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32 County Sovereignty Movement

32 County Sovereignty Movement




Chairman	Francis Mackey

Founded	1997

Political Ideology	Irish Republicanism, Socialism with physical force Irish republicanism
Colours	Green

Website	http://www.32csm.info

See also	Irish politics Irish political parties Real IRA

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm) is an Irish republican political organisation that supports the right to a fully sovereign Ireland independent from British rule. The 32CSM's objectives are:

(a) The restoration of Irish national sovereignty.

(b) 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.

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 suspected to be aligned with the Real IRA.

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.

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 united under the Irish Republic. Twenty-six of these counties formed the Irish Free State which became the Republic of Ireland and the other six remain part of the United Kingdom.

Before the referendums on the Good Friday Agreement, the 32CSM lodged a legal submission with the United Nations challenging British sovereignty in Ireland. In November 2005 the 32CSM launched a political initiative titled Irish Democracy, A Framework For Unity.

Protests

The 32CSM have also protested against Internment by Remand in the Irish Free state and the Illegaly occupied 6 counties. Other Protests include ones against Ian paisley and the Unionist veto in Cobh, Co Cork. Also Protests against John major being given the Keys to Cork City and against the Visit from Chief of police of the occupational Police Forces Sir Hugh Orde. Others include Protests against palestinian and Iraqi occupations.

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

Illegality

This group is currently considered a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in the United States as the group is considered to be inseparable from the RIRA, who are designated as an 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 RIRA, requires US financial institutions to block the group's assets and denies alleged RIRA members visas into the US.