"Split Stories Slammed" shouts the headline in Sinn Fein's newspaper, An Phoblacht. After reports of resignations from the republican movement, the party is insisting that while there have been minor internal differences, neither it nor the IRA is experiencing substantial problems.
Those who have left the movement, however, paint a different picture. They argue that the scale of resignations is far greater than the leadership is acknowledging and, in some cases, they predict there will be more defections.
The first area of disagreement between the leadership and the dissidents is over the number of senior personnel who resigned after an extraordinary IRA convention on the Mitchell Principles in Co Donegal last month. This seems to have been the spark for later departures.
Security sources and the dissidents generally agree on the details of the convention. Leading IRA activists attended the summit which resulted in a victory for the leadership and a walk-out by hardliners, they claim. The dissidents say militants on the IRA army executive, which elects the army council, demanded the summit following the army council's declaration that although the Mitchell Principles of democracy and non-violence were "unconstitutional", its members within Sinn Fein had "special dispensation" to accept them.
Both security and dissident sources claim the leadership won the debate - with the hardliners in a minority, receiving around 30-40 per cent support - and that around 20 senior IRA personnel then resigned.
Both sets of sources say that among those who left were the quartermaster-general and other members of the army executive and general headquarters staff. However, initial claims by both the security services and the dissidents that a former chief-of-staff also resigned now appear to be unfounded.
Other reliable republican sources say this individual did not resign but rather failed to get re-elected onto the army council following the resignation of the dissidents.
The IRA leadership, however, has not even acknowledged that the convention occurred. It has insisted there were only a "small number of resignations". It has presented this as natural and placed it in the context of "years of struggle" and not in the context of an intense debate at an army convention in which those who lost the argument walked out.
The IRA has not given reasons for the dissidents' departure and has presented them as a narrow clique - "these resignees are people who are closely associated with each other", An Phoblacht said.
The second area of contention is over the extent of resignations from Sinn Fein at a meeting of its comhairle ceanntair in Co Louth last week. Their departure was over the Mitchell Principles and general concern about the direction of the peace process.
Party officials say only nine members resigned. However, those who walked out say they attended the meeting as delegates, representing others, and not as individuals. They claim around 30 people have now resigned and that several cumainn have effectively collapsed as a result.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, says those who left are not representative of Co Louth. But those who resigned claim that the comhairle ceanntair had unanimously voted against the Mitchell Principles last year and it was the leadership which held the minority view in the county.
During the past fortnight, republican leaders have gone to great lengths to argue that they are not out of step with their grassroots and that the movement remains united.
Mr Gerry Adams has stated that "whatever is happening in the IRA, it has shown itself to be a cohesive body".
However, the decision by the dissidents to issue statements to the media following their resignation must be a worrying development for the leadership. It is a cardinal rule of the republican movement that dirty linen is never washed in public.
While many individuals have left the IRA over the years, very few have given interviews to journalists in which they openly criticised the leadership, as these dissidents are doing.
IRA members have always been strictly warned against talking to the media without authorisation.
When asked why they are speaking to journalists, the dissidents said it was their only way of communicating with grassroots as the leadership had "closed off every other avenue" to them.
The man who is now a spokesman for the dissidents first contacted this reporter last year, alleging serious splits in Sinn Fein in Co Louth which later proved to be correct. After further telephone calls in the past week, a meeting was arranged.
His bona fides were established through the use of a code word and by verification from outsiders. He has claimed that 35 members of the IRA's 1st Battalion in South Armagh resigned following a meeting with the leadership last Saturday night.
In statements the previous week, the dissidents claimed the 1st Battalion was already supporting them. They alleged it had no confidence in the current leadership or the direction of the peace process.
Senior Sinn Fein leaders have strongly denied the claim. Mr McLaughlin said: "I can say with absolute confidence that the entire Sinn Fein organisation in that area are absolutely behind the leadership and the peace process."
Mr Adams said he assumed he would have heard about the resignations if they had occurred and he preferred to rely on information, not speculation. One of the party's delegates at the talks, Mr Gerry Kelly, said he knew nothing that would give substance to the allegations.
In its dismissal of the story An Phoblacht, which carries an editorial condemning journalists for writing stories based on anonymous sources, quotes an unnamed IRA source as dismissing the report as "fanciful".
The strength of the Sinn Fein leadership's denials is impressive.
But the spokesman for the dissidents maintains: "Our statement is 100 per cent accurate."
Both sides have a lot at stake. The 1st Battalion, which includes Crossmaglen, Camlough and Forkhill, is one of the IRA's most deadly and high-profile battalions. Mass defection by its members would be a coup for the dissidents and a blow to the leadership.
The dissidents, of course, could have their own reasons for exaggerating events. They are not used to dealing with the media and are not as professional and well-organised as the leadership. Desperation could lead them to make false claims.
They have admitted they want to "get the ball rolling" and win over IRA grassroots. By exaggeratedly claiming the resignations from the 1st Battalion, they can appear substantially stronger than they might be, gain publicity, and put the leadership under intense pressure. However, if their claims are without foundation, they are playing a very dangerous game.
It is in the interests of the leadership to play down the situation and admit as few defections as possible. Throughout the peace process, Sinn Fein leaders have often rejected reports which have later been proved to be true or been widely accepted as true. ein president expressed outrage "at the way in which the RUC has sought to blame republicans for this killing". He added: "The RUC is engaged in a transparent attempt to damage the peace process." The IRA later admitted responsibility. Of course, past statements by republican leaders which turned out to be wrong does not mean that their current statements are inaccurate.
Numerous republicans confirm that there has been major dissatisfaction with the peace process in south Armagh. Some say that republicans in Co Louth would not have acted without support in south Armagh. Others find it difficult to believe that such a large number of the members in the 1st Battalion would resign.
One source suggests that leading IRA members did tender their resignation but that the leadership is working "night and day" to patch up the differences and get the men back. "They want to sort the trouble out and present a united front as soon as possible," he said. But the entire situation creates immense confusion for ordinary IRA members. A republican who was involved in the 1970 IRA split when the Provisionals broke away from the Official republican movement says: "What is happening now brings me back to those days.
"It was all claim and counterclaim. Things were happening on the ground but they were denied. Both sides manipulated the facts. Sometimes it took months, even years, for the whole truth to emerge."