Disillusioned members of the "Provisionals" will be welcome in Republican Sinn Fein provided they are clearly committed to traditional, uncompromising republican beliefs, the party's ardfheis has decided. A resolution was passed urging "all republicans including those who have been misled in the past" to join RSF in working for a British withdrawal from the North. Around 200 people attended the two-day ardfheis in Dublin.
The convicted republican bombers and hunger-strikers, Ms Dolours Price and Ms Marian Price, were present. They said they were there in a personal capacity.
About a third of delegates were from Northern Ireland and the rest were from the Republic. There was a predominance of middle-aged delegates when the ardfheis opened, but there was a strong showing of young people at Sunday's debates.
The RSF president, Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, said that the recent resignations of "provisionals" unhappy with the political direction of their movement had vindicated his party's view that the "provisionals" were heading towards constitutionalism and an acceptance of partition. "Some of their members are taking their courage in their hands and asking questions," he said.
"We don't want to say `we told you so' but we hope that folk have learned a lesson." The complaints voiced by some of the disillusioned "could have come straight out of our newspaper, Saoirse", he said.
The RSF vice-president, Mr Des Long, said that a section of the "provisionals" now knew that they had been "fooled and misled" by their leaders.
They had three options, he said. "To go home - like somebody said we were going to do - and forget about the sacrifices made; to form a new body, and if it has the same ideals as the last one, they shouldn't bother; or to rejoin us in the republican movement."
To loud applause, Mr Long said that RSF would "extend the hand of friendship" to disaffected "provisionals". But it would not be enough for those individuals to resign their positions, he added. They had to tell their former colleagues their policies were wrong.
There had been some "lean years" for RSF, but RSF was growing stronger and attracting more young people now, he said.
Other speakers said it was important to be selective when recruiting, as RSF wanted "genuine, committed republicans" and not people who regularly changed their political views.
Security sources say that RSF is the political wing of the Continuity IRA, a claim the party denies. There were no motions referring directly to Continuity IRA.
However, one resolution was passed asserting "the historic right of the Irish people to use controlled and disciplined force if necessary to defend the nation's right to freedom and democracy against the colonial occupation of any part of the national territory".
There have been several abductions of Continuity IRA members and supporters by the IRA in the North, and there have been other confrontations between the two groups. A resolution was passed condemning attempts by "former republicans" to intimidate "true republicans".
Ms Geraldine Taylor from Belfast said such "intimidation" would not succeed. "We are here today and we are not going away whether they like it or not.
"They can intimidate us as much as they like. They can threaten us as much as they like. But we are the true republicans and they are not going to put us down. We are going to go from strength to strength.
"They are going to fall by the wayside. They are already crumbling because of people who did not believe in their strategy but remained with them because of loyalty. They were following something that went against their principles and beliefs. Now we see them facing reality."
In an apparent reference to a perceived cult of personality within Sinn Fein, Ms Taylor said, "The only way forward is to be true to the republican cause. You can't follow individuals, you have to follow the cause."
In another debate, a delegate from Donegal said he had no time for the Stormont talks. "The only decent thing to do going into places like that is to go with as much dynamite as you can carry," he said.
The ardfheis also passed motions opposing the US economic blockade of Cuba and the Amsterdam Treaty, which it believes will "militate against neutrality and independent foreign policy".