Republicanism is more popular now than at any period since the time of Tom Barry and his famous flying columns, Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said yesterday during a commemoration in west Cork of one of bloodiest battles of the War of Independence.
Speaking on the 85th anniversary of the Kilmichael ambush, during which three volunteers died and 17 Auxiliaries lost their lives at the hands of Tom Barry's flying column, Ms McDonald spoke of the need to "work together towards Irish unity" before going on to praise the "courageous initiatives" of the IRA in the past year.
"In July of this year the IRA, undefeated and confident in the future, declared a formal end to the armed campaign. They have now dealt decisively with the issue of arms. There is space for everyone on the ground of Irish republican politics and plenty more work to be done.
"Irish unity will come about much more speedily if we can build a broad-based coalition to end partition. Such a coalition needs to be built on the realisation that partition has failed - and failed miserably."
Ms McDonald, who is also Sinn Féin national chairperson, said Irish freedom and unity was "too big a job" to be delivered and undertaken by one party.
More than 1,000 people gathered for the commemorations which started with a Mass in Irish in Castletownkenna, near Innishkeane, before an afternoon ceremony at the site in Kilmichael where the struggle took place.
The ambush represented the first engagement between the IRA and British Forces in Ireland.
Three volunteers, Michael McCarthy, Jim Sullivan and Pat Deasy, were killed during the struggle.
Commander of the Flying Column Tom Barry's account of what happened at Kilmichael is told in his 1949 book Guerrilla Days in Ireland.