ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dissident republican

Okay, so you know how sometimes people disagree with each other? Sometimes, they disagree so much that they don’t want to be part of the same group anymore.

Well, there’s a group of people in Ireland who call themselves republicans. They believe that Ireland should be one country, rather than being split into two (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). However, not all republicans agree on how to achieve this goal.

The dissident republicans are a group of republicans who don’t agree with the way things are being done by the other republicans. They think that the other republicans are too focused on using peaceful methods to achieve their goal. The dissidents believe that violence and force are necessary to achieve their goal of a united Ireland.

The thing is, most people in Ireland and around the world believe that violence is not the way to solve disagreements. They think that people should be able to talk and work things out peacefully.

So, while the other republicans are still working towards their goal of a united Ireland through peaceful methods, the dissident republicans continue to use violence to get their way. This isn’t a good thing, because it can hurt and kill innocent people, and it doesn’t solve the problem.

In summary, dissident republicans are a group of people who don’t agree with the peaceful methods being used by other republicans to achieve their goal of a united Ireland, and instead use violence to get their way.