Is Ireland a republic? At its core the word 'republic' signifies the 'representation of democracy'. There are several interpretations which seem contradictory but all claim the status of 'republic' - there have been Catholic, Protestant, radical and conservative, small city-state and territorial republics.We might expect that an ideology that includes Machiavelli, Oliver Cromwell and Gerry Adams has to be pretty diverse - and it is. Similarly, what it means to be a republican is a contested matter. This is true in Ireland, where republicanism is usually associated with physical force separatism and cultural nationalism. But the republican tradition has broader foundations and a longer history than any one of these.The Republic is compiled from a highly received lecture series originally broadcast on RTE. Contributors to The Republic are Ivana Bacik, Thomas Bartlett, Brian Hanley, Iseult Honohan, Mary Kotsonouris, Marianne McDonald, Martin Mansergh, Fintan O'Toole and Philip Pettit.