Northern Ireland (merged thread)

**davidbfpo** · 05-09-2018

A wide-ranging review by a UK academic familiar with the issues, so a few sentences:

On an autumn evening in late October 1972, Michael Naan was working on his isolated farm a few miles from the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic with Andrew Murray, a young hired laborer, when they were set upon, beaten, and stabbed to death.
In his fascinating new book, An Army of Tribes: British Army Cohesion, Deviancy and Murder in Northern Ireland, Ed Burke explores why these soldiers committed the murders and what consequences their actions had for the local community. Burke places the actions of the soldiers in two overlapping contexts — the institutional framework of the British Army and the historical environment in which they found themselves deployed.
An Army of Tribes is a rigorous work of painstaking scholarship that places the security dimension of the Northern Irish Troubles in much greater tactical and operational context than ever before. In assessing the micro-ethics of soldiering in such a local setting, Burke also provides us with a rich glimpse into how military operations shaped strategy, and vice versa.

Link:https://warontherocks.com/2018/05/wh...urn-to-murder/

**davidbfpo** · 05-14-2018

The "sore" of historical allegations rumbles on. There are many who argue on each side; should criminal allegations (including murder) from 'The Troubles' be investigated, indeed prosecuted today - especially after the amnesty to the paramilitaries in the Good Friday Agreement? Politics aside there is a current prosecution for a 1974 incident where a soldier shot a youth dead, amidst controversy.
Link:https://theconversation.com/amnesty-for-british-soldiers-fuels-division-over-dealing-with-northern-irelands-past-96425?

**davidbfpo** · 08-29-2018

Two articles on an incident many had forgotten, it occurred just after Internment was introduced and in summary:

More than 40 years after the shootings in a west Belfast neighbourhood, the Guardian has reconstructed the events surrounding what appears to be a killing spree by soldiers of the Parachute Regiment, just months before Bloody Sunday

This is a 'long read', not too long and in places admits the Army were fired upon - before the disorder and the "killing spree":https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/26/-sp-ballymurphy-shootings-36-hours-west-belfast-northern-ireland-10-dead

The second is based on a new film on the incident by Callum Macrae, a film maker with many awards:https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...-belfast-derry

**davidbfpo** · 09-24-2018

I rarely catch this publication and whilst the level of violence has dropped, it remains painful for many - mainly from "punishment" attacks - and that only 10% are charged rate for those arrested for terrorism.
Link:https://www.psni.police.uk/globalass...ugust_2018.pdf

**davidbfpo** · 01-26-2019

Violence from the Republican "dissidents" has happened before, with several deaths (policemen, soldiers and others) and this week a "spectacular" bomb outside the courthouse in Londonderry (Derry to some). See:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46937061 and:https://thedefensepost.com/2019/01/1...thern-ireland/

Understandably as the author has been researching her book on the "dissidents" for years she has been busy and her book 'Unfinished Business – The Politics of ‘Dissident’ Irish Republicanism' is due out next month.

A "lurker" recommends the book. Here are a couple of sentences as a "taster":

The principle of consent was anathema – the onus remained on dissidents achieving unity by the Armalite (or Kalashnikov) rather than the ballot box.
They will say it could have succeeded if it were not for decisions taken by the leadership.

Link:https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...king-1.3770643

**davidbfpo** · 02-05-2019

A good overview of whether the "dissidents" pose a real threat to the peace; with a mass of links within:

In sum, there will be no return to a higher frequency of attacks. Dissident republicans will continue with occasional attacks, such as they do for the past 20 years, with or without a hard border. Hence, all warnings that Brexit "could revive the Troubles" do not reflect existing research.

Link:https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2019/0204/1027467-will-brexit-increase-the-threat-from-dissident-republicans/?

**davidbfpo** · 03-14-2019

After a long wait ‘Soldier F’ of the Parachute Regiment is to be prosecuted in Northern Ireland, for murder and attempted murder over 1972 killings in Derry and the UK MoD will pay his legal costs. This follows the 12-year-long Saville inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, which found the killings were unjustified and that none of the 14 dead was carrying a gun, no warnings were given, no soldiers were under threat and the troops were the first to open fire. Other charges of perjury may follow.

Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47540271 and https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/14/one-soldier-to-face-charges-over-bloody-sunday-killings