The Secret Army by Bell J. Bowyer; Bell J. Bowyer;

Author:Bell, J. Bowyer; Bell, J. Bowyer;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017-11-11T05:00:00+00:00

Action of this kind was a long way from guerrilla warfare intended to end partition by physical force. Within the Army the operations were immensely popular, if for no other reason than they gave the volunteers some hope of action. While IRA intervention in social issues did not and would not always please ail of those for whose benefit action was taken, some sympathy was generated in the country and considerably more among young radicals in Dublin who now saw the IRA as a Citizen Army protecting the workers’ interests. Still, despite the enthusiasm within Republican circles, the new policy or policies had really made little impact on Ireland in general or the British-Unionist hold on the North.

The Fianna Fáil government went right on pushing for a constitutional amendment to discard proportional representation, thereby apparently ensuring their perpetual hold on office. Inside and outside the government the cute money was on the Common Market despite nationalist agitation. To the North there seemed to be no change as William Craig told an Orange meeting at Desertmartin in County Deny that the threat of the IRA was as great as ever—mainly because certain groups in Ulster were urging acts of civil disobedience: the very sort of activity IRA policy envisioned. Stormont Ministers were always telling Orange lodges about IRA subversion and sabotage—particularly when litde activity was visible to the disinterested eye. In the summer of 1968, civil disobedience still seemed largely a matter of conversation and editorials in obscure monthly papers. The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association had been formed the previous year and despite the odious conditions in the North, the glaring inequalities, and the sectarian establishment, little of substance had been accomplished. On August 24, three thousand people marched from Coalisland to Dungannon in the first large civil rights demonstration organized by NICRA. Although little noted at the time, the march was to be long remembered as the opening of the most dramatic year Ulster had known in at least a generation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.