The 1980s was a transitional decade for Irish republicanism and the Northern Ireland conflict. Overall violence was considerably reduced, with 1200 fewer deaths occurring compared to the previous decade, as the Provisional republican movement shifted the focus of its struggle towards the political arena, reconceptualising its military struggle. It was ironic that the armed struggle effectively created the transition away from militarism, but through the prison struggle the militarists became increasingly sidelined as Provisional politics became dominant. The huge ideological journey taken by the Provisional republicans was integral to the 1986 split in the movement. Elsewhere, the Official republicans further distanced themselves from their erstwhile colleagues and the INLA continued to underline its propensity for violence.

Irish republicanism during the 1980s is inextricably linked to the hunger strikes of 1981, the culmination of five years of protest inside Northern Irish prisons as a result of the 1976 normalisation policies that the British government introduced as a means to de-legitimise the republican struggle. The prison campaign had massive ramifications domestically and internationally, as republicans in the United States enjoyed something of a renaissance during the early 1980s. With the strategic focus of the movement now firmly on the political arena, the American dimension evolved similarly as prominent political figures exerted increasing influence on the Northern Irish situation. Republican splits spilled into Irish-America during the decade, with the Sinn Féin split mirrored by a division in Noraid.