Irish Republican Army Research Paper
For well over a century, there has been political turmoil throughout the Irish isle stemming from the British occupation of Northern Ireland. With this occupation goes a tradition of armed resistance to the British military and other political installations. This tradition generally only found effective expression when large sections of the Irish people, faced with the British government's denial of the legitimate demand for Irish independence, exercised the right to use armed struggle (Coogan 10). The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was formed after the Easter Rising of 1916, which was the first major uprising in Irish history. Their goal was to remove the British from the Irish isle and unite Ireland once and for all under home rule. Although many may consider the IRA to be nothing more than a terrorist faction that has had no political strength and puts its own best interests first, it is clear that their actions have influenced Irish and British politics and that, even through violence, they keep the best interests of their people at heart. To this day, however, the British maintain that their influence is needed in the north and have yet to show any signs of
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leaving.
In order to understand the depth of this issue today, one must first understand how this problem started. In January 1919 Sinn Féin, the political party of the IRA, had established an independent Irish parliament - Dáil Eireann - and declared the sovereignty of Ireland as a Republic (Coogan 4). They formed independent institutions including a functioning central government, ministerial departments and republican courts of law. The Irish Volunteers became the Army of the Republic, under the Ministry of Defense and pledged its allegiance to Dáil Eireann (English 23). The response from the British government was to ban all these institutions and declare war on the new Irish democracy. This period saw international revulsion at the campaign waged by British crown forces in Ireland. Three mayors of Irish cities, all members of the IRA, were killed by the British; martial law was declared through nearly half of the country; streets, shops and factories in many towns were burnt to the ground; there were executions in prisons and torture in internment camps. It became obvious for the members of the IRA that the use of force was needed in order to free themselves from the British. So, in response to the British offense, the IRA waged an increasingly effective guerrilla campaign against the crack troops of the British. On the basis of agreement by the British government to negotiate with Irish leaders - and with no question of a surrender of arms - the IRA called a Truce in July 1921. Subsequent negotiations produced a Treaty which split nationalist Ireland; a treaty that has caused controversy ever since.
This, however, was a small victory for the Irish because it is important to take note of is the fact that not all citizens of Ireland shared the ideological views of the IRA. This is split was manifested in the 1922 split of the IRA and the civil war that followed. The Irish Republican Army held out for the complete independence of Ireland from Britain and for a United Ireland while their former comrades who formed the army of the new Free State (26 Counties) opposed them in a savage campaign which witnessed all the tragedy common to every civil war (English 40). In May 1923 the Civil War ended when the IRA ordered its volunteers to dump arms. Throughout the 1920s the IRA reorganized and once again attracted a wide following. The organization played a key role in the election of the first government of the Fianna Fáil party - which had emerged from the IRA - under Eamon de Valera in 1932 (Coogan 60).
With all the framework of the issue set, it is now imperative to recognize exactly what it means to be a full-time member of the IRA. Full-time membership in the IRA offers few obvious rewards. Most members never sleep more than two nights in a row in the same place and they speak only Gaelic, part of their commitment to Irish language and culture. They collect no salary from the IRA but receive about $ 75 a week in unemployment benefits (Phillips 1). As an organization, however, the IRA is fairly strong financially. Police estimate that it raises about roughly $ 11.5 million a year from such diverse sources as gaming machines, drinking clubs, taxi companies and pirate video operations in West Belfast (Philips 1). Police say that the IRA also runs protection rackets and owns legitimate businesses. Such dedication to their cause, a dedication of their entire life, shows that they are willing to sacrifice a normal family life and financial security in order to do strengthen the push for complete Irish independence. However, the IRA did have some problems of its own to deal with.
Throughout the 1930s the IRA sought a successful political and military strategy but this evaded the organization as left/right divides in the ranks manifested themselves in splits and dissension.
Among the Chiefs of Staff of the IRA in the 1930s was Sean MacBride, later a distinguished international human rights lawyer and winner of the Nobel and Lenin Peace Prizes. In 1939 the IRA began a bombing campaign in English cities. This was effectively over by 1941, with relatively few attacks having occurred. Again, this campaign was unsuccessful because the organization itself was beginning to divide; some started to feel that the organization's policy was too radical. With internment without trial introduced in both the north and south in Ireland, IRA effectiveness was at low during this
period.
Moving forward in time, the early 1950s saw an anti-partition campaign conducted by Irish governments and supported by all parties in parliament. Its ineffectiveness in the face of the British government's indifference contributed to the renewal of the IRA. It becomes most evident to a greater number of Irish people in the 1950s that the IRA is needed because of its ability and willingness to take action against the British. In the early to mid 50s raids for arms were carried out by the IRA on British installations in the Six Counties (Northern Ireland) and Britain. This was in preparation for an armed campaign which was conducted between 1956 and 1962. Mainly confined to border areas, the campaign saw attacks on border posts and other British military installations (Messina 1). After the border campaign ended, the leadership of the IRA decided that support should be given to campaigns to highlight the status of second-class citizenship for nationalists in the Six Counties. This was a significant change in the politics of the IRA, which before had not given much consideration to the Irish in the north. Such actions by the IRA show that they are not a self-centered group and truly want what is best for the Irish nation as a whole. Their demand for basic rights - to jobs, housing, voting - threw the Six-County state into a crisis. The peaceful demand for civil rights was met with violence from the forces of Great Britain. The demand for defense made by nationalist communities could not be met initially by the IRA because, through the 1960s, the leadership had abandoned planning and preparation for a future armed campaign. Although it was still an effective political tool, the IRA as a military organization had been run down. The IRA simply hoped that the conflict would eventually resolve itself.
However, the conflict in the Six Counties only intensified. In England the IRA carried out a bombing campaign. Another truce was called in 1974/'75 but once more there was no political will on the British part to reach a just political settlement. The fact that the British were willing to negotiate with Ireland due to the actions of the IRA again shows that they did have political influence. Unfortunately, the group was not powerful to have any lasting impact in Anglo-Irish politics at this time because they were still too small of a faction relative to the Irish population as a whole. In fact the most determined and consistent policy of successive British governments in the 1970s was counter-insurgency. Techniques perfected in other colonial wars were used in Ireland, including the deployment of 'counter-gangs', which were state-sponsored deaths squads. The entire state apparatus in the North of Ireland - the British army, the RUC, the legal system, the prisons, became, in the words of Tim Pat Coogan "weapons in the government's arsenal" (84). Despite the British military saturation of urban areas and widespread deployment in the countryside, the IRA continued to wage their campaign, making some parts of the country inaccessible by road to British forces. In August 1979 the IRA inflicted its greatest number of casualties on the British Army in a single incident since the 1919-21 period when it ambushed and killed 18 British soldiers at Warrenpoint, County Down (Coogan 59). Such actions as the ones described above taken by the British show that are more interested in preserving their occupation of Northern Ireland in order to benefit themselves rather than the people of Northern Ireland.
In the 1980s Britain's counter-insurgency war manifested itself in attempts to break the IRA through the political prisoners. Having effectively recognized IRA members as prisoners of war up to 1976 the British introduced a criminalization policy in that year. Torture in interrogations centers was the first stage on a 'conveyor belt' which passed through one-judge, no-jury courts, to long sentences and brutality within the prisons (Messina 1). It is here that we see the extent to which the colonizer is willing to do anything to preserve their influence; it is also clear here that the "colonized" Irish are no different in this way than the colonized Caribbean or Africa. However, the difference here lies in the fact that the IRA volunteers refused to succumb to this strategy, which culminated in the deaths of ten republicans on hunger-strike in 1981. This led to its failure and to a resurgence of support for republicanism. Although the British may seem like the typical oppressing colonial power, they did at times try to reach a common ground with Ireland. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s confidential contacts were maintained between British government representatives and the IRA (Coogan 32). However, these channels proved unproductive because basically neither side was sure how to end the conflict. Neither of the sides was willing to concede a great deal so therefore an agreement remained impossible. Through these negotiations, however, both the IRA and the British Army publicly admitted that military victory for either side was not possible. The cessation of military operations announced in August 1994 by the IRA was a result, not of any understanding with its enemy, but of the Irish Peace Initiative which was initiated by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume and supported by the Irish government (Messina 2). Once more an opportunity was created for the British government to recognize the democratic wishes of the Irish people. This was an opportunity that they have yet to take advantage of and still today try and maintain their influence in Northern Ireland through a variety of measures.
The British government has successfully enlisted the help in the US of Irish University lecturers, Irish civil servants, Irish politicians like John Hume and Seamus Mallon, and most regrettably, Irish Catholic Bishops, priests, and nuns to do their propaganda work for them (Coogan 65). The main thrust of this propaganda is to blame Irish Republicans for the conflict in Ireland and to portray the conflict as one which can be resolved only by a process of reconciliation. This policy has always been used by the British to maintain their foothold in Ireland. It makes their presence in Ireland more acceptable to politicians and churchmen abroad. However, it is a policy that is destined for failure.
As the facts about the British occupation of Ireland become known through different publications, people are beginning to see the real truth, and they are beginning to ask questions about the true intentions of the British. These publications produce clear evidence or a ruthless British policy aimed at undermining the Irish people's struggle for justice and freedom. A publication that I came across that greatly supports the idea that the British were in fact using insiders to tarnish the way the Irish cause was viewed by the rest of the world focuses on the case of Albert Walker Baker. Baker was a member of the notorious British Army SAS regiment that was responsible for the murders of hundreds of civilians in Ireland. He was planted by the British in a loyalist part of Northern Ireland around 1971 and posed as a deserter from the British Army. After he was caught, he confessed that during an 18-month period from 1972-73 he led a gang which killed 21 Catholics. This was officially sanctioned by the British government to create the impression that what is happening in Ireland is really a sectarian conflict, and in order to provoke further sectarianism (Maclean's, vol. 103). The British could only deny such allegations and claimed Baker really was a deserter of the British Army, which they did via an article in the newspaper Economist.
As we fast forward to the present, the issue discussed above is still very much an issue today. Even though members of both sides have come to realize that the use of violence will not help solve any of their problems, no progress can be made until Britain sees the "Irish problem" as something worthy of their attention. With instances of violence becoming more and more a thing of the past, the two sides now must now rely on negotiations and a general understanding of the goals of the opposing party in order to proceed to a peaceful existence between Great Britain and Ireland. The actions of the IRA from its formation to the present time show that it is not a self-centered group but one that acts in the best interest of the Irish nation. Also, even though they have yet to succeed in ridding the Irish isle of British presence, the IRA has made it known through its actions and policies that they will not sit back and let this injustice continue.
While the IRA continues to work day in and day out on this issue, the question of whether or not England should occupy Northern Ireland is one that will plague the world for years to come. Each of the two sides in this conflict have their own reasons as to why they are they are right. However, there is no simple solution to this problem and neither side can fix this problem this problem on their own. The IRA tried to do just this and achieved only limited and temporary success. Rather, it will take a cooperative effort on the parts of both Britain and Ireland in order to put to rest this issue that has festered in the souls of each one for over a century.
leaving.
In order to understand the depth of this issue today, one must first understand how this problem started. In January 1919 Sinn Féin, the political party of the IRA, had established an independent Irish parliament - Dáil Eireann - and declared the sovereignty of Ireland as a Republic (Coogan 4). They formed independent institutions including a functioning central government, ministerial departments and republican courts of law. The Irish Volunteers became the Army of the Republic, under the Ministry of Defense and pledged its allegiance to Dáil Eireann (English 23). The response from the British government was to ban all these institutions and declare war on the new Irish democracy. This period saw international revulsion at the campaign waged by British crown forces in Ireland. Three mayors of Irish cities, all members of the IRA, were killed by the British; martial law was declared through nearly half of the country; streets, shops and factories in many towns were burnt to the ground; there were executions in prisons and torture in internment camps. It became obvious for the members of the IRA that the use of force was needed in order to free themselves from the British. So, in response to the British offense, the IRA waged an increasingly effective guerrilla campaign against the crack troops of the British. On the basis of agreement by the British government to negotiate with Irish leaders - and with no question of a surrender of arms - the IRA called a Truce in July 1921. Subsequent negotiations produced a Treaty which split nationalist Ireland; a treaty that has caused controversy ever since.
This, however, was a small victory for the Irish because it is important to take note of is the fact that not all citizens of Ireland shared the ideological views of the IRA. This is split was manifested in the 1922 split of the IRA and the civil war that followed. The Irish Republican Army held out for the complete independence of Ireland from Britain and for a United Ireland while their former comrades who formed the army of the new Free State (26 Counties) opposed them in a savage campaign which witnessed all the tragedy common to every civil war (English 40). In May 1923 the Civil War ended when the IRA ordered its volunteers to dump arms. Throughout the 1920s the IRA reorganized and once again attracted a wide following. The organization played a key role in the election of the first government of the Fianna Fáil party - which had emerged from the IRA - under Eamon de Valera in 1932 (Coogan 60).
With all the framework of the issue set, it is now imperative to recognize exactly what it means to be a full-time member of the IRA. Full-time membership in the IRA offers few obvious rewards. Most members never sleep more than two nights in a row in the same place and they speak only Gaelic, part of their commitment to Irish language and culture. They collect no salary from the IRA but receive about $ 75 a week in unemployment benefits (Phillips 1). As an organization, however, the IRA is fairly strong financially. Police estimate that it raises about roughly $ 11.5 million a year from such diverse sources as gaming machines, drinking clubs, taxi companies and pirate video operations in West Belfast (Philips 1). Police say that the IRA also runs protection rackets and owns legitimate businesses. Such dedication to their cause, a dedication of their entire life, shows that they are willing to sacrifice a normal family life and financial security in order to do strengthen the push for complete Irish independence. However, the IRA did have some problems of its own to deal with.
Throughout the 1930s the IRA sought a successful political and military strategy but this evaded the organization as left/right divides in the ranks manifested themselves in splits and dissension.
Among the Chiefs of Staff of the IRA in the 1930s was Sean MacBride, later a distinguished international human rights lawyer and winner of the Nobel and Lenin Peace Prizes. In 1939 the IRA began a bombing campaign in English cities. This was effectively over by 1941, with relatively few attacks having occurred. Again, this campaign was unsuccessful because the organization itself was beginning to divide; some started to feel that the organization's policy was too radical. With internment without trial introduced in both the north and south in Ireland, IRA effectiveness was at low during this
period.
Moving forward in time, the early 1950s saw an anti-partition campaign conducted by Irish governments and supported by all parties in parliament. Its ineffectiveness in the face of the British government's indifference contributed to the renewal of the IRA. It becomes most evident to a greater number of Irish people in the 1950s that the IRA is needed because of its ability and willingness to take action against the British. In the early to mid 50s raids for arms were carried out by the IRA on British installations in the Six Counties (Northern Ireland) and Britain. This was in preparation for an armed campaign which was conducted between 1956 and 1962. Mainly confined to border areas, the campaign saw attacks on border posts and other British military installations (Messina 1). After the border campaign ended, the leadership of the IRA decided that support should be given to campaigns to highlight the status of second-class citizenship for nationalists in the Six Counties. This was a significant change in the politics of the IRA, which before had not given much consideration to the Irish in the north. Such actions by the IRA show that they are not a self-centered group and truly want what is best for the Irish nation as a whole. Their demand for basic rights - to jobs, housing, voting - threw the Six-County state into a crisis. The peaceful demand for civil rights was met with violence from the forces of Great Britain. The demand for defense made by nationalist communities could not be met initially by the IRA because, through the 1960s, the leadership had abandoned planning and preparation for a future armed campaign. Although it was still an effective political tool, the IRA as a military organization had been run down. The IRA simply hoped that the conflict would eventually resolve itself.
However, the conflict in the Six Counties only intensified. In England the IRA carried out a bombing campaign. Another truce was called in 1974/'75 but once more there was no political will on the British part to reach a just political settlement. The fact that the British were willing to negotiate with Ireland due to the actions of the IRA again shows that they did have political influence. Unfortunately, the group was not powerful to have any lasting impact in Anglo-Irish politics at this time because they were still too small of a faction relative to the Irish population as a whole. In fact the most determined and consistent policy of successive British governments in the 1970s was counter-insurgency. Techniques perfected in other colonial wars were used in Ireland, including the deployment of 'counter-gangs', which were state-sponsored deaths squads. The entire state apparatus in the North of Ireland - the British army, the RUC, the legal system, the prisons, became, in the words of Tim Pat Coogan "weapons in the government's arsenal" (84). Despite the British military saturation of urban areas and widespread deployment in the countryside, the IRA continued to wage their campaign, making some parts of the country inaccessible by road to British forces. In August 1979 the IRA inflicted its greatest number of casualties on the British Army in a single incident since the 1919-21 period when it ambushed and killed 18 British soldiers at Warrenpoint, County Down (Coogan 59). Such actions as the ones described above taken by the British show that are more interested in preserving their occupation of Northern Ireland in order to benefit themselves rather than the people of Northern Ireland.
In the 1980s Britain's counter-insurgency war manifested itself in attempts to break the IRA through the political prisoners. Having effectively recognized IRA members as prisoners of war up to 1976 the British introduced a criminalization policy in that year. Torture in interrogations centers was the first stage on a 'conveyor belt' which passed through one-judge, no-jury courts, to long sentences and brutality within the prisons (Messina 1). It is here that we see the extent to which the colonizer is willing to do anything to preserve their influence; it is also clear here that the "colonized" Irish are no different in this way than the colonized Caribbean or Africa. However, the difference here lies in the fact that the IRA volunteers refused to succumb to this strategy, which culminated in the deaths of ten republicans on hunger-strike in 1981. This led to its failure and to a resurgence of support for republicanism. Although the British may seem like the typical oppressing colonial power, they did at times try to reach a common ground with Ireland. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s confidential contacts were maintained between British government representatives and the IRA (Coogan 32). However, these channels proved unproductive because basically neither side was sure how to end the conflict. Neither of the sides was willing to concede a great deal so therefore an agreement remained impossible. Through these negotiations, however, both the IRA and the British Army publicly admitted that military victory for either side was not possible. The cessation of military operations announced in August 1994 by the IRA was a result, not of any understanding with its enemy, but of the Irish Peace Initiative which was initiated by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and SDLP leader John Hume and supported by the Irish government (Messina 2). Once more an opportunity was created for the British government to recognize the democratic wishes of the Irish people. This was an opportunity that they have yet to take advantage of and still today try and maintain their influence in Northern Ireland through a variety of measures.
The British government has successfully enlisted the help in the US of Irish University lecturers, Irish civil servants, Irish politicians like John Hume and Seamus Mallon, and most regrettably, Irish Catholic Bishops, priests, and nuns to do their propaganda work for them (Coogan 65). The main thrust of this propaganda is to blame Irish Republicans for the conflict in Ireland and to portray the conflict as one which can be resolved only by a process of reconciliation. This policy has always been used by the British to maintain their foothold in Ireland. It makes their presence in Ireland more acceptable to politicians and churchmen abroad. However, it is a policy that is destined for failure.
As the facts about the British occupation of Ireland become known through different publications, people are beginning to see the real truth, and they are beginning to ask questions about the true intentions of the British. These publications produce clear evidence or a ruthless British policy aimed at undermining the Irish people's struggle for justice and freedom. A publication that I came across that greatly supports the idea that the British were in fact using insiders to tarnish the way the Irish cause was viewed by the rest of the world focuses on the case of Albert Walker Baker. Baker was a member of the notorious British Army SAS regiment that was responsible for the murders of hundreds of civilians in Ireland. He was planted by the British in a loyalist part of Northern Ireland around 1971 and posed as a deserter from the British Army. After he was caught, he confessed that during an 18-month period from 1972-73 he led a gang which killed 21 Catholics. This was officially sanctioned by the British government to create the impression that what is happening in Ireland is really a sectarian conflict, and in order to provoke further sectarianism (Maclean's, vol. 103). The British could only deny such allegations and claimed Baker really was a deserter of the British Army, which they did via an article in the newspaper Economist.
As we fast forward to the present, the issue discussed above is still very much an issue today. Even though members of both sides have come to realize that the use of violence will not help solve any of their problems, no progress can be made until Britain sees the "Irish problem" as something worthy of their attention. With instances of violence becoming more and more a thing of the past, the two sides now must now rely on negotiations and a general understanding of the goals of the opposing party in order to proceed to a peaceful existence between Great Britain and Ireland. The actions of the IRA from its formation to the present time show that it is not a self-centered group but one that acts in the best interest of the Irish nation. Also, even though they have yet to succeed in ridding the Irish isle of British presence, the IRA has made it known through its actions and policies that they will not sit back and let this injustice continue.
While the IRA continues to work day in and day out on this issue, the question of whether or not England should occupy Northern Ireland is one that will plague the world for years to come. Each of the two sides in this conflict have their own reasons as to why they are they are right. However, there is no simple solution to this problem and neither side can fix this problem this problem on their own. The IRA tried to do just this and achieved only limited and temporary success. Rather, it will take a cooperative effort on the parts of both Britain and Ireland in order to put to rest this issue that has festered in the souls of each one for over a century.