FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has accused Sinn Féin of only belatedly recognising the validity of constitutional republicanism.
At a Civil War commemoration ceremony in Co Cork yesterday, Mr Martin’s comments appeared to be a deliberate move to distinguish his party from its main rival on the opposition benches.
He accused Sinn Féin of only belatedly recognising the validity of constitutional republicanism after a campaign of senseless murders and mayhem by the Provisional IRA.
At a commemoration to mark the 88th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of War of Independence and anti-Treaty republican Denis Barry in 1923, Mr Martin excoriated Sinn Féin.
Barry, like others involved in the War of Independence, was forced to take up arms after the British government failed to introduce even a limited form of Home Rule after the 1918 general election.
Paying tribute to Barry and other military leaders such as Michael Collins, Seán Moylan and Tom Barry for their role in delivering Irish freedom, Mr Martin also acknowledged the tragedy of the Civil War.
It would have been easy for many of Barry’s comrades on the republican side in the Civil War to turn their back on politics but instead they chose not to walk away from their responsibilities, he said.
“As republicans, they recognised that constitutional politics was now the only legitimate way forward to achieve national objectives – others have only learned this lesson in recent times,” Mr Martin added.
“Those who waged war in Northern Ireland during the more recent Troubles were an impediment to Irish unity and directly responsible for causing distress and grief to many families.
“Yet they still seek to hijack history and the achievements of the noble people who fought for Ireland in our War of Independence for their own narrow political ends and to justify their terrorist campaign.”
Mr Martin said that the Provisional IRA had disgracefully pleaded historical continuity as “a defence for senseless murders and mayhem” while they also ignored appeals for a non-violent, inclusive, non-sectarian republicanism.