Republican Congress
Republican Congress An Chomhdháil Phoblachtach | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Peadar O'Donnell |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Dissolved | 1936 |
| Split from | Irish Republican Army |
| Paramilitary wing | Connolly Column (1936) Irish Citizen Army |
| Ideology | Factions: |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colours | Blue and white |
| Party flag | |
Starry Plough of the Congress | |
| Part of a series on |
| Irish republicanism |
|---|
The Republican Congress (Irish: An Chomhdháil Phoblachtach) was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when pro-communist republicans left the Anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such anti-Treaty veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore. In their later phase they were involved with the Communist International and International Brigades paramilitary; the Connolly Column.
The group claimed: "We believe that a republic of a united Ireland will never be achieved except through a struggle which uproots capitalism on its way." They were not a political party as such, but rather an extraparliamentary organisation dedicated to creating a "workers' republic," which leaned towards the Communist Party of Ireland. They split mostly over whether they should be a party in their own right.