The IRSP has explained its lack of participation in elections as due to "very limited" resources. In 2022 for the first time the IRSP fielded candidates for the Northern Ireland Assembly election. Initially their candidates were rejected by the Electoral Commission, but this was eventually corrected. Candidates were fielded in Belfast West (1,103 first preference votes, 2.5%) and Foyle (766 first preference votes, 1.6%). Policies and ideology The IRSP are Marxist–Leninist and Irish republican, seeking the establishment of an all-Ireland "worker's republic". As of 2009, the IRSP stated that their objective will only be achieved exclusively through peaceful and political means, and in 2018 they launched the 'Yes For Unity' campaign, to campaign for a Border Poll on Irish Unity. The IRSP claim the legacy of Connolly and say their policies are of the same tradition of Connolly. The IRSP also see their own modern policies as the "logical development in the twenty-first century of the programme established under Connolly’s leadership by the Irish Socialist Republican Party". Physical force Irish republicanism The IRSP opposes both the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Peace Process, The party supports a 'No First Strike' policy, allowing people to see the perceived failure of the peace process for themselves without taking military actions. As of 11 October 2009, the INLA has ordered an end to the armed struggle, because unlike during the Troubles, the current political stance in Ulster allows the IRSP to contest fairly in new campaigns and local elections, as mentioned in their 2009 statement. INLA admitted to "faults and grievous errors" in their prosecution of the armed struggle, stating that "innocent people were killed and injured" and offering "as revolutionaries" a "sincere and heartfelt apology". European Union The IRSP supported Brexit and supports the Republic of Ireland leaving the European Union. NATO and Russia During the Russo-Ukrainian War, the IRSP publicly declared their support for the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic. It blamed NATO rather than Russia for the conflict and claimed Ukraine was ruled by a "fascist" government. On 25 February 2022, one day after Russia invaded Ukraine, the party re-affirmed its support for the Republics in a social media post in which they called Ukraine a "Nazi regime" and a "NATO puppet". It included a picture of IRSP members posing in front of Free Derry Corner with a Soviet flag and the flag of the Donetsk