Most of its founders had been members of Sinn Féin; some had been expelled from the party for challenging the leadership's direction, while others felt they had not been properly able to air their concerns within Sinn Féin at the direction its leadership had taken. Bernadette Sands McKevitt, wife of Michael McKevitt and a sister of hunger striker Bobby Sands, was a prominent member of the group until a split in the organisation.
