A veteran republican, Mr Martin Meehan, has said that the current peace process might not lead to Irish unity, but it would move the "republican struggle" on to another stage.
While he wanted a British withdrawal and a socialist republic, he admitted that these goals would not be achieved at present.
Mr Meehan, who was speaking at a public debate in Belfast, has spent about 22 years in jail. He is well respected among republican grassroots. The debate was organised as part of the Cliftonville/ Oldpark Feile.
Speakers from Republican Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Socialist Party, the Irish National Liberation Army's political wing, also addressed the meeting. They voiced strong opposition to the peace process. It was the first time that both groups and Sinn Fein had shared a platform.
Mr Meehan said that in the past he had been firmly committed to armed struggle. However, he now realised that, rather than hitting one's head against a wall, it was possible to "go up or under it".
He did not wish to diminish the actions of IRA members, but said that it required more bravery to sit on the road, be beaten by the RUC and British army and not retaliate, than to "go out with an Armalite".
Mr Kevin McQuillan, of the IRSP, said that the INLA and the Continuity Army Council were still committed to "armed struggle". He added: "I have every confidence that republicans will once again be united in armed struggle and will be back taking on the British."
He claimed that peaceful methods had failed in the North. "Every advance for nationalists has been made on the back of the actions of IRA and INLA volunteers. Constitutional politics has achieved nothing."
"The Israelis have got the Palestinians policing Palestinians who oppose the peace process", Mr McQuillan said. "I hope that when the British ask Sinn Fein and the IRA to police other republicans who continue the struggle they will refuse to do so."
Mr Martin Morgan, of the SDLP, defended the peace process and said that non-violence was the only way forward. He believed that the Sinn Fein leadership was committed to peace.