The Defence Forces have expressed strenuous objections to the use by any other organisation of the title Oglaigh na hEireann. "Since the 1923 Temporary Provisions Act, the official Irish name of the Defence Forces has been `Oglaigh na hEireann'. Therefore we are the only organisation allowed by legislation to use this term," a statement added.
"The unqualified use of `Oglaigh na hEireann' in media reports relating to the organisation also known as `the Real IRA', is both insulting and offensive to the thousands of men and women who serve and have served in the Defence Forces since the foundation of the State. The continued unqualified use of this term in media reports gives that organisation a quasi-legitimacy to which they most certainly are not entitled."