Ireland and the Ira

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 leaving.

In order to understand the depth of this issue today, one must first understand how this problem started. In January 1919 Sinn Fйin, the political party of the IRA, had established an independent Irish parliament - Dбil 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 Dбil 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 Fбil 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