The Republic

Publisher Marketing: Is Ireland a republic? At its core the word 'republic' signifies the 'representation of democracy'. There are several interpretations which seem contradictory but all claim the status of 'republic' - there have been Catholic, Protestant, radical and conservative, small city-state and territorial republics. We might expect that an ideology that includes Machiavelli, Oliver Cromwell and Gerry Adams has to be pretty diverse - and it is. Similarly, what it means to be a republican is a contested matter. This is true in Ireland, where republicanism is usually associated with physical force separatism and cultural nationalism. But the republican tradition has broader foundations and a longer history than any one of these. Contributor Bio:  Jones, Mary Mary Jones is a labour historian and film maker.