Q. What happened last night?

A. The historic announcement by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) last night means that the huge stumbling block to the peace process in Northern Ireland of the decommissioning of illegal weapons, now appears to be over.

Q. OK, but to be honest I dont really understand whats going on in Northern Ireland. Can you tell me briefly what its all about?

A. Hmm. OK, well the start of the present conflict originates hundreds of years ago. In Oliver Cromwell's time, which was the early 1600's, the ruling British aristocracy was having problems keeping Ireland under its control. So to try and quell rebellion, and to make the country more a part of the UK, a mass movement of British people was encouraged under a scheme called Plantations. British people were offered land in parts of Ireland (taken from the Irish people themselves), if they agreed to settle there.

The Plantations didnt work so well in Munster and other parts of the south. Many of the "planters" returned home after several years, although some stayed (and more land was given to them). In Ulster, the northern province where the land was most fertile, the Plantation worked well, and the English settlers stayed. These planters in Ulster were Protestants.

Q. That's hundreds of years ago, can you bring me more up to date?

A. Well, criminally skipping over events like the failed 1798 rebellion, the Irish famine of 1845-50, and the Land War in the 1880's, a new wave of Irish nationalism began with the "98 clubs" which sprang up in 1898, to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of 1798. These were cultural and political clubs with a decidedly nationalist/republican slant, focusing on the Irish language, dancing, sports (GAA), writing, etc. The birth of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, can be traced to these.

Q. What happened in 1916?

A. Before the 1916 "Easter Rising", there was a moderate, nationalist Irish party operating in the UK House of Commons. But a small group of republicans felt that the moderates were achieveing nothing, so during WWI, they decided to fight an armed uprising in the centre of Dublin. There were several groups involved, including the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood, a forerunner to the IRA) and the ICA (left wing Irish Citizen Army, with trade union links). A new republic was proclaimed from the General Post Office in O'Connell Street, and armed units took over strategic positions. The insurrectionists only numbered approximately a thousand.

Q. Did they get what they were fighting for?

A. No. Their rebellion was crushed by the British authorities. When the rebellion was over, the insurrectionists were shipped off to English prisons, pelted with stones and eggs by Irish people, who were angry with them for their part in destroying the capital. The leaders of the insurrection who had signed their proclamation/manifesto were executed in jail.

After the executions, the tide turned with the insurrectionists. People were angry with the British government with their treatment of the prisoners, and in 1918 after WWI was over, the prisoners were returned home to cheering crowds, welcomed as heroes.

Q. But Ireland was still under British rule.

A. Yes, and after building up armed groups all over the country (the IRA), the Irish War of Independence started in 1919 and lasted until 1921, when a settlement was reached with the British Government, which would be known as the Treaty.

Q. What was the settlement?

A. That the southern part of Ireland, the '26 counties', was to be given full independence, but a new state was to be created in 6 counties of Ulster, called Northern Ireland. This would remain under the rule of Britain.

Q. Why was Ireland split in two this way?

A. Because a large amount of the people in Ulster did not consider themselves Irish. They were British protestants, and their ancestors were the settlers from the Plantation in the mid 1600's. They did not want to be a part of an independent Ireland, they wished to remain under British rule.

Q. Ah I see. So that's when "Northern Ireland" was born. So after the Treaty was signed, what happened?

A. There was a civil war in Ireland between pro and anti Treaty forces which tore the country apart. Nothern Ireland remained as it was under the Treaty, and it became a "Protestant State for a Protestant people". For nearly 50 years, the Irish Catholic population in the 6 counties were discriminated against. There was widespread political corruption ("gerrymandering"), they were given poor housing, health facilities and education, and unemployment was rife.

Q. Was the IRA active during this time?

A. Not to the same extent it had been previously. In fact, it was dying a slow death, continually marginalised and losing volunteers.

Q. So how come it is so powerful today?

A. In 1968, a civil rights movement began in Northern Ireland, demanding equal rights for everyone, regardless of religion or ethnic background. But the ruling Protestants did not take kindly to the civil rights movement, and the police forces engaged in brutal attacks on protesters. Perhaps the single most vicious attack on the civil rights movement took place in Derry in 1972 where 13 people were shot dead by British forces. This day became known as Bloody Sunday (and there is currently an investigation going on into the events of this day, nearly 30 years later).

Born of frustration from lack of progress with the civil rights movement, and out of a genuine need to defend the Catholic communities from sectarian attacks (both from the Protestants and the British Army, who had been drafted in to maintain order), the IRA found new strength and hundreds of new volunteers who were willing to use violence to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

Q. So that was the beginning of 'The Troubles'.

A. If that's what you want to call it, yes. For 25 years the IRA fought against the RUC (Ulster Police) and the British Army with guns and bombs in Northern Ireland, but also waged a vicious campaign of bloody terrorism in NI and on the UK mainland, killing many innocent people. Hundreds of people died as a result of the conflict, including many civilians in Britain who had no knowledge, interest, or influence whatsoever in Irish affairs. The IRA's campaign was often driven by naked hatred, and their image of "freedom fighters" in certain parts of the world (notably the USA) is a false one.

Q. So what's happening now?

A. In 1994 the IRA called a ceasefire. That was the beginning of the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Other paramilitary groups in NI consequently called ceasefires, including the 'opposite numbers', the loyalist groups such as the UVF and UDA/UFF (terrorists who want to remain part of the UK).

A power sharing devolved parliament was set up in 1998 which included members of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing. They were allowed into the 'Assembly' once they signed up to certain democratic principles, one being the renouncing of violence, another being the decommissioning of illegal weapons.

But the IRA has not wanted to give up its weapons for quite some time, and without this happening, the power sharing assembly had to be suspended, and any moves towards a peaceful settlement were put on hold.

Q. So this announcement yesterday by the IRA is a historic one?

A. Yes, the IRA has announced, and this has been confirmed by independent observers, that it has begun to 'put beyond use' some of its arsenal of weapons. It is not known whether they have been destroyed or sealed up in bunkers.

So now the power sharing assembly will start up again, and Sinn Fein can participate in the running of Nothern Ireland.
This is the first time they have ever destroyed their own weapons so they can participate in a democratic forum.

Q. Are there any other armed groups in Nothern Ireland? Are they linked to other terrorist organisations around the world?

A. There are a few. They are:

INLA (Irish National Liberation Army, very small, dont know if they are active any more)
CIRA (Continuity IRA, opposed to the IRA ceasefire of 1994)
RIRA (Real IRA, also opposed to ceasefire)

And on the other side of the fence:

UDA (Ulster Defence Association, largest loyalist group)
UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force)
UFF/LVF (Ulster Freedom Fighters, Loyalist Volunteer Force, same as UDA)
Red Hand Commandos, Red Hand Defenders (cover names given by other groups)

The IRA is the largest of the lot and has reported links with ETA in the Basque Region and FARC (Marxist rebels) in Colombia. There were also reports of republicans involved with the Albanian/Kosovar KLA during the Kosovo conflict in 1999 in ex Yugoslavia. A huge amount of its weapons were given by Libya in the 1980's by Colonel Gadaffy (spelling?).

The loyalist terrorists have some tenuous links with far right groups in the UK and also with some Serbian nationalists such as Arkan's Tigers. Not exactly sure where they get their weapons from.

Q. Is there ever going to be peace in Northern Ireland?

A. Lets hope so. Its going to be extremely slow, and there are still hundreds of weapons out there, and people arent going to be willing to let go of them very quickly.

Q. What's going to happen at the end of it all? Is there going to be a united Ireland?

A. The six million dollar question... nobody knows. A lot of people dont want it. It wont happen tomorrow or any time soon, but if it does happen some time in the future, then the civil rights of protestants/loyalists must be protected by law, to ensure that they do not become a discriminated minority in a 32 country Ireland.


Just so you know, I'm non-aligned to either side, and as an anarchist of sorts I think the entire conflict in Northern Ireland is utterly pointless and meaningless, who cares what state you live under, its all the same crap at the end of the day whether you're ruled by the House of Commons or the Dail.

Christ that took all morning. Better than working though!

regards