Inside the IRA

Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy

Andrew Sanders

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9780748646043
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Peace & Global Development
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Who is the 'real' IRA?The Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army, the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA have all assumed responsibility for the struggle for Irish freedom over the course of the late-twentieth century. Yet as recently as 1969 there was only one Irish Republican Army which had attempted to unify Ireland using physical force.Andrew Sanders explains how and why the transition from one IRA to several IRAs occurred, analysing all the dissident factions that have emerged since the outbreak of the Northern Ireland troubles. He looks at why these groups emerged, what their respective purposes are, and why, in an era of relative peace and stability in Northern Ireland, they seek to prolong the violence that cost over 3500 lives.Key FeaturesExclusive interviews with members of all dissident and mainstream republican organizations, all loyalist factions and security force sources.Extensive archival research.The first scholarly analysis of Irish republican division.Shows influence of Irish-America in provoking dissent within republicanism.

Table of contents

• COVER
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• 1. The Origins of Division: The Republican Movement in the Twentieth Century, 1916–62
• 2. The Movement Divides: The 1960s
• 3. The Split and its Aftermath: The 1970s
• 4. The American Dimension: How Support from America Directed the Path of Irish Republicanism
• 5. Prison, Politics and Violence: The 1980s
• 6. Irish-America in the 1980s
• 7. Changed Priorities: The 1990s
• 8. The Twenty-first Century
• Bibliography
• Index