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Before the Home Rule Crisis: 1910–1913

MICHAEL WHEATLEY

in Nationalism and the Irish Party: Provincial Ireland 1910-1916

A study of the local press, both nationalist and unionist, indicates that there was no ‘Ulster crisis’ in the five counties studied from the 1910 elections up to the autumn of 1913. Only the outbreak ... More

A study of the local press, both nationalist and unionist, indicates that there was no ‘Ulster crisis’ in the five counties studied from the 1910 elections up to the autumn of 1913. Only the outbreak of mob violence — in Belfast in the summer of 1912 and to a lesser extent Londonderry in August 1913 — generated real nationalist unease. For the rest of the time, the publication and passage of the Home Rule Bill generated a considerable volume of press coverage but few great passions either for or against. ‘Ulster's’ campaign against the bill, and the newly-formed Ulster Volunteer Force, were seen not as a looming and ever-growing physical threat, but as a political and propaganda ‘bluff’ to undermine British support for the bill before it could pass. Confidence, complacency, quietude, and even apathy were more typical characteristics of local debate than wild enthusiasm, chagrin, disappointment, or alarm.Less

The Curious Incident of the Guns in the Night Time

Iain Mclean and Tom Lubbock

in What's Wrong with the British Constitution?

The Government of Ireland Bill and the Ulster Protestant revolt 1912–14. Bonar Law, Dicey, the Unionist Party, and illegal activity. Curragh ‘mutiny’ 1914. Larne gunrunning 1914.

Discrimination and Control in Ireland

Jacob N. Shapiro

in The Terrorist's Dilemma: Managing Violent Covert Organizations

This chapter studies the three most prominent terrorist groups operating in Northern Ireland from the 1960s through 2003: the Provisional IRA, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster ... More

This chapter studies the three most prominent terrorist groups operating in Northern Ireland from the 1960s through 2003: the Provisional IRA, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Because the history of terrorism in Northern Ireland is so well known, the case provides an excellent venue for testing hypotheses about the relationship between discrimination and control. The history of the groups fighting in Northern Ireland also provides a critical illustration of the policy importance of this kind of organizational analysis. From 1987 on, leaders on both sides of the Northern Ireland conflict understood the broad contours of a negotiated settlement, but it took them many years to work the internal politics of their organizations to the point at which ceasefire orders were obeyed.Less

Loyalist Paramilitarism and the Politics of Memoir-Writing

Stephen Hopkins

in The Politics of Memoir and the Northern Ireland Conflict

This chapter studies memoir-writing by loyalists, drawn from the ranks of the Ulster Volunteer Force, or the Ulster Defence Association. In general, loyalists have been less likely to write memoirs ... More

This chapter studies memoir-writing by loyalists, drawn from the ranks of the Ulster Volunteer Force, or the Ulster Defence Association. In general, loyalists have been less likely to write memoirs than Republicans, at least until recently, and the chapter considers the reasons for this discrepancy. It also examines the authorial motivation of loyalists, which may be self-consciously political, but has also often been commercial or sensationalist. The chapter studies the role of ghost-writers, and the confusion that can exist regarding who is actually in control of the narrative. This chapter considers key life-writing either by or about David Ervine, Alistair Little, Johnny Adair and Michael Stone.Less

Loyalism and Peacebuilding in the 2000s1

Joana Etchart

in Building Peace in Northern Ireland

This chapter explores peacebuilding initiatives launched at the grassroots level by loyalists in the 2000s. It also examines their effect on the community, as well as their strengths and weaknessses. ... More

This chapter explores peacebuilding initiatives launched at the grassroots level by loyalists in the 2000s. It also examines their effect on the community, as well as their strengths and weaknessses. The examples of Ulster Defence Association (UDA)'s and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)'s engagement in peacebuilding revealed that it is the rapprochement between loyalist paramilitary leaders and community activists that has enabled the former to engage in a ‘structural’ process to modify their modes of action and organisation. The East Antrim Conflict Transformation Forum (EACTF) addressed local needs impacting loyalist communities. The Standing Northern Ireland Peacebuilding Process (SNIPP) tried to end the sectarian conflict and its causes. As tools for change, EACTF and SNIPP could be considered as overoptimistic and dismissed as utopian. Generally speaking, the study of the loyalist peace initiatives elucidates some of the main shortcomings of the policy-making and peacebuilding frameworks in Northern Ireland.Less

The security problem

Shaun McDaid

in Template for peace: Northern Ireland, 1972-75

This chapter analyses British security policy in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1974. It illustrates the changing nature of the threat which republican paramilitaries posed to the security forces. ... More

This chapter analyses British security policy in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1974. It illustrates the changing nature of the threat which republican paramilitaries posed to the security forces. Following ‘Operation Motorman’, which re-re-established a security force presence in some urban areas of Belfast and Derry, Provisional IRA attacks declined in urban centres, but there was a sharp rise in cross-border attacks on rural security installations. Cross-border security co-operation was thus vital to improving the chances of success for any political settlement. The chapter demonstrates that the replacement of the outgoing Fianna Fáil government by a Fine Gael/Labour coalition in the Republic of Ireland in 1973 resulted in a significant improvement in cross-border security and intelligence co-operation. In Northern Ireland, the unionist leader, Brian Faulkner, overestimated the importance of security reforms to the nationalist SDLP. The latter's central focus was on achieving a strong Council of Ireland.Less

The Strange Death of Loyalist Monaghan, 1912–1921

Tim Wilson

in Uncertain Futures: Essays about the Irish Past for Roy Foster

Republican attempts to push back the border of Northern Ireland through armed struggle have been well studied. Loyalist attempts to push in the other direction have been entirely overlooked. Yet, in ... More

Republican attempts to push back the border of Northern Ireland through armed struggle have been well studied. Loyalist attempts to push in the other direction have been entirely overlooked. Yet, in parts of Monaghan at least, armed loyalist resistance to the emergent shape of partition remained trenchant for far longer than has been recognized. In a Fosterian spirit of exploring the possible futures that did not happen, this chapter seeks to explore why this forgotten armed struggle flared in the spring of 1921 and then so abruptly ceased. By 1922, Monaghan ex-loyalists had become mere bystanders in the ‘border war’ that flared along the new frontier: a striking absence that demands explanation.Less

Football, Flags and Fighting (1970–71)

Gareth Mulvenna

in Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries: The Loyalist Backlash

Chapter Three places the oral histories in the context of the growth of republican violence and in particular focuses on the last weekend of June 1970, when events occurred which led to the formation ... More

Chapter Three places the oral histories in the context of the growth of republican violence and in particular focuses on the last weekend of June 1970, when events occurred which led to the formation of the UVF in East Belfast and the organisation of a small militant grouping of young loyalists in North Belfast which would become known as the Red Hand Commando. The chapter explains the importance of John McKeague as a leading loyalist and the way in which his protest against nationalist residents at the Unity Flats interface at the foot of the Shankill Road in 1970 became an ongoing focal point for young loyalists, most notably Tartans and Linfield supporters who were eager to vent their frustrations at the declining security situation in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, the chapter describes how the Tartan movement gained momentum as the first half of 1971 proved to be a dire period for Ulster Protestants.Less

From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972–75)

Gareth Mulvenna

in Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries: The Loyalist Backlash

This chapter examines the dynamics of paramilitary loyalism and the involvement of the interviewees in operations including murder. The chapter demonstrates that the transition from Tartan gangs to ... More

This chapter examines the dynamics of paramilitary loyalism and the involvement of the interviewees in operations including murder. The chapter demonstrates that the transition from Tartan gangs to paramilitaries defined the violent reputations of these organisations as the mid-1970s proved to be a bloody period in the Northern Ireland conflictLess

‘Civil rights, unrest, death’ (1960s)

Gareth Mulvenna

in Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries: The Loyalist Backlash

Chapter Two introduces the interviewees, all of whom were born in the early to mid-1950s. In this regard the 1960s, a dramatic period of time both globally and in Northern Ireland, are pivotal in ... More

Chapter Two introduces the interviewees, all of whom were born in the early to mid-1950s. In this regard the 1960s, a dramatic period of time both globally and in Northern Ireland, are pivotal in providing a sense of what life was like for those working-class Protestant boys and teenagers who would a short time later engage in violent activities with Tartan gangs and loyalist paramilitaries. The chapter situates the autobiographical recollections of this period in domestic life, the Orange Order, education, the emergence of the UVF, the mythologising of Gusty Spence and the civil rights campaign. Ultimately, it seeks to demonstrate that the context of growing up as a working-class Protestant in Belfast amidst such uncertainty and growing violence shaped young men’s perceptions of the Catholic, nationalist and republican community as well as their own way of life as members of the wider British working class.Less