The dissident republican organisation which calls itself "Oglaigh na hEireann" has denounced the new Northern Ireland Executive and pledged to continue to struggle for republican goals.
In its first media statement, issued to The Irish Times last night, the organisation claimed Britain was still refusing to "accept the will of the Irish people" and had chosen "deception, manipulation and coercion to engineer a fraudulent pact to maintain its presence in Ireland".
In an obvious attempt to win grassroots republican support away from the Provisional IRA and Sinn Fein, it said the allegiance of republican activists should be "to the Republic, not to an elite clique or corrupt, treacherous administration". "Oglaigh na hEireann" is an alliance of "Real IRA" and some former Continuity IRA and INLA activists. The "Real IRA", which was responsible for the Omagh bomb in which 29 people died, is the dominant force in the organisation.
It called a ceasefire 16 months ago in response to widespread public outrage following the blast.
However, it refused to disband or decommission and remained firmly opposed to the peace process. Dissident leaders continued to acquire arms and recruit and train new members over the past year.
In a statement accompanied by a recognised codeword, "Oglaigh na hEireann" indirectly referred to the Omagh bomb and said its members had a duty to avoid civilian casualties.
The organisation said it would not "abdicate" its responsibility for "the many innocent lives that have been lost and injuries occurred" during the conflict.
However, the group alleged that all deaths could have been avoided "but for British involvement in Ireland".
It said Britain was continuing to deny Irish national sovereignty. "Once again, Britain has refused to accept the will of the Irish people and has chosen deception, manipulation and coercion to engineer a fraudulent pact to maintain its presence in Ireland.
"Once again, Oglaigh na hEireann declares the right of the Irish people to the ownership of Ireland. We call on all volunteers loyal to the Irish Republic to unite to uphold the Republic and establish a permanent national parliament representative of all the people."
A Government spokesman in Dublin last night said there was nothing new in the statement. "It is a repetition of their previous attacks on the Belfast Agreement," he said.