2019-02-03

Oral History In Post-Conflict Societies: Experiences From Researching The Northern Ireland Troubles

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The past five or so years were rather difficult for those conducting interviews in Ireland. Nonetheless, interviews remain an essential source for those of us researching political violence and the Northern Irish Troubles. Since the debacle of the Belfast Oral History Project at Boston College (BC), narrators greet oral historians in the best case with increasing suspicion, in the worst case with open hostility. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 10:59 @ History, Interviews, Irish Republicanism, Northern Ireland | Add a comment

2018-12-30

State Papers, Sinn Féin & Federalism

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The last days of December traditionally bring the release of state papers after the 30-year embargo. Accordingly, the last couple of days saw the release of hundreds of previously secret government files dating from 1988 in Dublin and Belfast. Among the more interesting stories circulating in the Irish media is a meeting between Provisional Republicans and representatives of the Loyalist UVF. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 12:48 @ History, Ireland, Irish Republicanism, Northern Ireland | Add a comment

2018-12-17

Interview with new Saoradh chairperson Brian Kenna

brian.jpgAt their third Ard-Fheis (AGM) on 17/18 November in Dundalk, Co Louth, the Irish republican party Saoradh elected a new chairperson. Brian Kenna from Dublin succeeded Davy Jordan from Co Tyrone who chaired the party since its formation two years ago. Kenna, such as Jordan, is a former republican prisoner. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 19:47 @ Interviews, Irish Republicanism | Add a comment

New RSF President: But who is Seosamh Ó Mhaoileoin?

ajoe.jpgRepublican Sinn Féin, the oldest of the anti-Good-Friday-Agreement groups that emerged from the Provisionals, appointed a new president. The announcement of Seosamh Ó Mhaoileoin came as a surprise to many for he is a largely unknown figure within Irish republicanism. This article aims to shed some light on the new president of RSF.
 
On Saturday, 10 November, Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) appointed a new president at their annual Ard-Fheis (annual meeting) in Dublin’s Teacher’s Club. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 19:32 @ Interviews, Irish Republicanism | Add a comment

Dreaming of an “Irish Tet Offensive”: Irish Republican prisoners & the origins of the Peace Process

aira-meeui.jpgJanuary 30 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of the “Tet offensive” in 1968 by North Vietnam forces and the National Liberation Front against the South Vietnam Army and the US military presence.
 
The offensive not only facilitated the changing public opinion in the USA on the Vietnam War and heralded revolutionary unrest throughout the world in 1968, twenty years later, the idea of a Tet-like offensive resurfaced in Ireland.
 
This piece will argue, however, that rather than a credible scenario, it was a wide-spread myth among the Irish Republican prisoners’ population that facilitated the departure of the IRA from Armalite to the ballot box.
 
In the 1980s, the Provisional IRA planned for a ‘Tet offensive’ that would radically escalate the conflict in Northern Ireland to force a British withdrawal. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 19:16 @ History, Irish Republicanism | Add a comment

A German view on James Connolly

aconnolly.jpgIn the past three or so years, hundreds of books on almost all aspects of the 1916 rising have been published. It is hard to keep track of the wide range of topics and qualities. I doubt that anyone can read all those books. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 19:09 @ History, Irish Republicanism | Add a comment

Irish Identity in British Prisons

identity2.jpgThe fact that Irish Republican prisoners are held in British prisons in the North of Ireland causes conflict for the Northern Ireland Prison Service. Irish Republicans are Irish Nationalists, thus, their national identity is suppressed during their imprisonment in the British State. In a recent statement, Irish Republican prisoners highlighted this discrimination of Irish identity in HMP Maghaberry.
 
Throughout the conflict in the North of Ireland, Irish Republican prisoners have demanded recognition as political prisoners. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 18:56 @ Irish Republicanism, Northern Ireland, Prisons | Add a comment

So how many Cumainn na mBan are actually out there?

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I recently stumbled over following sentence on a widely read Irish blog: “Cumann na mBan (CnamB) has been subject to several splits down through the years.” This comment was made in response to claims that Cumann na mBan “never split.” This is an assumption I also regularly repeat in my own writings on the organisation. The sentence that Cumann na mBan had “several splits down through the years” suggests that various organisations have emerged from the Cumann na mBan tradition. This raises the question: How many Cumainn na mBan are actually out there?
 
Cumann na mBan is an Irish Republican women’s organisation founded in April 1914 in response to the all-male Irish Volunteers. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 18:50 @ History, Ireland, Irish Republicanism | 10 comments

The 1981 Hunger Strikes Controversy & Ruairí Ó Brádaigh

bobbysands.jpgNewly released British Government Papers reignited the debate on the 1981 Hunger Strikes in the H-Blocks of HMP Maze/Long Kesh. This debate started a few years ago with Richard O’Rawe’s publication of Blanketmen. O’Rawe is a Belfast Republican, former POW in the H-Blocks, and PRO of the 1981-Hunger Strikers. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 18:42 @ History, Irish Republicanism, Prisons | Add a comment

Coalisland 2016: A Blow Against Normalisation

coalisland_11-1.jpgThis year marks the centenary of the Easter Rising in Ireland. Over Easter, hundreds of commemorations were held throughout the island. International media outlets reported lengthy from the official State commemorations on O’Connell Street in Dublin. [Read More…]

dieterreinisch - 18:32 @ Ireland, Irish Republicanism | Add a comment

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