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ABSTRACT
This article addresses the scholarly debate over sectarianism and the Provisional Irish Republican Army’s (PIRA) campaign during the Northern Ireland Troubles. It argues that although there is much merit in the contributions made in this discourse, unfortunately, for, the most part, there is a lack of engagement with the deeper meaning of sectarianism. Consequently, it seeks to enhance the understanding of sectarianism within this arena before considering the nature of the PIRA campaign. By conducting a thorough analysis of the killings conducted by this organisation in the early years of the conflict it is ultimately concluded that, at the very least, PIRA tolerated, and likely sanctioned, sectarian violence from within its ranks.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. One of the areas that has been under-researched in these events is the role of women. Although Keenan-Thompson, Irish Women and Street Politics does make a significant contribution to our understanding of the important part played by women in Irish radicalism from the mid-1950s until the early 1970s.
2. Cathal McManus provides us with an understanding of this discrimination through a process of ‘othering’.
3. See Prince, Northern Ireland’s ’68.
4. For more on origins of the Northern Ireland state and the nature of unionism see Mulholland, Northern Ireland at the Crossroads.
5. The IRA conducted a border campaign between 1958 and 1962 but it had petered out, by the IRA’s own admission, due to lack of public support. See Hanley & Millar, The Lost revolution, 14–21.
6. Irish Press, 29 December 1969.
7. Adams, Before the Dawn, 82.
8. English, Armed Struggle, 105.
9. Ibid., 106.
10. Hennessey, Evolution of the Troubles, 7.
11. These street disturbances, initially centred around the city of Derry, had erupted out of the Civil Rights protests of the late 1960s . For more see: Niall O’Dochartaigh, From Civil Rights to Armalites.
12. For more see Hanley & Millar, The Lost Revolution.
13. For more see McDonald & Holland, INLA.
14. For more detail on loyalist paramilitaries see Taylor, Loyalists.
15. McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, 40, 41, 53 [All numbers used for the references from this book relate to the number allocated to each victim not the page number].
16. Although wherever possible the term ‘from the unionist community’ will be preferred as a means of identifying the status of victims.
17. This is not to say that the churches did not have a role during the conflict. For example, for more information on the role played by the Catholic Church see Scull, The Catholic Church and the Northern Ireland Troubles.
18. The Sutton Index of Deaths is also an authoritative account of the killings that occurred during the Troubles which is regarded as having parity with Lost Lives.
19. Connolly, Race and Racism, 7.
20. Gilligan, Northern Ireland and the Crisis of Anti-Racism, 9–10.
21. Geoghegan, A Difficult Difference, 4.
22. Brewer, “Sectarianism and Racism,” 352–364.
23. Gilligan, Northern Ireland and the Crisis of Anti-Racism, 27.
24. Ibid., 30–31.
25. Ibid., 44.
26. Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2016.
27. McGarry & O’Leary, Explaining Northern Ireland, 172.
28. Wright, Northern Ireland, 11.
29. McCleery, “Sectarianism and PIRA.” Conference Paper.
30. This lack of engagement with the definition of sectarianism by historians has been highlighted recently by Marie Coleman in her study of the Irish Revolutionary period in County Longford. Although she does also point to the usefulness of Sociological, Anthropological and Ethnographic explorations of sectarianism during the Troubles for historical research.
31. White, “The Irish Republican Army,” 20–55.
32. Ibid.
33. Bruce, “Victim Selection in Ethnic Conflict,” 56–71.
34. English, Terrorism, 24.
35. White, “The Irish Republican Army and Sectarianism,” 120–131.
36. Dingley, “A Reply to White’s Non-sectarian Thesis of PIRA Targeting,” 106–117.
37. Patterson, “Sectarianism Revisited,” 337–356.
38. Lewis & McDaid, “Bosnia on the Border,” 635–655.
39. Kowalski, “The Role of Sectarianism in the Provisional IRA Campaign,” 658–683.
40. Specifically, what is the precise meaning of the phrase ‘accidental suicide’?; the analysis of the morality of the 1981 Hunger strike is superficial; more corroboration of the interview with Sean O’Callaghan was required. [For a definition of suicide see Oxford Dictionary, 1442; for more on the 1981 Hunger Strike and its morality see Hennessey, Hunger Strike, O’Rawe, Blanketmen, and McCleery, The Human Tragedy of the 1981 Hunger Strike available at https://www.thepensivequill.com/2016/03/the-human-tragedy-of-1981-hunger-strike.html and the comments on this blog post; for more on the unreliability of statements given by Sean O’Callaghan see Brown, Public Inquiry, available at https://magill.ie/archive/public-inquiry-our-greatest-scandal.]
41. Shanahan, Provisional Irish Republican Army, 32.
42. As with the nature of all conflict it is not always easy to identify exactly who was responsible for every murder. In Lost Lives this is reflected in the terminology used to identify the groups responsible for certain killings. Terms used include ‘believed to be’, ‘possibly’, ‘most likely’ and ‘almost certainly’. As a result, it is necessary to use some subjectivity in deciding if PIRA was responsible for a particular murder. For the most part this article will use murders categorised by Lost Lives as ‘almost certainly’ carried out by PIRA and murders attributed to PIRA in its analysis. However, a few of the murders outside of these categories are judged by the author to have been carried out by PIRA; this subjective judgment does not alter greatly the overall statistical analysis. It should also be noted that murders carried out by PIRA are designated as IRA murders in the book.
43. For a comprehensive history of this organisation see Aaron Edwards, UVF: Behind the Mask.
44. McKittrick, Lost Lives, 1.
45. Ibid., 3.
46. For a detailed account of the events surrounding these killings see Prince & Warner, Belfast and Derry in Revolt, 233–255.
47. McKittrick, Lost Lives, 29, 30: Sutton, June 27, 1970 [All information on killings related to sectarianism, as defined by this article, will be corroborated by referring to the Sutton Index, and the date of each incident recorded in the index will be used as the secondary reference].
48. Ibid., 55,56,57,58: Ibid., February 09, 1971.
49. For a comprehensive examination of the use of internment without trial in Northern Ireland between 1971 and 1975 see McCleery, Operation Demetrius.
50. Mc Kittrick, Lost Lives, 114. Sutton, August 25, 1971.
51. Ibid., 133, 134: Ibid., September 29, 1971.
52. It is a possibility that both men were associated with loyalist paramilitary groups.
53. McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, 156: Sutton, October 25, 1971.
54. Ibid., 167: Ibid., October 31, 1971.
55. Ibid., 170, 171, 172: Ibid., November 2, 1971.
56. Ibid., 214, 215, 216: Ibid., December 11, 1971.
57. Ibid., 237: Ibid., January 18, 1972.
58. Ibid., 442, 453: Ibid., July 9, 1972.
59. Ibid., 455: Ibid., July 12, 1972.
60. Idid., 484. Ibid., July 20, 1972.
61. Moloney, Voices, 306.
62. Bew & Gillespie, Northern Ireland, 54–55.
63. Bradley, Insider, 99.
64. Adams, Before the Dawn, 210.
65. McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, 602, 603: Sutton, September 21, 1972.
66. Ibid., 613: Ibid., September 27, 1972.
67. Ibid., 692: Ibid., December 3, 1972.
68. Ibid., 747: Ibid., February 2, 1973.
69. Ibid., 803: Ibid., March 19, 1973.
70. Ibid., 1268, 1269: Ibid., November 23, 1974.
71. Ibid., 1298: Ibid., January 26, 1975.
72. Ibid., 1390: Ibid., June 10, 1975; McKittrick et al. state that Suitters was a civilian, Sutton gives his status as UVF.
73. Ibid., 1392: Ibid., June 11, 1975.
74. Ibid., 1428, 1429, 1430, 1431, 1436: Ibid., August 13, 1975.
75. Ibid., 1433: Ibid., August 15, 1975.
76. Ibid., 1434: Ibid., August 15, 1975.
77. Ibid., 1455, 1456, 1457, 1458, 1461: Ibid., September 1, 1975.
78. The Newsletter, February 17, 2011
79. Sutton gives Craig’s status as UDA, McKittrick designates his status as civilian.
80. McKittrick et al., Lost Lives 1467: Sutton, September 8, 1975.
81. Ibid., 1474: Ibid., September 12, 1975.
82. Ibid., 1488: Ibid., October 3, 1975.
83. Ibid., 1467: McGrady admitted to twenty-seven offences including three murders and four attempted murders.
84. Ibid., 1513: Ibid., November 5, 1975.
85. The Irish News, October 27, 2020.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Martin J. McCleery
Dr Martin J. McCleery is an Assistant Professor in Security Sciences at the King Fadh Security College. He is the author of Operation Demetrius and Its Aftermath: A New History of the Use of Internment Without Trial in Northern Ireland 1971-75(Manchester University Press).