Essay Examining the Irish Republican Army

Why the British Troops Were Sent into Northern Ireland in 1969 In 1969 British Troops were sent into Ireland because Irish police could no longer cope with the violence between the Unionist Protestant population and the Catholic Nationist population. The events that meant it was necessary for British troops to be sent in stretch back a long way. This essay presents the main long term and short term explanations as to why troops were needed.

The Irish people left Ireland and immigrated to America to enjoy a better life, get away from the poverty and starvation that they were faced with in Ireland due to the potato famine. They face all kinds of discrimination and were forced to take the worst types of jobs, but they never gave up and kept fighting for their freedom. The Irish were brave, courageous, and hardworking and made it possible for all Irish to live happy and free lives in America.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was formed in 1969. The Official IRA declared a cease-fire in the summer of 1972, and subsequently the term IRA began being used for the organization that developed from the 'Provisional' IRA. Organized into small, tightly knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council the IRA has remained largely unchanged. It is difficult to know the exact number of IRA members because of the political and economic persecution that comes with publicly endorsing the IRA. It is estimated that there are several hundred members, plus several thousand sympathizers, but the IRA's strength may have been affected by operatives leaving the organization to join hard-line splinter groups.

The IRA split into two groups; The official IRA who wanted to achieve a United Ireland, and the Provisional IRA who thought of the British Army as an army of occupation and believed violence was the answer and would achieve their goal. The Provisional IRA shot Gunner Curtis. He was the first British soldier to be killed in the Northern Ireland.

At the start of the Civil War, many Irish immigrants traveled to America to seek a new life or escape their old ones in a poverty-stricken Ireland. One of the most well-known and fiercest brigades made up of Irish immigrants during the Civil War was the Irish Brigade. Consisting of the 69th, 88th, 63rd New York, 116th Pennsylvania, and 28th Massachusetts Regiments, the brigade was so fierce and strong willed, that they led the charge in many battles, suffering high amounts of casualties in every battle.

After the first world war the leaders of europe came together to discuss the boundaries of europe. British rule decided to separate ireland into two sides. North Ireland was created when the british government of Ireland Act in 1920 divided Ireland into two areas; the Irish Free State and the Northern Ireland Roman Catholics, who made up around one-third of the population of Northern Ireland, were largely opposed to the separation. The British took over , but only after many revolts and riots against them from the people of ireland. In 1969 the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was formed. They were a Catholic Irish nationalist group that used guerrilla tactics like bombings and assassinations to oppose British rule and oppression in Ireland. Their main goal was to fight the british that took over their home. The IRA would Fight using guerilla and terrorist tactics including bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, punishment beatings, extortion, smuggling, and robberies. But over time the IRA became more of a dangerous militia then patriots defending their home.

The Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) is a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that uses sabotage, subversion, and guerilla warfare to express its opposition to the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. This agreement basically recognized that the majority of the people within Northern Ireland wished to remain a part of the United Kingdom. It also recognized that a large section of the people of Northern Ireland, and the majority of the people of the continent of Ireland wanted a united Ireland. For the most part, the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to the struggle between unionists and nationalists during the “Troubles” (an unconventional war spanning from 1968-1998 in Northern Ireland between British security forces, republican and loyalist paramilitaries, and civil rights groups). To understand how the RIRA came to be, you have to know a little about the history of the IRA. Specifically, on how the members regarded violence as a means to a unified Ireland without British involvement. “In December 1969, the IRA divided into “Official” and “Provisional” wings. Both factions were committed to a united Irish republic, but the Officials eschewed violence after 1972, whereas the Provisionals, or “Provos,” carried out various attacks and assassinations, attempting to compel the British Army to withdraw from Northern Ireland. In the wake of the Bloody Sunday shootings by the British military in January 1972, the Provos’ ranks

The Irish were promised the Home Rule Act, but it was taken away at the start of the Ester Uprising. “This modest promise was swept away the Easter Uprising of 1916, when a small band of rebels paralyzed the city and the Irish Republic was proclaimed from the steps of the GPO” (Hegarty). Padhraic Pearse led about 2000 people into the Easter Revolution, only a small fraction of the people that had lived in Dublin at the time. Most of the Irish were involved in World War I. “They had little support – many Irish volunteers had joined the war effort and the rebels were perceived to be traitors to the great cause” (Hegarty). It would take more violence and rebellion against the British to bring attention to their cause both locally and abroad.

The start of the Irish’ peoples struggles began when the British came and destroyed their way of life. The Penal laws of 1691 stripped Irish Catholics of their freedoms by taking away their rights to become officers

The conflict in Northern Ireland has persisted because of religious affiliations, their identities and the struggle for overall power. The morals and identities of the people and organizations of Northern Ireland

The war between the republicans and the unionists in Dublin, Ireland gets pretty serious when you read the story (based on an autobiography), "The Sniper" written by Liam O'Flaherty. The republicans want Ireland to stay as a part of the United Kingdom while the unionists want Ireland to be its own country. Because of this war, many people die because of snipers in the army. In my opinion, the sniper can be considered and is a hero. It is because of the reasons he is fighting for, he kills an old lady and his brother,

The alleged origin of the Irish Republican Army could be traced back to the Easter Rising of 1916 (Alonso, 2001; Arena & Arrigo, 2004; Filardo-Llamas, 2013; Hart, 1997; Page & Smith, 2000). Radical nationalists, who were part of a group called the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), took the opportunity to take up arms against the British during the war in Europe (Filardo-Llamas, 2013). The Irish Republican Brotherhood was the precursor of the modern IRA. They were a secret society who was

The precursor to the IRA was a group called the Irish Volunteers who later transformed in the IRA around 1919. The goal from the start was to create the Independent Republic that was not controlled by Britain. The Sinn Fein was the government wing of the terrorist group, who shared the same exact goal but from a diplomatic standpoint. Not everyone who was a part of the IRA was also a part of the Sinn Fein and vice versa but the membership tended to overlap during the IRA’s inception period. The IRA first used terrorism during the war of Irish independence from 1919-1921 against Britain. At the end of the war, Britain had let go of 26 counties and this resulted in a new free Ireland. However, 6 counties remained under Britains control. The 6 six counties that remained were together named Northern Ireland and to this day, Northern Ireland is still a part of the United Kingdom. The first split of the IRA happened during this time between those who accepted 26 counties being set free (loyalist) and those who were upset that 6 remained under Britain control. Those who were not in favor of 6 counties apart of the United Kingdom were named the Irregulars. A civil war occurred between the irregulars and the new Irish government and the irregulars had lost. This did not stop them from recruiting and training, in hopes that their dream of a unified Ireland. The new Irish government made the organization illegal due to its continued

The Irish Republican Army Ideology The Irish Republican Army ideology is still living in Northern Ireland, nearly a century after the organization’s establishment. Although the IRA has since disbanded, the spirit is kept alive by a number of splinter factions, including the Provisional, Continuity, and Real IRAs. Not many terrorist organizations can maintain a campaign this extensive in time. The long history of the IRA campaign of terror leads to many political, social, religious, educational and economic effects.

Having established the motives for the Diaspora aiding the nationalist, now it needs to be analyzed what the diaspora actually did to aid the nationalist movement. The aid can be broken down into three categories, financial, political and physical aid. The first and the biggest being financial aid and this type of aid was collected by members of the Irish Diaspora in the US then given to various different nationalist groups. Seldom was the money given to violent groups like the IRA but instead was given to other groups and in turn led to the purchasing of arms or goods and stuff like that which the IRA could use. One of the major organizations that did this was Noraid or Irish Northern Aid. The true purpose of Noraid dealt with arms smuggling and fund raising and thus were closely aligned and allied with the IRA(Brian Hanley 2004:1). The support for Noraid in terms of funding can be tracked in the same exact way that the general diasporatic support can be tracked. The hunger strikes of 1980-81, in which IRA prisoners staged a hunger strike to protest conditions in their prison in which a few of them died, was monumental in the history of Noraid because it led to not only an increase of donation which in turn were given to IRA and groups like it but it also changed the image of Noraid in the US. It led to an increase in membership and made the organization less radical which meant that it year by year would have generally more memberships and