 After the decline of Clan na Gael, and the outbreak of the Northern Troubles, he was sympathetic to NORAID.He sided with Republican Sinn Féin after its 1986 split from Provisional Sinn Féin, and in 1987 he co-founded the National Irish Freedom Committee (NIFC; ) for its American supporters.Most younger and American-born Irish republicans remained with NORAID and Provisional Sinn Féin.