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'Abstentionism' is a political strategy used in Ireland since the early 20th century of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland this has been an often used tactic of republicans and nationalists.
In 1918 Sinn Féin Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom refused to sit in that body and instead constituted themselves as Dáil Éireann and claimed to be the legitimate parliament of Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, the Nationalist party did not take their seats during the first Stormont parliament (1921-25) and did not accept the role of Opposition for another forty years (they became the Opposition on 2 February 1965 but withdrew after the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) attacked civil rights marchers in Derry on 5 October 1968). The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) became the Opposition on its formation on 21 August 1970 but that party withdrew from Stormont in July 1971. Although the SDLP participated in the assembly set up for the Sunningdale Agreement and the Constitutional Convention, they abstained from the 1982 Assembly and their participation in the Northern Ireland Forum was intermittent. Sinn Féin first contested modern elections with the 1982 Assembly which they abstained from and again abstained outright from the Forum.
Since the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly under the Good Friday Agreement, both the SDLP and Sinn Féin have taken their seats in that body. SDLP MPs have consistently taken their seats in the Westminster parliament, in contrast to Sinn Féin MPs who refuse to take their seats there, as they refuse to recognise that body's right to legislate for any part of Ireland.
In the Irish Free State and the later Republic of Ireland, abstentionism has been a controversial question for republican parties. In 1970, at its Ard Fheis (annual conference), Sinn Féin split on the issue of whether or not to reverse its long-standing policy of refusing to taking seats in Dáil Éireann, a parliament which Republicans did not consider legitimate as it does not represent all of the people of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. The split resulted in two parties - Official Sinn Féin and Provisional Sinn Féin. Official Sinn Féin won a seat in the Dáil in 1981 by which time it had been renamed "Sinn Féin, The Workers Party". When it later changed its name again to "The Workers Party", Provisional Sinn Féin became known simply as "Sinn Féin". A similar split occurred in 1986, on the same issue, leading again to two parties - Sinn Féin, led by Gerry Adams, and Republican Sinn Féin, led by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, which has retained the policy of abstentionism from both Dáil Éireann and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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See also

★ Irish republican legitimatism