From armed struggle to political struggle : Republican tradition and transformation in Northern Ireland

297 Pages·2015·1.43 MB·English

by  Spencer

From Armed
Struggle
to Political
Struggle

From Armed
Struggle
to Political
Struggle
Republican tradition and
transformation in Northern Ireland
GRAHAM SPENCER
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
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BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2015
© Graham Spencer, 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Spencer, Graham.
From armed struggle to political struggle : Republican tradition and
transformation in Northern Ireland / Graham Spencer.
pages cm
Summary: “The first study of its kind to link Irish republican identity through the
influences of Catholicism, the paramilitary campaign and political transformation”–
Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4411-5967-0 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-4411-4064-7 (paperback)
1. Northern Ireland–Politics and government. 2. Republicanism–Northern Ireland.
3. Political culture–Northern Ireland. 4. Identity politics–Northern Ireland. I. Title.
DA990.U46S673 2015
941.60824 – dc23
2014049088
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-5967-0
PB: 978-1-4411-4064-7
ePub: 978-1-6235-6967-9
ePDF: 978-1-6235-6996-9
Typeset by Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
For my mother Pamela Spencer
‘In war the result is never final’ – Carl von Clausewitz
‘The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy
without fighting’ – Sun Tzu
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Imagination 7
Myth 7
Martyrdom 20
Metaphor 32
2 History 41
Origins and dynamics 41
Re-emergence 45
Militancy 54
Hunger and transition 59
3 Catholicism 67
History and context 71
Reasoning and morality 78
The Catholic Church and republicanism 84
Catholic perspectives on republicanism 89
Republican perspectives on Catholicism 99
4 Politics 111
Dialogues with nationalism 120
SDLP perspectives 131
5 Peace 139
The Good Friday Agreement 168
British and Irish official perspectives 189
Endgame: After Good Friday 218
viii CONTENTS
6 Rebels and Reconciliation 225
The ‘dissident’ threat 225
Claiming the past to shape the future 237
Conclusion 250
Afterword 258
List of Interviewees 263
Bibliography 264
Index 271
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank the many people interviewed for this book who were generous
and considerate with their time and energy. A number were interviewed
numerous times and deserve particular thanks for putting up with me. It
goes without saying that this book would not exist without the interviews
conducted for it. It is also important to acknowledge that this project would
have been much more difficult without help from colleagues in the Centre
for Creative and Cultural Research at the University of Portsmouth. The
funding and encouragement offered until July 2013 was much appreciated.
Finally I would like to thank Peter Cassells, Chris Hudson, Jim McAuley and
Jon Tonge but in particular Karen Cray, whose support and encouragement
has been invaluable.