The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin, Second Edition

388 Pages·1995·57.08 MB·English

by  Brendan O’Brien

The IRA and SINNFEIN
TODAY
1985 to
BRENDAN
O'BRIEN
Boston Public Library
%f
Long
Richard Fallis, Series Editor
i
A?Studies
Irish Studies
RICHARD FALLIS, SERIES EDITOR
IrishStudiespresentsawiderangeofbooksinterpretingimportantaspectsofIrishlife
andculturetoscholarlyandgeneralaudiences.TherichnessandcomplexityoftheIrish
experience,pastandpresent,deservebroadunderstandingandcarefulanalysis.Forthis
reason,animportantpurposeoftheseriesistoofferaforumtoscholarsinterestedin
Ireland,itshistoryandculture.Irishliteratureisaspecialconcernintheseries,butworks
fromtheperspectivesofthefinearts,historyandthesocialsciencesarealsowelcome,
asarestudiesthattakemultidisciplinaryapproaches.
Selectedtitlesintheseriesinclude:
CinemaandIreland,KevinRockett,LukeGibbonsandJohnHill
FamilySecrets: WilliamButlerYeatsandHisRelatives,WilliamM.Murphy
FictionsoftheIrishLiteraryRevival:AChangelingArt,JohnWilsonFoster
FortheLandTheyLoved:IrishPoliticalMelodramas, 1890-1925,CherylLler,ed
AFrankO'ConnorReader,MichaelSteinman,ed
TheGonne-YeatsLetters, 1893-1938,AnnaMacBrideWhiteandA.NormanJeffares,ed
GreatHatred,LittleRoom:TheIrishHistoricalNovel,JamesM.Cahalan
HannaSheehy-Skefftngton:IrishFeminist,LeahLevensonandJerryH.Natterstad
TheHarpRe-strung:The UnitedIrishmanandtheRiseofIrishLiteraryNationalism,
MaryHelenThuente
'IrelandSober,IrelandFree':DrinkandTemperanceinNineteenth-CenturyIreland,
ElizabethMalcolm
IrishLiterature:AReader,MaureenO'RourkeMurphyandJamesMacKillop,eds
TheIrishRenaissance,RichardFallis
JamesJoyce:TheAugmentedNinth,BernardBenstock,ed
Joyce, O'CaseyandtheIrishPopularTheater,StephenWatt
ModernIrish-AmericanFiction:AReader,DanielJ.CaseyandRobertE.Rhodes,ed
NorthernIreland:TheBackgroundtotheConflict,JohnDarby,ed
OldDays, OldWays:AnIllustratedFolkHistoryofIreland,OliveSharkey
TheParnellSplit, 1890-1891,FrankCallanan
Peig:TheAutobiographyofPeigSayersoftheGreatBlasketIsland,
BryanMacMahon,trans
AReader'sGuidetoJamesJoyce,WilliamYorkTindall
ReadingDublinersAgain:ALacanianPerspective,GarryLeonard
SelectedShortStoriesofPadraicColum,SanfordSternlicht,ed
StoriesbyContemporaryIrish Women,DanielJ.CaseyandLindaM.Casey,eds
UlyssesasaComicNovel,ZackBowen
Warrenpoint,DenisDonoghue
The WholeMatter:ThePoeticEvolutionofThomasKinsella,ThomasJackson
Yeats,DouglasArchibald
War
D)hg
The IRA and Sinn Fein,
1985 to Today
Brendan O'Brien
SlVJ
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITYPRESS
CN BR
DA963
.027
1995
Firstpublished 1993byTheO'BrienPressLtd.,
20VictoriaRoad,Dublin6,Ireland.
Updated 1995.
Copyright© 1993BrendanO'Brien
Allrightsreserved.
95 96 97 98 99 00 1 2 3 4 5 6
PublishedintheUnitedStatesbySyracuseUniversityPress,
Syracuse,NewYork13244-5160
byarrangementwithTheO'BrienPressLtd.,
20VictoriaRoad,Dublin6,Ireland.
Theauthorandpublisherthankthefollowingforpermissiontousephotographs:
TheIrishTimesforpages65,72(top),73,74,75,76(bottom),80(top), 179, 185,
189(bottom);AlanO'Connor66,67,68,69,72(bottom), 178(bottom), 180, 181,
182;Pacemaker70(bottom),71,76(top),77,78(top),79,80(bottom), 177,
178(top), 183, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189(top), 190, 192;TheGardaiSfochana78
(bottom),RTE 191.
Mapsanddiagrams:IvanO'Brien
LibraryofCongressCataloguing-in-PublicationData
O'Brien,Brendan
Thelongwar:theIRAandSinnFein,
FromArmedStruggletoPeaceTalks/BrendanO'Brien
-SyracuseUniversityPressed.
P.cm.-(IrishStudies)
Includesanindex.
ISBN0-8156-0319-3(paper:alk.paper)
g1o.vIreerlnamnedn-tP-ol1it9i6c9s-an3d.gIroevlearnndm-enHits-tor1y9,49Mi-li2t.arNyor-t2h0etrhncIernetluarnyd.-4.PoVliiotlicesncaend-
Ireland-History-20thcentury.5.NorthernIreland-History,Military.6.
Violence-NorthernIreland-History.
I.Title.II.Series:IrishStudies(Syracuse,N.Y.)
DA963.027 1995
941.5062-dc20 95-6767
ManufacturedinIrelandq -^ ~^ Clf
Acknowledgements
MyfirstthanksgowithaffectiontomywifeHelenforherhelpful
patience. Morethananythingthisbookisforherand forSinead,
Dylan,Donal,SophieandThomas.
Inthewritingofthisbookandthemanyyearsofjournalisticwork
whichprecededit,Ireceivedagreatdealofconfidentialassistance
andco-operationfromawiderangeofrepublicansandmembersof
theIRAandSinnFein. Forprofessionalreasonstheymustremain
anonymous,butIwouldliketoacknowledgethemandthankthem.
Anumberofotherpeoplehelped ina varietyofwayswhich un-
doubtedlycontributed to mycapacitytowrite thesortofbook I
wanted: Gearoid £)Caralain, Liz Groves,Garbhan Downey, Pat
Hughes, thepeopleatthe'McD's' club, Edna and MiloButler (for
their kind hospitality), Paddy McRory, Sydney Elliott and Paul
Arthur.Otherswhohavemadeimportantinputstomyknowledge
andtothefinalproductcannotbegivenpersonalthanksforreasons
ofconfidentiality.IwouldlikethemtoknowthatIgreatlyvaluethe
confidencetheyplacedinme.
Ialsowishtorecordmyappreciationforco-operationgivenbythe
Gardaiand theRUC asorganisations,butespeciallytothoseindi-
vidualswhogavemesomuchoftheirpersonal time.
Myemployers, RadioTelefis£ireann,gavemetheextra timeand
spacetodothejob. Inthatregard,myspecialthanksgotoNeasani
Chianainforhergood-humouredenduranceand toPeterFeeney.
Intheend,thisbookonlycametogetherbythededicatedworkof
thestaffofO'BrienPress.ItwasasubstantialundertakingandIthank
themall. However, medalsofsomekindshouldbeawardedtothe
editor,IdeniLaoghaire, and,fromtheoutside,toDesmondFisher,
forperformingmiracles.
Itakefullresponsibilityforthefinaleditorialnarrative.
Brendan O'Brien
Contents
FOREWORD
9
PREFACE
13
PART UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT
I
CHAPTER 1- The Unfinished Business 19
CHAPTER 2 - In the Heartlands I- Belfast 30
CHAPTER 3 - In theHeartlands II- Derry,
Fermanagh, South Armagh 51
CHAPTER 4 - British andProud ofIt 81
PART CHARTING THE CHANGE
II
CHAPTER 5 - The Coming ofthe Northerners 103
CHAPTER 6 - Going Slightly Constitutional 118
CHAPTER 7 - The Libyan Connection 133
CHAPTER 8 - Sickening the British 154
PART INTO THE NINETIES
III
CHAPTER 9 - Ballot and Bullet 195
CHAPTER 1 -A Door Is Opened 209
CHAPTER 11 -Moving into Dialogue 224
CHAPTER 12 - Constitutional Stalemate 240
CHAPTER 13 - Towards the Endgame 263
CHAPTER 14 - TheirHand Is Forced 286
CHAPTER 15- The Long Stages ofPeace 325
NOTES 346
APPENDICES 350
1 Extractsfrom theGreenBook,IRA trainingmanual
2IRA GeneralArmyOrders
3TowardsaLastingPeaceinIreland,SinnFeindocument
4IrishGovernmentdocumentpresentedat 1992politicaltalks
5BritishGovernmentstatementatStrandTwotalks, 1992
6Proposalsfora Settlement-arepublicandocument, 1993
7JointDeclaration, 1993
GLOSSARY 373
INDEX 335
Note:Thebookcontainsmapsanddiagramsofarmsandexplosivesfindssouthof
theBorder,basedonpreviouslyunpublisheddata. Therearealsolistsand
diagramsshowingthenumbersofsecurityforce,civilianandIRAdeathsandthe
resultsofelectionsinvolvingSinnFein.
Towns in Northern Ireland