The Provisional IRA

Tommy McKearney

Description

This book analyses the underlying reasons behind the formation of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), its development, where this current in Irish republicanism is at present and its prospects for the future.



Tommy McKearney, a former IRA member who was part of the 1980 hunger strike, challenges the misconception that the Provisional IRA was only, or even wholly, about ending partition and uniting Ireland. He argues that while these objectives were always the core and headline demands of the organisation, opposition to the old Northern Ireland state was a major dynamic for the IRA's armed campaign. As he explores the makeup and strategy of the IRA he is not uncritical, examining alternative options available to the movement at different periods, arguing that its inability to develop a clear socialist programme has limited its effectiveness and reach.



This authoritative and engaging history provides a fascinating insight into the workings and dynamics of a modern resistance movement.
Preface

Introduction: From Orange State to Sectarian State

1. Police Batons Answer Demand for Civil Rights

2. Unionist Determination to Deny Democracy

3. The Violent Storms of August ’69

4. Widespread Conflict Looms

5. An Emerging Force

6. Training People for Insurrection?

7. Attempting to Quell the Insurgency by Bloodshed and Blandishment

8. Republicanism in Ireland and its Relationship to Class

9. Political and Military Strategy of the Provisional IRA

10. The War in England

11. Britain’s Response

12. Reviewing Strategy in the Mid-1970s

13. The Gradual Adoption of Parliamentarianism

14. Options and Opportunities

15. The Road Less Travelled: The Left Alternative

16. Parliamentary Sinn Fein, Surrender and Re-grant

17. From Armalites to Populist Conformity

18. General Election Upset in South

19. The End of a journey

20. A New Republic and a Relevant Republicanism

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Political Parties
• Political Process
• Political Freedom
• Political Science
• Ireland
• Stephen Ireland

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 24 juin 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783718726
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Provisional IRA
 

Tommy McKearney in 1975 ( left ) and in 2010 ( right ) (both © the author).
 
THE PROVISIONAL IRA
From Insurrection to Parliament
Tommy McKearney
 
First published 2011 by Pluto Press
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www.plutobooks.com
Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by
Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Distributed in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland by
Gill & Macmillan Distribution, Hume Avenue, Park West, Dublin 12, Ireland.
Phone [phone]. Fax [phone]. E-Mail: [e-mail]
Copyright © Tommy McKearney 2011
The right of Tommy McKearney to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN      978 0 7453 3075 4      Hardback
ISBN      978 0 7453 3074 7      Paperback
ISBN      978 1 7837 1104 8      PDF eBook
ISBN      978 1 7837 1873 3      Kindle eBook
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This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
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Edwards Bros in the United States of America
 
For
Padraig, Sean, Kevin and John McKearney
 
Contents
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgement
Introduction: From Orange State to Sectarian State
Paul Stewart
1
Police Batons Respond to Demand for Civil Rights
2
Unionist Determination to Deny Democracy
3
The Violent Storms of August ’69
4
Widespread Conflict Looms
5
An Emerging Force
6
Training People for Insurrection?
7
Attempting to Quell the Insurgency by Bloodshed and Blandishment
8
Irish Republicanism and Class
9
The Political and Military Strategy of the Provisional IRA
10
The War in England
11
Britain’s Response
12
Reviewing Strategy in the Mid-1970s
13
The Gradual Adoption of Parliamentarianism
14
Options and Opportunities
15
The Road Less Travelled … The Left Alternative
16
Parliamentary Sinn Féin, ‘Surrender and Re-grant’
17
From Armalites to Populist Conformity
18
General Election Upset in the South
19
The End of a Journey
20
A New Republic and a Relevant Republicanism
Notes
Index
 
Figures
I.1
Parliamentary constituencies in Derry, pre-1969
I.2
The distribution of seats in wards in Derry pre-1969
1.1
The RUC attack a demonstrator in Derry on 5 November 1968 (old photograph).
3.1
British Army soldiers survey the ruins of Bombay Street in August 1969
5.1
Young man arrested by the British Army in Coalisland, County Tyrone, 1971
7.1
The British Army in Ardoyne, Belfast after the introduction of internment in 1971
8.1
IRA volunteer in Derry, 1971
10.1
John Lennon carries poster at ‘Bloody Sunday’ demo
13.1
A crowd march in support of hunger strikers, 1981
13.2
Demonstration in support of hunger strikers, 1981 (the author’s name can be seen on one of the taxis)
15.1
Covers of Congress ’86
16.1
Children in Belfast celebrate the end of the IRA campaign in 1994
 
Preface
He of whom they have never stopped saying that the only language he understands is that of force decides to give utterance by force. In fact, as always, the settler has shown him the way he should take if he is to become free. The argument the [colonized] chooses has been furnished by the settler, and by an ironic turning of the tables, it is the [colonized] who now affirms that the colonialist understands nothing but force.
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth 1
And if that is how it began in Ireland as in other colonial environments, it is not how it will easily end. The Provisional IRA was formed in late 1969 after Republican ranks split in Belfast. Differences had arisen as a result of dramatic and bloody events in August of that year when the Northern Ireland state had used widespread lethal force in an attempt to quell demands for democratic reforms. Thanks in no small part to the reactionary nature of Northern Irish Unionism, coupled with the duplicitous behaviour of the sovereign power in London, the Provisional IRA grew rapidly over the following three years to become a significant threat to the British state. Forty years after its formation, the old Orange state was definitively buried; the Provisional IRA had decommissioned its arsenal and abjured insurrection but was part of a devolved administration in Northern Ireland.* However, while the sectarian Orange state had been destroyed, a new sectarian state would evolve out of its remains.
This book analyses the underlying reasons behind the formation of the Provisional IRA, its development and where that current might now go (if anywhere). The book also demolishes a misconception that the Provisional IRA was only or even wholly about ending Partition and bringing about a united Ireland. The author argues that while ending the Union and establishing a 32-county republic was always a core and headline demand of the organisation, a major dynamic for the armed campaign was the all too pervasive presence and nature of the Orange state – a state that was not just present as an administrative entity but also as a dysfunctional society.
Although it examines the Provisional IRA in its historical context, this book is not a history of that movement nor does it attempt to disclose the organisation’s secrets or identify its personnel. We explore the makeup of the Provisional IRA and its strategy. While taking the view that circumstances and conditions made the resort to arms unavoidable and therefore justified, we are not uncritical of the tactics and strategy of the Provisional IRA. Options available to the movement at different periods in its history are also explored and the argument is made that its inability to develop a clear socialist programme and practice has rendered the movement a defender of the status quo in Southern Ireland and incapable of expanding beyond the Catholic community in Northern Ireland.
In the conclusion, the argument is made that radical, democratic Republicanism has a place in modern Ireland but for it to remain relevant, it must develop a fresh dynamic. For this to happen, Republicanism requires a renewed programme that would treat Republican principles as much more than simple anti-Partitionism and in which armed struggle is never again fetishised and given prominence over wider political, social and economic struggles. In essence, Republicans can no longer see socialist practice as an optional extra.
* NB
•
Throughout this book, the author often uses the term ‘Northern Ireland’ when referring to the six north-eastern counties of Ireland. He does so in the belief that if a majority of the Irish population has voted to endorse the existent constitutional arrangement, that the official title for the Six Counties, which he also uses, is justified.
•
It is often difficult to find agreement about definitions and titles for people in Northern Ireland. In this book, the author has decided, in most instances, to use the generic term ‘Catholic’ instead of ‘Nationalist’ or ‘Republican’ unless when denoting a precise political position. As with the term ‘Jewish’, which is often used to denote membership of a community rather than religious belief, Catholic is often used in Northern Ireland to include people (such as the author) who are atheist or agnostic. The term ‘Catholic’ in the context of this book denotes a section of the Northern Irish community and thus avoids attributing a political view such as ‘Nationalist’ or ‘Republican’ to some who do not share that outlook or position.
•
Throughout this book, the terms ‘IRA’ and ‘Provisional IRA’ are used interchangeably for the years after 1969. When referring to the Official IRA, that term is used. Since there was only one IRA prior to 1969, there is no need to draw any distinctions when referring to the period before the 1969 split.
 
Acknowledgement
Without the assistance, advice and constant encouragement of my friend and comrade Paul Stewart, this book would not have been written. He gave freely and generously of his time throughout the entire work as I wrestled with ideas, mulled over the interpretation of past events and discussed concepts. Together we unravelled, and then put order on, the compelling story of the movement from insurrection to Parliament.
Tommy McKearney
 
Introduction: From Orange State to Sectarian State
Paul Stewart

… on Vinegar Hill, the fatal conclave.
Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon
The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave.
They buried us without a shroud or coffin
And in August the barley grew up out of the grave.
(from Seamus Heaney, ‘Requiem for the Croppies’) 1
Early in 1920 Lloyd George approved the reorganisation of the UVF 2 as the Ulster Special Constabulary. Later that year the Government of Ireland Act partitioned the country and gave Six Counties of Ulster their own provincial parliament. The ‘Specials’ immediately assumed a crucial paramilitary role. So widespread was the arming of ‘loyalists’ and the swearing-in of ‘Specials’ that official reports indicate that the strength of the police from 1921 to 1926 ‘cannot be stated’. (A and B Specials were properly accounted for, but the part-time reserve of C Specials was of unknown numbers. The C men were never formally disbanded but just allowed to