Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams today signalled a major shift in the party's strategy towards the Republic after their hugely disappointing performance in the general election.
The West Belfast MP told rank and file members that the battle lines had now been redrawn in the party's campaign to reunite the island.
Speaking at the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, he said the party's focus was now moving away from Northern Ireland towards Dublin.
"Republicanism has entered a new phase of struggle and whilst the party must continue to advance in the North the front line has clearly shifted to the South," he said.
The party was left with a lot of soul-searching after last month's widely anticipated breakthrough in the Republic's general election failed to materialise.
"Expectations were high, perhaps unrealistically so, and whilst our vote increased by over 20,000 the party vote fell in some crucial areas," Mr Adams said.
"A critical and inclusive analysis began immediately within the party and will continue in the weeks ahead. Leadership is needed from within party structures at all levels."
The Sinn Fein president told the gathering that young party members were emerging as effective political leaders and could expect to take up senior national leadership roles as they advance plans to build on their 26 county campaign.
He said: "Sinn Fein is an Ireland party, operating in two jurisdictions, with their own political cultures and different political realities that have developed since partition.
"What we are attempting to do is unprecedented.
"We need to build republicanism in both parts of Ireland, making it relevant to the political conditions in which they live while at the same time winning support for an end to partition."