The Provisional IRA: From Insurrection to Parliament

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A major concern for the establishment will be to contain the disaffected, that disturbingly large number of people who voted for Sinn Fein and/or left-wing candidates. While coercion is an option, it is not the first choice. The more sophisticated strategy of shaping the opposition is favoured. It worked in Britain and no doubt it will be tried here. There is a free-market created housing emergency, the tip of which is marked by tens of thousands of homeless people. This, the most visible aspect of the crisis, tends to obscure the still greater numbers living precariously in rented accommodation. The need for decisive action to instigate a large-scale programme of public housing is painfully obvious. Yet despite experience of the value of this measure in the past, the coalition parties refuse to act. Adding insult to injury, the Fine Gael leader is now lamenting the withdrawal of some private landlords from the rental market claiming this reduces the number of properties available for those in need.

In the wider sense, this all raises the question as to whether Sinn Fein poses a threat to the existing economic and power system or whether it merely challenges the current parliamentary hegemony of the two main coalition parties. Hence the relentless pressure from different quarters to try and ensure that the party mellows into the type of conformity long practised by the Labour Party. Of course if discussion of the period cannot be avoided, then endeavour to undermine the idealism, introduce the unpleasant, and imply that there is still worse to be uncovered. For example, Kevin Barry was willing to “kill and to die,” ran the tendentious headline in a recent Irish Independent article. Other sources spin the tale that civilians died in crossfire, women were sometimes abused, and caring fathers were among police casualties.

Whether the ruling class here and in Britain are familiar with the thinking of the late Seán Murray is doubtful, but we can be sure that on this one point they at least share his analysis. Mícheál Martin may fluster and prevaricate while the DUP growl and fulminate about reunification, but there’s little doubt that the permanent government or the deep state is making pragmatic calculations. They are aware that constitutional change is inevitable, and are determined to shape the resulting governing institutions and economic system. The series of articles began with a comment article from the editor of the Evening Standard, the former Tory party chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne. And, notwithstanding the bitter Ulster unionist description of him as yesterday’s man, Osborne not only reflects the received wisdom of high-level opinion-formers in London but also commands the attention of many influential Conservative Party movers and shakers. He immediately joined the blanket protest after being transferred from Crumlin Road prison, where he had been on remand. Covid-19 has not been all bad news for those who govern Ireland’s 26-county state. Apart from giving Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin continuing opportunities to pose solemnly in front of the television cameras, it has allowed the Irish establishment to quietly ignore seminal events of a century ago.

However, he believes that the hunger strike "demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that the republican cause was widely supported among the republican nationalist community in the north".It hardly needs a learned political scientist to explain the reasoning behind the latest Fine Gael assessment. The chaotic and very public infighting within the DUP has revealed not just the perilous state of that party but also the terminally damaged condition of Irish unionism in general, details of which we have covered several times in this paper over the past months. He spent 53 days on hunger strike, from 27 October to 18 December and, according to a doctor had only a few hours left to live when the strike was called off. [13] Split from Provisional IRA Inspired, perhaps, by the rousing endorsement received by Jeffrey Donaldson, the new leader of the DUP, at the 2019 Fine Gael ard-fheis when he proposed that “Éire” rejoin the Commonwealth, Varadkar suggested that his party establish a branch in the Six Counties, saying: “Not with a view to contesting elections but with a view to recruiting members and building networks with like-minded people, including those in other parties.”

Zanny Minton Beddoes, “Rivalry between America and China will shape the post-covid world,” Economist (London), 14 November 2021. The blame lies with the Irish elite; the landlords both corporate and local, the employers who pay slave wages and those who govern over this state of affairs. People are right to be angry but must make sure to hit the right target i.e. the 1% who run and control our lives. The solution is to change the system that ’ s at fault, not to blame those who are not responsible. While the right-wing ruling class must carry full responsibility for creating the hardship now impacting working-class communities, it is nevertheless necessary to assess the role of the fascist far-right. It is important not to dismiss them as mere bit-players. Because, while the powerful may publicly condemn their violence, they will often privately condone and quietly support it. They do so for the crude reason that they see the fascists playing a useful role in fracturing working class unity. Like the RUC, the UDR paid a heavy, heavy price in deaths, injuries, and stress. I believe that when criticising the RUC and/or UDR, it is important to accept that this toll was exacted from these organisations. The reality of course will be different because triangulation comes at a price. Even with a comfortable lead in opinion polls, there is no realistic possibility of Sinn Fein winning an overall majority and will therefore be dependent on the support of others to form a government. Just as a convoy travels at the speed of the slowest ship, a coalition depends for sustainability on the approval of the most recalcitrant participant. Introducing any radical measure would risk bringing down the coalition and with it a mauling from disgruntled middle-class voters believing they have been conned.

I do think that the UDR having such a preponderance of former B Specials could only lead to one thing: a violent response. Not that every B Special was a Catholic hating bigot on a personal level - but the structural positioning of the institution meant one outcome.

And also with a view to the future, because ultimately no-one can support a criminal enterprise - whereas a patriotic battle for democracy and liberation is something that people will (support)." L ast month, Kathy Sheridan writing for the Irish Times, opined about the dilemma faced by Ireland’s middle class as they agonise over whether or not to vote for Sinn Fein. The problem, it would appear, relates to the fact that while the party is promoting progressive policies, it simultaneously glorifies what the writer describes as ‘killers’. Kathy detailed the case of a well-educated young man who has publicly declared his intention to join Mary Lou’s organisation notwithstanding the fact that Sinn Fein is unapologetically commemorating those who died on hunger strike. How serious is the far-right threat in Ireland today? The question is being widely discussed due to a series of high-profile protests. At first these were outside asylum seekers’ accommodation and more recently targeting Sinn Fein TDs. Prominent members of fascist organisations have taken part in these demonstrations. It is not yet clear, however, whether they have organised all the events or joined in opportunistically. Whichever is the case, it is a disturbing development that demands a response. There is nothing new in this tactic. Every progressive development in human history has been vilified by a reactionary ruling class … from Spartacus, to the Jacobins and the Bolsheviks to name but a few. Recognising what is at stake, several high-powered commentators, here and abroad, are advocating a Keynesian approach to deal with the anticipated recession. In reality, they recognise the threat a second more intensive round of austerity would pose for capitalism. However, this would be a difficult option for a Dublin government that doesn’t control its own currency and adheres slavishly to EU regulations preventing state intervention.

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A simplistic agenda merely calling for a united Ireland risks just such a disastrous outcome. To counter the likelihood of this 21st-century carnival of reaction, the left has to be explicit about the type of united Ireland we want. It is vital, therefore, to campaign not only for an end to partition but for the establishment of an all-Ireland workers’ republic. However superficially attractive the view may be, it fails to provide a concrete analysis of the past and therefore cannot offer a telling insight into the present.