Abstract
The IRA came into being in 1969 with the objective of restoring a unified Ireland. It adopted a terrorist campaign for 28 years in total contravention of Roman Catholic principles, but with the low-key support of the Roman Catholic Church. Its ceasefire in 1997 allowed Sinn Fein to sign the Belfast Agreement to participate in Northern Ireland’s political future. A coalition government was formed 3 years after the IRA decommissioning in 2004. Protestants in Northern Ireland believe the decommissioning was a fiasco and the IRA has the ambition, resources, and capability to carry on its campaign. The IRA erred by choosing terrorism as its protest platform; if it does re-start operations, it would be well advised to adopt non-violence instead.
World history has records of several movements and campaigns that have toppled the governing mechanisms of various nations. Some of these campaigns are founded totally and purely on terror such as two that originated from the volatile Middle East and one that was born in Europe. The first is undoubtedly the king of all terrorist outfits, the Al Qaeda, led by its formidable leader, Saudi Arabia-born Osama Bin Laden that is currently outwitting the United States and other global anti-terrorist organizations while terrorizing the world with seeming impunity. The second is the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by the late Yasser Arafat, that has taken on the State of Israel and tried (it is still trying under a ‘legitimized’ garb), to carve out an independent Palestinian territory. The third outfit conducted its nefarious activities in the United Kingdom, and like the PLO, has recently donned a ‘legitimatized’ cloak. This outfit is the Irish Republic Army, well known simply as the IRA.
Background of the IRA
Northern Ireland was born in 1920 as the result of the British Government of Ireland Act which split Ireland into two parts: Republic of Ireland comprising 26 counties, and Northern Ireland comprising 6 counties. While the Republic of Ireland is predominantly Roman Catholic, the majority of people in Northern Ireland (66%) are Protestant. The Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland (33% of the populace) were not in favor of the 1920 partition. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) came into existence in 1969 as the shadowy armed faction of Sinn Fein, the oldest political party in Ireland (its name means ‘We Ourselves in Irish Gaelic) that was formed in 1905 to obtain self-determination for the Irish people in general. The twin target of the IRA was to expel British forces from Northern Ireland and combine it with the Republic of Ireland to once more restore a unified Ireland. Having decided to adopt a terrorist campaign to achieve its goals, the IRA began a movement of systematic terror especially targeting Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
The IRA agreed to a ceasefire on 19 July 1997, thereby paving the way for Sinn Fein to participate in Northern Ireland’s political future as prescribed in the Good Friday Agreement. Also known as the Belfast Agreement, the Good Friday Agreement was signed on April 10, 1998, in Belfast. It stipulated 3 sets of relationships. The first, relating to the internal framework in Northern Ireland, spawned the Northern Ireland Assembly, Executive, and the Civil Forum. The second, relating to relationships between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, spawned the North-South Ministerial Conference (NSMC) under which representatives of the Northern Ireland Executive and the government of the Republic of Ireland work together to supervise the functions of 6 cross-border implementation organizations. The third, relating to relationships with Britain, spawned the British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference to facilitate bilateral collaboration between Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.
The IRA proceeded to destroy all its arms in late 2004 in an operation supervised by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning headed by General John de Chastelain, who officially confirmed that the stockpile of arms, ammunition, explosives, and explosive materials matched the estimates made by the British and Irish security forces. British Prime Minister Tony Blair praised the decommissioning, saying it was a vital step in the process of change from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland. Republic of Ireland Prime Minister Bertie Ahern echoed Blair’s view, calling the decommissioning a “landmark” event. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams described the decommissioning as “a very brave and bold leap” even though it would not go down well with many people in the Republic of Ireland. The IRA decommissioning cleared the final stumbling block in the process of implementing the Good Friday Agreement by the British and Irish governments on matters relating to the 3 sets of relationships therein.
The IRA decommissioning was followed by the devolution of power from Britain to the Northern Ireland Assembly. As a result of this, a power-sharing coalition government formed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Sinn Fein came into existence on May 8, 2007.
Strategies Adopted by the IRA
The IRA believes its aims can be achieved by illegal means and terrorist violence. It received arms and terror-related material from countries like Libya, organizations like the PLO, and individual sympathizers (especially several U.S. citizens). From 1969 up to 1997 it carried out smuggling operations, extortion, abductions, murder, and two of its favorite activities: robbery and bombing. Among the many robberies, it carried out, the largest (involving approximately $ 50 million) took place in 2004. In what was easily its most high-profile bombing event, the IRA almost managed to assassinate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with a bomb in a Brighton hotel (Willcock). The proceeds from its robbery, smuggling, extortion, and abduction activities, along with financial contributions from individual sympathizers in other parts of the world supplied the IRA as well as Sinn Fein with millions of dollars each year.
The IRA Now
Many people believe that, despite its decommissioning, the IRA still possesses the ambition resources, and capability to carry on its campaign unhindered. A major reason for this belief is the inexplicable lack of photographic evidence of the IRA decommissioning. Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley called it “a program which illustrates more than ever the duplicity and dishonesty of the two (British and Republic of Ireland) governments and the IRA”. Another reason for this belief is the involvement of the IRA in two huge robberies in 2004, the deduction being the IRA was accumulating funds to carry on its activities after its decommissioning ‘fiasco’ that followed that same year.
Most Protestants in Northern Ireland believe that the formation of the coalition government marks the first step of Sinn Fein/IRA towards their goal of achieving total union into a combined Ireland. The Protestants are especially deeply disappointed that the individual who let it happen so easily was Free Presbyterian Minister and DUP leader Ian Paisley (Paisley was made First Minister of the new coalition government while Martin McGuiness of the Sinn Fein/IRA was made his Deputy), the same individual who constantly refused dialogue with Sinn Fein due to its links with the IRA, and who hotly berated those who recommended power-sharing in the past. The Protestants of Northern Ireland refused to believe that the IRA has magically changed, that it no longer hates Protestants and Protestantism, but instead think it is continuing to work towards its original goal.
Interpretation of IRA Activities in the Light of Christian Worldviews
For a group that staunchly professes its Roman Catholic faith, the tactics adopted by the IRA do not reflect the principles or teachings of Roman Catholicism. Not only does the religion vehemently denounce the tactics of robbery, murder, extortion, kidnapping, smuggling, and bombings, but the group’s basic assumption that the best response to violence is counter-violence is the exact opposite of Jesus Christ’s famous ‘turn the other cheek’ policy.
Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church, represented by the Vatican and headed by the Pope, is guilty of supporting the IRA, albeit on a low key. The fact that the Vatican has never denounced the blatantly anti-Roman Catholic terror tactics adopted by the IRA is attributed by many analysts to the desire of the Vatican for a united Ireland that would be mostly Roman Catholic, thereby reducing Protestant influence to a minimum. In effect, the analysts consider the IRA used bombs, bullets, and banditry with the blessing of the Vatican as it went about terrorizing the Northern Ireland protestants into believing unity with the Republic of Ireland was ‘inevitable’ and even ‘desirable’. The second pointer is the presence of Catholic priest Father Alec Reid as a ‘witness’ during the IRA decommissioning. Following the controversy over lack of photographic evidence of the event, the role of Father Reid has come under the scanner, with many accusing him – and by association, the Roman Catholic Church – as being a part of a ‘cover up’. This point was well articulated by DUP leader Ian Paisley when he said that Father Reid “had been agreed by the IRA and as such could not be considered ‘independent”.
Historian Avro Manhattan describes this point well in ‘Catholic Terror in Ireland’: “The Vatican has pursued a policy of hostility for decades. It had never relented in favoring the aspirations of extreme Irish nationalism. That is why the Catholic Church has given its support to Sinn Fein and the IRA from the very beginning.” Manhattan’s view is endorsed by Ronald Cooke who wrote in ‘The IRA and Ethnic Cleansing in Ulster Today’: “The Roman Catholic Church clergy…is up to its proverbial ears in the violence in Ulster”.
Alternative Options That the IRA Could Have Considered
The IRA would have been better advised to reject terrorism totally and choose non-violence as its form of protest. The non-violent protest takes place in the form of strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience, and the formation of parallel patterns. There have been several exemplary non-violent movements such as India’s struggle for independence led by Mahatma Gandhi (independence was achieved in 1947 after a century of British rule), the 1986 ‘people power’ that dislodged the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines, the ‘Solidarity Movement’ in Poland led by Lech Walesa, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement of South Africa led by notable leaders such as Nelson Mandela (Stephan M., Chenoweth E. & Ackers D.
According to the groundbreaking research conducted by Dr. Maria Stephan and Dr. Erica Chenoweth of the International Center on Non-Violent Conflict, non-violent protest enjoys a success rate of nearly 90% as compared to just 50% in the case of terrorism. Terrorist activities invariably attract a great amount of suppression by States which characteristically hate coming to compromise with terrorists. On the other hand, non-violent protest puts pressure on the State to negotiate a swift end to the conflict because of its adverse economic and political costs. The economic cost is enhanced because the State’s typical police and military forces are better equipped to suppress violent movements; strategic non-violent tactics are alien to them. The State is wary of using suppression against non-violent protestors for fear of alienating itself politically; this is because non-violent movements are usually totally indigenously planned and executed, thereby averting suspicions of involvement of foreign assistance in their struggle.
Conclusion
There are 3 types of protest movements that are directed against governing mechanisms of countries: guerilla warfare, terrorism, and non-violence. While the only success attributable to guerilla warfare are the activities of the Viet Cong’s that precipitated the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Vietnam, terrorism cannot claim any clear cut victory. The PLO, whose tactics and the present position are strikingly similar to the IRA, lies marooned in the morass of never-ending negotiations with Israel. The IRA’s ‘violence begets violence’ has led it nowhere. After a violent campaign spanning nearly 3 decades, it has come back in a full circle to where it started. It may have succeeded in putting a coalition government in place but the basic problem still remains, as does the status quo of the players involved in the problem, albeit a slightly superior position in the form of a ‘legitimized’ IRA courtesy of its close partner Sinn Fein. What also remains highlighted very prominently in the immediate background is the irreparable loss of lives, destruction of property, and attraction of condemnation from every sector (except its staunch ally the Roman Catholic Church). If the IRA does openly take up its struggle again in the future, it would be well advised to learn from its failed past and to go it the non-violent way.
References
The Agreement. (2007). Web.
IRA Has Destroyed All Its Arms. (2005). BBC News. 2008. Web.
Pike, J. (2005). Irish Republican Army (IRA), Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), the Provos, Direct Action against Drugs. 2008. Web.
Stephan M., Chenoweth E. & Ackers D. (2007). Does Terrorism Work? 2008. Web.
Willcock, S. (2008). Sinn Fein/IRA Triumphant in Northern Ireland. Web.