While there have been many books written about the IRA since 1916, comparatively little attention has been paid to the organisation during the 1960s, despite the fact that the internal divisions culminating in the 1969 split are often seen as key to the conflict which erupted that year. This book, newly available in paperback, redresses that vacuum and through an exhaustive survey of internal and official sources, as well as interviews with key IRA members, provides a unique and fascinating insight into radical Republican politics which will be of interest to those interested in Irish history and politics. The author looks at the root of the divisions which centred on conflicting attitudes within the IRA on armed struggle, electoral participation and socialism. He argues that while the IRA did not consciously plan the northern 'Troubles', the internal debate of the 1960s had implications for what happened in 1969.

Since the plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, Northern Irish people have been engaged in conflict - Catholic against Protestant, Republican against Unionist. This text explores the pivotal moments in this history.

The story of contemporary Ireland is inseparable from the story of the official republican movement, a story told here for the first time - from the clash between Catholic nationalist and socialist republicanism in the 1960s and '70s through the Workers' Party's eventual rejection of irredentism. A roll-call of influential personalities in the fields of politics, trade unionism and media - many still operating at the highest levels of Irish public life - passed though the ranks of this secretive movement, which never achieved its objectives but had a lasting influence on the landscape of Irish politics. 'A vibrant, balanced narrative' Diarmaid Ferriter, Irish Times Books of the Year 'An indispensable handbook' Maurice Hayes, Irish Times 'Hugely impressive' Irish Mail on Sunday 'Excellent' Sunday Business Post

Recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate the IRA and Sinn Féin during the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles, they were ‘agents of influence’. With codenames like INFLICTION, STAKEKNIFE, 3007 and CAROL, these spies played a pivotal role in the fight against Irish republicanism. Now, for the first time, some of these agents have emerged from the shadows to tell their compelling stories. Agents of Influence takes you behind the scenes of the secret intelligence war which helped bring the IRA’s armed struggle to an end. Historian Aaron Edwards, the critically acclaimed author of UVF: Behind the Mask, explains how the IRA was penetrated by British agents, with explosive new revelations about the hidden agendas of prominent republicans like Martin McGuinness and Freddie Scappaticci and lesser-known ones like Joe Haughey and John Joe Magee. Bringing to light recently declassified TOP SECRET documents and the firsthand testimonies of agents and their handlers, Edwards reveals how British Intelligence gained extraordinary access to the IRA’s inner circle and manipulated them into engaging with the peace process. With new insights into the spy masters behind the scenes, their strategies and tactics, and Britain’s international intelligence network in Northern Ireland, Europe, and beyond, Agents of Influence offers a rare and shocking glimpse into the clandestine world of secret agents, British intelligence strategy and the betrayal at the heart of militant Irish republicanism during the vicious decades of the Troubles.

Fighting for Ireland? is the first in-depth account of the evolution of Irish Republican strategy. It is highly topical in the light of the faltering peace process and the growing speculation over the IRA's next move: further violence or a new non-violent strategy? This new, updated paperback edition is essential reading for those who wish to disentangle the complex issues and motives behind IRA violence. M.L.R. Smith challenges many assumptions about the IRA, pinpointing the organisation's successes as well as its missed opportunities. He demonstrates the tension the movement has experienced between ideology and strategic reality regarding the use of force, illustrating how doctrinal purity has sometimes hampered the IRA in the pursuit of its goals. Contrary to the Irish Republican movement's vigorous and assertive public face Smith uncovers an organisation characterised more by a sense of chronic insecurity than by certainty and continuity.

Sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland has often had an air of inevitability about it. For over three decades of turmoil and warfare in the twentieth century, innumerable observers spoke of the 'ancient' hatred between Protestants and Catholics, their 'primordial' quarrel, and their 'deep-rooted' hostilities. The author challenges the notion that violent conflict was ever natural or inevitable in this troubled region. Focusing on the city of Belfast, he demonstrates how, through a series of riots beginning in the 1850s, working-class Protestants and Catholics constructed a new tradition of violence that set the stage for the tumultuous twentieth century. He locates the city's tradition of violence in the everyday lives of its people. Showing how violence became a regular, routine fact of urban life - how, in effect, violence shaped people's attitudes toward one another and toward the city itself - he charts the emergence of two polarized, mutually hostile communities in Belfast. At the same time, he also examines Belfast within its broader imperial context, asking what role the British state played in fostering this violence and comparing Belfast's experience with that of the relatively tranquil city of Glasgow.

Describes the origins, growth and activities of the Irish Republican Army, a group of fiery nationalists organized after the Easter Rebellion of 1916.

This book is filled with strategies for guerilla warfare gained from first hand experiences of Irish Republican Army volunteers and regulars. Whether you are a student of political science or the military sciences, this book is an absolute must have for every library.

A major 3-part work that is the definitive history of Irish Republican prisoners detained in England's maximum security prisons during the modern 'Troubles'. Based on private correspondence, declassified government documents, international media reports, and memoirs of key protagonists, this book tells the story of all the major riots, roof top protests, sabotage attacks and escape attempts undertaken by the IRA, as well as the little-known 'blanket protest' in several prison locations in England. Volume 2 tells the full story of the Wormwood Scrubs 'riot' of August 1979, Brixton breakout of December 1980 and the pivotal Albany 'mutiny' of May 1983, told for the firs time using fresh eye-witness accounts as well official and public sources. This ground breaking book confirms that the 'prison war' in England was a far more important IRA theatre of action than previously believed. -- Publisher description.