About 300 people attended the annual Republican Sinn Fein rally in Bundoran, Co Donegal, on Saturday to commemorate the Maze hunger strikes.
The commemoration, organised by a former member of Bundoran Urban Council, Mr Joe O'Neill, attracted a bigger crowd than last year's, which took place within weeks of the Omagh bombing. Mr O'Neill lost his seat on the council in the June elections.
A bank holiday weekend in the North meant there were large numbers of Northerners in Bundoran, but most stayed away from the parade while others watched from the doors of hotels or amusement arcades.
Gardai diverted traffic away from the town during the parade, which lasted about a half an hour.
The parade was led by three youths wearing paramilitary-style clothing - black berets, dark glasses, green military jumpers and black trousers. The three, who appeared to be in their late teens, marched in military style and received their instructions from a youth in a Che Guevara T-shirt.
Three bands from different parts of the North took part in the parade, and many of those walking were in family groups.
Mr O'Neill, who after a recent operation, can only walk with the aid of crutches, was driven in a car ahead of the parade and urged bystanders to attend the rally "to honour all the Irish men and women who gave their lives for Irish freedom".
Speeches were delivered by Ms Marian Price, who, with her sister, went on hunger strike while in jail in England in the 1970s, and Mr Bob Loughman, a supporter from New York.
The president of Republican Sinn Fein, Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, sat on the platform but did not speak.
Representatives from four of the families of the 10 men who died on hunger strike in the Maze prison in 1981 attended, and Mr O'Neill said others, including the Sands family, had sent their apologies and supported the event.
In his speech, Mr O'Neill attacked Irish governments and members of the Garda for "collaborating with the British forces".
He said he believed a lot more information had yet to come to light about "what the British had done in Ireland".
Members of "the Free State government" in power at the time of the Monaghan and Dublin bombings, "should all be charged and the key thrown away on them".
Mr O'Neill said that contrary to what they had been told in 1986, at the time of the split, Republican Sinn Fein would not "go home" and would still be around in the next century.
To loud applause from the crowd, he added: "There always has to be continuity in everything, and continuity will be there until we get everything we are supposed to get."
Republican Sinn Fein has denied it is the political wing of the Continuity IRA. Mr Loughman urged republicans opposed to the Belfast Agreement not to let "slight variations of politics prevent you from working together".
Mr Francie Mackie of the 32-County Sovereignty Movement was among those who attended.