Provisional Irish Republican Army

Utilizing Spoiling Opportunities as a Terror Strategy: The Irish Republican Army When an act of terrorism occurs, it can often seem like random, mindless violence to the victims and the bystanders. It can be surprising, therefore, to realize that terrorism is actually a very strategic decision. Terrorism can be very effective, used usually when a group is not strong enough to directly confront and force a policy change from a state actor, choosing instead to persuade their target by showing publicly the costs that they can impose for not complying. According to Kydd and Walter (2006), there are five primary strategies that are utilized when engaging in acts of terrorism, these five being attrition, intimidation, provocation, spoiling, and…

The Irish Republican Army’s Struggle The IRA or Irish Republican Army. The IRA was founded in 1917 and their main goal was to unite Northern Ireland (which belongs to the UK) with Ireland. They tried to do this through suppression, violence and, assassinations to cause fear and panic. They usually targeted British governmental figures but have also targeted agents from British intelligence agencies like MI5 (Irish Republican Army And Censorship). In 1969, the IRA split into the Official IRA…

This Week, a current affairs series aired in the 1980s, released an episode on the 28th of April, 1988, titled “Death on the rock”, edited by Robert Bolton, discussing the shootings of three IRA members in Gibraltar. The documentary goes into detail about the events leading up to the shooting, asking questions about the legality of the actions taken by the British government and the SAS. The documentary uncovers their own pieces of evidence and tries to put together a more thorough picture of…

The Pattern report came in the year 2000. It aimed to introduce not just a new badge and a new name and most importantly the recruitment of more Catholics into the force. The proposal was initially rejected by the unionists and the republicans because it was too British, but a year later the police service of Northern Ireland was formed. On the 30th of April 2014, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was arrested on charges of murder during the troubles. This brought the new police force under scrutiny…

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has existed as an organization for nearly 100 years. Particularly as terrorist groups go, that is impressive; in fact, “long-standing terrorism expert David Rapoport argues that 90 percent [of terrorist groups] last less than a year.” The case of the IRA, therefore, is significant to the discussion of how terrorism ends by, providing an essential context for a variety of reasons. This paper will specifically treat two of those reasons: 1) its centenary duration…

Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 General Background (Framework): The Irish Republican Army, or IRA, fought the English rule over Northern Ireland in the twentieth century and aimed to unite Northern Ireland with Southern Ireland to form the Republic Ireland. It stemmed from the times of William of Orange in 1690, where William’s Protestant Army defeated Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne[1]. In the years leading up to 1703, thousands of Catholics were deported and relocated to live in…

I will talk about terrorism in the United Kingdom from 1969–1998. We will focus on an Irish republican paramilitary organization that called themselves the Irish Republican Army. The IRA sought to liberate Northern Ireland from the UK and to join with the Irish republic. They carried out many bombings during a period colloquially known as the Troubles. Their prime target was members of the British Army and officers of the Irish national police force. They fought a guerrilla warfare against the…

battalions of imperial and white settler supremacy” (Empire, Judd, 1996, p. 227). In doing so, Gandhi and General Smuts was able to sign the Indian Relief Bill and gave South Africa an ally in India. Ireland’s attitude towards the British, in the nineteenth century, was not a favorable one. Ireland wanted its independence from Britain. A group of people called The Irish Republican Brotherhood declared that its main purpose was to begin a revolution to make Ireland have its own…

The Easter Rising began on Easter Monday, 24th of April 1916, and lasted for six days. The Easter Rising was an insurrection against British rule in Ireland and took place in Ireland's capital city, Dublin. The Easter Rising of 1916 is believed to be the most compelling single event in modern Irish history. The number of plays, novels and poems centred around the Easter Rising are endless. For the purpose of this essay I will discuss how the Easter Rising is represented in both Sean O' Casey's…

Malachy McCourt Sr. grew in northern Ireland where he fought for the Irish Republican Army. However, his tenure with the army came to an abrupt end due to an undisclosed crime he committed for which a bounty was placed on his head. With little options left he escaped to America. When Frank’s mother Angela met his father he had just served three months in jail for stealing a truck. Not long after, he impregnated her and ended up being coerced by her sisters into marriage. With the impending…