https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3205-8739
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ABSTRACT
On 18 April 2019, by-stander Lyra McKee was killed while a group of teenagers and young men rioted against the PSNI in the Northern Irish city of Derry. During these riots, two masked gunmen of the “New IRA” fired up to ten shots at three PSNI Land Rovers. The recruitment of teenagers into the ranks of dissident Irish republicans has raised concern that a new generation of young adults born after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement is prepared to continue acts of political violence in Ireland. This article will examine the motivations and ideology of teenagers and young adults in dissident Irish republican organisations. It is based on a series of in-depth interviews with members of the dissident republican youth organisation Na Fianna Éireann in the Dublin region. The interview data show four broad motivational factors for teenagers and young adults to join the republican youth organisation, Na Fianna Éireann, in the Republic of Ireland. These four are: First, working-class background, with its related deprivation and social problems (such as criminality and drug addiction); second, the importance of family links and social networks; third, social media as an introduction to republicanism; and, fourth, fascination with Irish history.
Acknowledgments
Earlier versions of this article were presented at the conference Irish Society, History & Culture: 100 years after 1916 in October 2016 in Florence; and the conference Children & War: Past & Present in July 2016 in Salzburg. I want to thank the anonymous reviewers, Helen Aitchison, Richard English (QUB), John Morrison (Royal Holloway), Melanie Sindelar (University of Vienna), Robert W. White (IUPUI), and the CEU’s Conflict and Security Research Group (ConSec) led by Erin Kristin Jenne (CEU) for their helpful comments. They are not responsible for any errors or the opinions expressed in this article.
Disclosure statement
The author reported no potential conflict of interest.
Notes
1. I approached these interviews as life-story interviews. The narrators were recruited through Na Fianna Éireann and the republican organisation Republican Sinn Féin. Before conducting the interviews, I obtained consent from the two republican organisations, the interview partners, and in the case that they were still underage at the time of the interview, from at least one of their parents. The interviews lasted between 2–3 hours and were conducted in a house in Dublin in Spring 2016. Before embarking on the research, I had obtained ethical approval from the European University Institute, my affiliated institution during the data collection, for this research. Each interview partner signed a consent form prior to the interview that stated, among other things, that he participates voluntarily in the research project and that he was given the opportunity to remain anonymous; in accordance with the consent form, all interviews are strictly anonymised, the real identities and the exact date and location cannot be revealed, neither will the interview recordings, transcripts, and consent forms be made available to any third party.
2. The term “military ceasefire“ is used in dissident republican circles to describe a situation in which the paramilitary organisations do not engage with the PSNI or the British army but continue other paramilitary activities such as punishment attacks, training, etc.
3. “Belfast suspected grenade attack ‘an attempt to kill or injure police officers’,” BBC News, 4 December 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50658186; “Continuity IRA blamed for ‘Brexit bomb plot’,” ITV, 6 February 2020, www.itv.com/news/utv/2020-02-06/lurgan-bomb-find-followed-reports-of-device-on-lorry.
4. “The Republic’s Dissident Youth: Ireland’s Young Warriors.” Vice News, 23 July 2015, news.vice.com/video/the-republics-dissident-youth-irelands-young-warriors; “Children aged 10 being groomed in training camps as IRA of future,” Irish Mirror, 30 August 2015, www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/children-aged-10-being-groomed-6349081; Carlo Massimo, “The Dangerous People Liberalism doesn’t reach,” Newsweek, 17 August 2015, www.newsweek.com/dangerous-people-liberalism-doesnt-reach-363624.
5. “Na Fianna Éireann seek donations for the homeless,” Saoirse, issue 323, November 2015, 2.
6. Information obtained from Saoirse, issue 324, April 2014, 16.
7. The term “Fian” is used by republicans for members of Na Fianna Éireann, similarly to the use of the term “Volunteer” for members of the IRA and INLA.
8. “Na Fianna mark 100th anniversary of Howth gun-running,” Saoirse, issue 328, August 2014, 8.
9. The information on the Seán Glynn Slua in Limerick is mentioned in the republican newspaper Saoirse, issue 133, May 1998, 10.
10. “Glasnevin cemetery: Protests while British soldiers honoured,” Saoirse, issue 338, April 2016, 3.
11. “Na Fianna Abú,” Saoirse, October 2016, 10.
12. Article signed “OC, Na Fianna Éireann”: “Helping the homeless,” Saoirse, issue 368, January 2018, 2.
13. Reported in Saoirse, issue 289, May 2011, 10.
14. Court proceedings of Kieran Collins from Craigavon, charged for membership of the Continuity IRA, in possession of the author.
15. Ibid.
16. “Éistigí, The Youth Wing Of Saoradh,” An Sionnach Fionn, 31 January 2018, ansionnachfionn.com/2018/01/31/eistigi-the-youth-wing-of-saoradh.
17. Brian Murphy, a social worker from Dublin and member of Saoradh and the Irish Republican Prisoners’ Welfare Association.
18. Solely the introduction to Bobby Sands’ prison diaries is written by Gerry Adams, the then president of Sinn Féin.
19. 32s refers to the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
20. “New IRA says border infrastructure would be ‘legitimate target for attack’.” ITV, 16 October 2019, www.channel4.com/news/new-ira-says-border-infrastructure-would-be-legitimate-target-for-attack.
21. Easter Statement by Cogús republican prisoners, published at Easter 2018, personal possession.
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Dieter Reinisch
Dr Dieter Reinisch is a Junior Core Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Central European University, and an Adjunct Professor in International Relations at Webster Vienna Private University. He holds a PhD from the European University Institute.