom of Ireland and claimed by the Irish Republic declared in 1919. Due to the partition of Ireland in 1920-22, twenty-six of these counties formed the Irish Free State which became the Republic of Ireland, and the other six in what became Northern Ireland remain part of the United Kingdom.

Before the referendums on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the 32CSM lodged a legal submission with the United Nations challenging British sovereignty in Ireland. The referendums were opposed by the 32CSM, but were supported by 71% of voters in Northern Ireland and by 94% in the Republic of Ireland.

In November 2005 the 32CSM launched a political initiative titled Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity.

Protests

The 32CSM have protested against Internment by Remand in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

32CSM march to commemorate Easter Rising. April 2010

Other protests include ones against former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley; in Cobh, Co. Cork, against former British Prime Minister John Major being given the Keys to Cork City, against a visit to the Republic of Ireland by Police Service of Northern Ireland head Sir Hugh Orde, and against the "Israeli occupation of Palestine" and Anglo-American occupation of Iraq.

The 32CSM has been subject to protests by the families of those who died in the Omagh bombing which was perpetrated by the Real IRA.

Legality

This group is currently considered a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in the United States as the group is considered to be inseparable from the Real IRA, who are designated as a FTO. At a briefing in 2001, the spokesman for US Department of State stated that "evidence provided by both the British and Irish governments and open source materials demonstrate clearly that the individuals who created the Real IRA also established these two entities to serve as the public face of the Real IRA. These alias organizations engage in propaganda and fundraising on behalf of and in collaboration with the Real IRA". This made it illegal for Americans to provide material support to the Real IRA, requires US financial institutions to block the group's assets and denies alleged RIRA members visas into the US.

External links

• Official website
• 32 County Sovereignty Movement on the Politics.ie wiki
• Sovereign Nation - Online and hard copy newspaper of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement
• 32 County Sovereignty Movement in italiano - Le traduzione della pagina About us, tratta dal sito ufficiale