A Letter from Ireland

a Chara,

First of all, apologies; cancelled flights led to missed deadlines and unpublished letters. On the upside, I’m back from my holidays, refreshed and ready for action. 

This week marks the twenty-first anniversary of the Irish Republican Army formally ending its armed campaign. On July 25th, 2005, the IRA issued a statement ending its campaigns, directing its volunteers to dump weapons, and to support the cause of unity by solely peaceful and democratic means. It also committed the organisation to fully put its weapons beyond use to further confidence in the peace process.

This initiative followed the 1997 reinstatement of their ceasefire, which facilitated peace talks that led directly to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. 

Up until that point, the IRA had maintained the longest-running armed conflict in Irish history. All other uprisings, rebellions and campaigns had lasted from weeks to a few short years. The IRA campaign was sustained for almost thirty years. Like all conflicts, it was brutal and violent. Thousands died, and many more were injured. These included members of the British Military, loyalist paramilitaries, civilians, and IRA members and supporters. Over ten thousand Irish Republicans lost years of their lives in jail. 

The impact of the ceasefires, peace process, and standing down of the IRA on politics cannot be overstated. I was born in Belfast in 1968 as the conflict was starting. It was the norm throughout the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. IRA members were not some shadowy body of psychos and criminals as portrayed in the media. They were family, friends, and neighbours. They signed, up knowing that they would either end up killed or jailed. They believed that politics had failed, that democracy had been denied, and that they had to act against the repression wittnessed every day. 

Others might disagree with that analysis, but it was hard to argue with the experience of nationalism over fifty years of partition, single-party unionist rule, gerrymandering, and discrimination all underwritten by successive British Governments and repression on the streets at the hands of their army and police. There had been those who argued against the use of violence, but they failed, like the old Nationalist party, to end discrimination, partition or promote Irish Unity. They opposed violence but offered no viable alternative to unionists or to British policy.   

Without a doubt, the IRA could have maintained its campaign; this was acknowledged by British military leaders, who recognised that a British military victory was not possible. Irish Republicans were also examining an alternative to armed conflict. 

Sinn Féin leaders, working with John Hume of the SDLP, the Irish Government, and supporters in North America, began to build a political and democratic alternative to conflict. As this developed, the IRA, through ceasefires, provided the space for negotiations and agreement. 

That alternative became the bedrock of the Good Friday Agreement, the commitment to peaceful and democratic means including unity referendums, protections of rights, powersharing, and an end to discrimination. 

In their 2006 Statement ending their campaign, the leadership of the IRA said, “…our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland.

“We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country.”

That alternative remains in place. Irish Unity referendums are the outstanding issue from the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Those dissident groups that use the name of the IRA do not command the support of the people and cannot sustain a campaign. Their actions lead only to jail and injury. Absent any coherent strategy, it is violence for the sake of violence. 

Unity is within our grasp. It has not been a straight path; there have been many frustrations, but progress has been made. We can now finish the journey peacefully and democratically by securing and winning Unity Referendums. Twenty one years on and Ireland has fundamentally changed. The future is ours to write.

Have a great weekend,