Mr Gerry Adams has commended the IRA for "extraordinary calibre, tenacity, determination and commitment" and Sinn Féin for the "inner courage and strength to stand against aggression and oppression".
The Sinn Féin president said: "For Irish republicans the struggle for full independence and sovereignty is not over. The struggle continues." Addressing a commemoration at republican graves in west Belfast's Milltown cemetery, Mr Adams said the IRA grew out of the need for Irish republicans to respond to British injustice. "Today is our opportunity to pay a tribute to the republican dead buried in this cemetery," he said.
"These were ordinary men and women, some little more than boys and girls, who saw injustice and struck for freedom, prepared to put their lives on the line in pursuit of that noble cause." Speaking directly to the families of those buried at the republican plot, he recognised that many asked why there was an IRA campaign and if it was "worth it".
But he stated bluntly: "You the families, most especially, left to rear orphans or robbed of a partner can legitimately put those questions. But you can also answer it." He said Britain had perpetuated injustice in Ireland by force or by the force of arms of "surrogates".
"It is in the human condition, and particularly in the Irish context, though this is also universal, that armed aggression creates armed resistance, particularly and especially when there is no alternative," he said. "That is what the IRA was about."
Acknowledging the human cost of the IRA campaign, he said: "The war in the North, and especially in this city, was vicious, dirty, and brutal. But out of it emerged an IRA recognised and feared by its British enemy as one of the few guerrilla armies fighting from within occupied territory against a vastly superior foe, and which enjoyed substantial community support." It was at this point that Mr Adams praised the IRA for its record, and claimed it played a vital role in establishing the peace process.
He said the IRA was to the fore in "helping to create the space to enhance the peace process. And to save it when the actions of others threatened to bring it down. The reality is that there would be no peace process if it were not for the IRA." Mr Adams said to be a true republican meant more than paying lip-service to the 1916 Proclamation: "Our goal of a united, free and independent Ireland is no mere aspiration, no pipe dream. It is real. It is achievable. It is ours if we have the vision and the energy to pursue it." While the struggle for full independence was not over, "republicans can look back over the last few years and in particular the last few weeks with some degree of satisfaction", he said.
"We have increased our political strength on both sides of the Border." However, Sinn féin still had a long way to go, he said.
"If we are truly to establish an alternative politic to the establishment parties then we need to surpass them, not just in our commitment, but by our determination to convince others of our relevance, and by our ability to shape a better future for all the people of this island."
Turning again to the republican dead, he said: "What has been won and what will be won in the time ahead will be because of the sacrifice of those we remember today, as well as our collective fortitude, determination and commitment."
No date has been set yet for a meeting between the Government and the DUP. In response to newspaper reports yesterday about such a meeting, a Government spokeswoman said both had expressed a willingness to meet for discussions, but the timing had still not been decided.