The history of Provisionalism can be summarized as one of a long retreat from the highpoint of the early 1970s to the current pragmatic adaptation to the status quo. As the insurrectionary wave that had produced the Provisionals began to recede after 1974, they were forced to manoeuvre for nearly twenty years to avoid obvious military and political defeat. However, by the 1990s Republicans were eventually compelled to yield and through the peace process arrive at their current position of accommodation with the British state in Northern Ireland.

The chapters in Part I discuss the development of Provisional Republicanism as...

The thirty-year war between the Republican movement and the British state has primarily been considered as a military and political conflict: in comparison to these main battlefields, social and economic factors have been relegated to peripheral roles. In particular, the terrain of civil society and its relationship with the state has rarely been theorized as a decisive factor in the conflict in Northern Ireland.²

The power of the contemporary state is often characterized by the degree to which it can successfully create and reproduce political and social hegemony, a type of power that rests on complex forms of consent as...

Characterizing the Provisionals has been a central issue in Northern Irish politics since the 1970s. Throughout the Troubles, it has proven difficult to fit Provisionalism into the theoretical categories of conventional politics. Stressing the ʹtraditionalʹ nature of Republicanism or situating it solely within a terrorist paradigm ignores the complexities of the contemporary movement.² ʹTerrorologyʹ is as useful as theology in explaining the emergence of New Sinn Féin over the last sixteen years.³

Events since the signing of the Belfast Agreement have confirmed the scale of this transformation. The Provisionalsʹ participation in the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement ʹwas a...

By 2007, the Provisionalsʹ long journey into Northern Irelandʹs political mainstream seemed complete. From sitting in a ʹpartitionist assembly at Stormontʹ through to the decommissioning of IRA weapons, and now jointly heading a devolved government with the DUP, the previously unthinkable had become the commonplace for the Provisionals.⁴ Taking responsibility for policing and taking the pledge of office upholding the rule of law were more than just symbolic acts to restore devolution.⁵ Recognizing the stateʹs legitimate monopoly of violence and its ultimate right to enforce its will marked ʹthe irrevocable final step away from trying to overthrow the stateʹ.⁶ Given...

For many, the pictures of Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley around the table in Stormont signalling their intentions of going into government together were a ʹtelling and forceful imageʹ marking the end of the Troubles and the start of a new era in which ʹreal politics can beginʹ in Northern Ireland.¹ This was just the latest in a line of what one Secretary of State for Northern Ireland called ʹitʹll-never-happen momentsʹ, which reinforced the sense of normalization that had been a central strand in the narratives of the peace process since the early 1990s.²

If there was widespread agreement that...

Sinn Féinʹs decision in January 2007 to accept the legitimacy of the PSNI completed a process that fundamentally changed the nature of Provisional ideology, and radically transformed the contours of politics throughout Ireland.⁴ The hand of history was felt on a great many shoulders in this period, but, for once, the description ʹhistoricʹ was no mere political soundbite.⁵ The logic of Provisional politics from the late 1980s seemed to lead inexorably towards this point, a process described by one Provisional as ʹmoving from an historical position, strategy and culture of resistance to one of engagement, negotiation and governanceʹ.⁶ It reflected...

In the early days of the devolved executive, one of the new Sinn Féin ministers, Conor Murphy, reportedly issued guidance to his civil service staff to ʹuse language he was comfortable withʹ in speeches and statements issued in his name. In particular, staff were asked to refer to Northern Ireland as ʹhereʹ or ʹthe Northʹ, and the Irish Republic as ʹall-Irelandʹ.⁴ The resulting political row was predictable, and echoed the familiar controversies surrounding place-names and titles that had long been a feature of public life in the region.

While some found amusement in the ministerʹs attempts to redefine the regionʹs...

Provisional strategy after 1998 appeared ultimately to rest upon nothing more substantial than a faith in the dynamics of the Belfast Agreement and an optimistic belief in the inevitability of demographic and economic change. As a result, the role of dialogue and the power of persuasion assumed even greater significance in the Republican rhetoric of transition during this period. This new language perfectly accorded with the tenor of the times: the theme of the ʹhistoric compromiseʹ, with its implications of a new beginning and a unique opportunity to bring peace, has become the dominant political discourse in Northern Ireland.⁴ The...