An examination of the emergence of dissident republicanism which relates this to the contradictio... more An examination of the emergence of dissident republicanism which relates this to the contradictions of the mainstream republican movement's involvement in the peace process and the devolved structures of government in Northern Ireland
Politics and the Irish Working Class, 1830–1945, 2005
William Walker was born into Belfast’s skilled working class in 1871. His father worked in the Ha... more William Walker was born into Belfast’s skilled working class in 1871. His father worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard and was a trade union official.1 The first 30 years of Walker’s life coincided with two processes whose intertwining would dominate his experiences as a trade unionist and political activist. The first was the major expansion of its shipbuilding and engineering industries, which, together with its already substantial linen and engineering industries, would make Belfast the industrial heartland of Ireland. The Harland and Wolff yard, which had a workforce of 1,500 in the 1860s, when it was the only yard in Belfast, employed 9,000 people by 1900.2 In the 1ate 1870s, another shipbuilding enterprise was set up by Frank Workman, a local businessman, who was joined by George Clark from Glasgow in the Workman Clark ‘Wee Yard’. Clark, like Edward Harland and Gustavus Wolff, would become involved in Conservative and Unionist politics and Walker was to challenge him for the North Belfast parliamentary seat in 1907.
The collapse of the Executive opened a new phase in British policy towards the North characterise... more The collapse of the Executive opened a new phase in British policy towards the North characterised by ambiguity and uncertainty, which increasingly alarmed Dublin. Galsworthy believed that the collapse of the Executive and the way it came about, through an assertion of loyalist paramilitary and industrial muscle, represented the gravest threat yet to relations with Dublin. Although he noted that Cosgrave’s statement in the Dail had been ‘helpful and encouragingly free from recrimination against us’, he feared a backlash in the media ‘where old-fashioned republican-style nationalism is much more widespread and strongly entrenched’. He also expected Lynch’s difficulties with his republicanminded TDs to increase:
According to Michael Lillis, the DFA official who was to play an important role in negotiating th... more According to Michael Lillis, the DFA official who was to play an important role in negotiating the Anglo-Irish Agreement, ‘There was literally no Anglo-Irish political dialogue on Northern Ireland and little prospect of it when Dr FitzGerald became Taoiseach.’1 The question which he raises but does not give a satisfactory answer to is ‘How did the Anglo- Irish Agreement, facilitating the most intrusive role for Dublin in the affairs of Northern Ireland of any Anglo-Irish arrangement before or since, come about?’2 His answer reflects bureaucratic amour propre in its emphasis on the central role of senior officials on both sides, but particularly, the British, in persuading Margaret Thatcher of the benefits of this radical reconstruction of the governance of Northern Ireland. There is, however, a tangential reference to Thatcher’s core concern when he refers to a proposal from the British for a ‘security band’ to be established along the border to be jointly policed by the Garda and the RUC under a joint security commission.3 The Irish rejected the proposal but it is clear from the accounts of some of the British participants in the negotiations that Thatcher’s willingness to sanction the ongoing talks was based on her strong conviction that stronger action from the Republic on security co-operation was the key to defeating the Provisionals. According to Douglas Hurd, Thatcher’s ‘main aim in negotiation was to shame and galvanise Dublin into effective anti-terrorist action.’4 Geoffrey Howe claimed that her security concerns were used by some on the British side to persuade her of the virtues of a new deal with Dublin:
The chapter argues against the notion that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was the progenitor of the Be... more The chapter argues against the notion that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was the progenitor of the Belfast Agreement by focussing on the Provisional IRA's response to the Agreement. It points to the intensification of violence in the aftermath of the Agreement and argues that violence continued to be seen by the leadership of the Provisionals as a form of leverage on any future political negotiations
... 31 A farmer and local unionist councillor I interviewed in the area produced a copy of a rece... more ... 31 A farmer and local unionist councillor I interviewed in the area produced a copy of a recent biography of a leading IRA figure who had organised raids into south Fermanagh in 1922:Fearghal McGarry, Eoin O'Duffy A Self-Made Hero (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). ...
ABSTRACT Using hitherto largely unexplored governmental archives from London and Dublin, this art... more ABSTRACT Using hitherto largely unexplored governmental archives from London and Dublin, this article focuses on the security challenges arising from the existence of the land frontier between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the significance of issues of cross-border security cooperation for Anglo-Irish relations from the beginning of the Troubles until the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. It argues that the relatively safe haven of the Republic was essential to the longevity of the IRA's campaign and that successive Irish governments exploited British security concerns to expand their political influence on Northern Ireland.
ABSTRACT The IRA's exploitation of the land frontier between the Irish Republic and the U... more ABSTRACT The IRA's exploitation of the land frontier between the Irish Republic and the UK was a major challenge to the British state throughout the Troubles. This article examines how this challenge affected and was influenced by the broader context of Anglo-Irish relations during the early years of the Troubles. It considers British criticisms of the response of the government of Jack Lynch to border security challenges and the ideological and strategic factors that influenced that response. It argues that Lynch established a dualistic response: a tough line against any IRA challenge to Irish state while claiming only radical political reform could deal with the IRA in the North.
Henry Patterson, along with co-author Eric Kaufmann, has returned to explore a topic he and co-au... more Henry Patterson, along with co-author Eric Kaufmann, has returned to explore a topic he and co-authors analyzed so many years ago: the Unionist ruling class and the Northern Irish state. Unlike The State in Northern Ireland, 19211972, which Patterson published along ...
Synthesizing a vast body of scholarly work, Henry Patterson offers a compelling narrative of cont... more Synthesizing a vast body of scholarly work, Henry Patterson offers a compelling narrative of contemporary Ireland as a place poised between the divisiveness of deep-seated conflict and the modernizing - but perhaps no less divisive - pull of ever-greater material prosperity. Although the two states of Ireland have strikingly divergent histories, Patterson shows more clearly than any previous historian how interdependent those histories - and the mirroring ideologies that have fuelled them - have been. With its fresh and unpredictable readings of key events and developments on the island since the outbreak of the second world war, "Ireland Since 1939" is an authoritative and gripping account from one of the most distinguished Irish historians at work today.
The eruption of Protestant anger in November over the Provisional IRA's killing of the Union... more The eruption of Protestant anger in November over the Provisional IRA's killing of the Unionist MP for South Belfast was given its most strident and disturbing expression by Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party. Together with the emergence of the 'Third Force' to supposedly give ...
In the last two years, a series of events has occurred which, taken together, seemed to signify d... more In the last two years, a series of events has occurred which, taken together, seemed to signify developments of such importance that even those observers of Irish politics most prone to relish or lament its apparent barren continuities have begun to contemplate the possibility of a ...
... 48. McKittrick, Kelters, and Feeney, Lost Lives, 821. ... 2007. The Peace Process as Arkhe-Ta... more ... 48. McKittrick, Kelters, and Feeney, Lost Lives, 821. ... 2007. The Peace Process as Arkhe-Tainment?. Irish Studies Review , 15(4): 50720. [Taylor & Francis Online] View all references, 'The Peace Process as Arkhe-Tainment?', 507. 4. Lehner9. Lehner, Stefanie. 2007. ...
An examination of the emergence of dissident republicanism which relates this to the contradictio... more An examination of the emergence of dissident republicanism which relates this to the contradictions of the mainstream republican movement's involvement in the peace process and the devolved structures of government in Northern Ireland
Politics and the Irish Working Class, 1830–1945, 2005
William Walker was born into Belfast’s skilled working class in 1871. His father worked in the Ha... more William Walker was born into Belfast’s skilled working class in 1871. His father worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard and was a trade union official.1 The first 30 years of Walker’s life coincided with two processes whose intertwining would dominate his experiences as a trade unionist and political activist. The first was the major expansion of its shipbuilding and engineering industries, which, together with its already substantial linen and engineering industries, would make Belfast the industrial heartland of Ireland. The Harland and Wolff yard, which had a workforce of 1,500 in the 1860s, when it was the only yard in Belfast, employed 9,000 people by 1900.2 In the 1ate 1870s, another shipbuilding enterprise was set up by Frank Workman, a local businessman, who was joined by George Clark from Glasgow in the Workman Clark ‘Wee Yard’. Clark, like Edward Harland and Gustavus Wolff, would become involved in Conservative and Unionist politics and Walker was to challenge him for the North Belfast parliamentary seat in 1907.
The collapse of the Executive opened a new phase in British policy towards the North characterise... more The collapse of the Executive opened a new phase in British policy towards the North characterised by ambiguity and uncertainty, which increasingly alarmed Dublin. Galsworthy believed that the collapse of the Executive and the way it came about, through an assertion of loyalist paramilitary and industrial muscle, represented the gravest threat yet to relations with Dublin. Although he noted that Cosgrave’s statement in the Dail had been ‘helpful and encouragingly free from recrimination against us’, he feared a backlash in the media ‘where old-fashioned republican-style nationalism is much more widespread and strongly entrenched’. He also expected Lynch’s difficulties with his republicanminded TDs to increase:
According to Michael Lillis, the DFA official who was to play an important role in negotiating th... more According to Michael Lillis, the DFA official who was to play an important role in negotiating the Anglo-Irish Agreement, ‘There was literally no Anglo-Irish political dialogue on Northern Ireland and little prospect of it when Dr FitzGerald became Taoiseach.’1 The question which he raises but does not give a satisfactory answer to is ‘How did the Anglo- Irish Agreement, facilitating the most intrusive role for Dublin in the affairs of Northern Ireland of any Anglo-Irish arrangement before or since, come about?’2 His answer reflects bureaucratic amour propre in its emphasis on the central role of senior officials on both sides, but particularly, the British, in persuading Margaret Thatcher of the benefits of this radical reconstruction of the governance of Northern Ireland. There is, however, a tangential reference to Thatcher’s core concern when he refers to a proposal from the British for a ‘security band’ to be established along the border to be jointly policed by the Garda and the RUC under a joint security commission.3 The Irish rejected the proposal but it is clear from the accounts of some of the British participants in the negotiations that Thatcher’s willingness to sanction the ongoing talks was based on her strong conviction that stronger action from the Republic on security co-operation was the key to defeating the Provisionals. According to Douglas Hurd, Thatcher’s ‘main aim in negotiation was to shame and galvanise Dublin into effective anti-terrorist action.’4 Geoffrey Howe claimed that her security concerns were used by some on the British side to persuade her of the virtues of a new deal with Dublin:
The chapter argues against the notion that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was the progenitor of the Be... more The chapter argues against the notion that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was the progenitor of the Belfast Agreement by focussing on the Provisional IRA's response to the Agreement. It points to the intensification of violence in the aftermath of the Agreement and argues that violence continued to be seen by the leadership of the Provisionals as a form of leverage on any future political negotiations
... 31 A farmer and local unionist councillor I interviewed in the area produced a copy of a rece... more ... 31 A farmer and local unionist councillor I interviewed in the area produced a copy of a recent biography of a leading IRA figure who had organised raids into south Fermanagh in 1922:Fearghal McGarry, Eoin O'Duffy A Self-Made Hero (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). ...
ABSTRACT Using hitherto largely unexplored governmental archives from London and Dublin, this art... more ABSTRACT Using hitherto largely unexplored governmental archives from London and Dublin, this article focuses on the security challenges arising from the existence of the land frontier between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and the significance of issues of cross-border security cooperation for Anglo-Irish relations from the beginning of the Troubles until the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. It argues that the relatively safe haven of the Republic was essential to the longevity of the IRA's campaign and that successive Irish governments exploited British security concerns to expand their political influence on Northern Ireland.
ABSTRACT The IRA's exploitation of the land frontier between the Irish Republic and the U... more ABSTRACT The IRA's exploitation of the land frontier between the Irish Republic and the UK was a major challenge to the British state throughout the Troubles. This article examines how this challenge affected and was influenced by the broader context of Anglo-Irish relations during the early years of the Troubles. It considers British criticisms of the response of the government of Jack Lynch to border security challenges and the ideological and strategic factors that influenced that response. It argues that Lynch established a dualistic response: a tough line against any IRA challenge to Irish state while claiming only radical political reform could deal with the IRA in the North.
Henry Patterson, along with co-author Eric Kaufmann, has returned to explore a topic he and co-au... more Henry Patterson, along with co-author Eric Kaufmann, has returned to explore a topic he and co-authors analyzed so many years ago: the Unionist ruling class and the Northern Irish state. Unlike The State in Northern Ireland, 19211972, which Patterson published along ...
Synthesizing a vast body of scholarly work, Henry Patterson offers a compelling narrative of cont... more Synthesizing a vast body of scholarly work, Henry Patterson offers a compelling narrative of contemporary Ireland as a place poised between the divisiveness of deep-seated conflict and the modernizing - but perhaps no less divisive - pull of ever-greater material prosperity. Although the two states of Ireland have strikingly divergent histories, Patterson shows more clearly than any previous historian how interdependent those histories - and the mirroring ideologies that have fuelled them - have been. With its fresh and unpredictable readings of key events and developments on the island since the outbreak of the second world war, "Ireland Since 1939" is an authoritative and gripping account from one of the most distinguished Irish historians at work today.
The eruption of Protestant anger in November over the Provisional IRA's killing of the Union... more The eruption of Protestant anger in November over the Provisional IRA's killing of the Unionist MP for South Belfast was given its most strident and disturbing expression by Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party. Together with the emergence of the 'Third Force' to supposedly give ...
In the last two years, a series of events has occurred which, taken together, seemed to signify d... more In the last two years, a series of events has occurred which, taken together, seemed to signify developments of such importance that even those observers of Irish politics most prone to relish or lament its apparent barren continuities have begun to contemplate the possibility of a ...
... 48. McKittrick, Kelters, and Feeney, Lost Lives, 821. ... 2007. The Peace Process as Arkhe-Ta... more ... 48. McKittrick, Kelters, and Feeney, Lost Lives, 821. ... 2007. The Peace Process as Arkhe-Tainment?. Irish Studies Review , 15(4): 50720. [Taylor & Francis Online] View all references, 'The Peace Process as Arkhe-Tainment?', 507. 4. Lehner9. Lehner, Stefanie. 2007. ...
It establishes the crucial importance of the border to the IRA campaign and shows why successive ... more It establishes the crucial importance of the border to the IRA campaign and shows why successive British governments considered the Republic a 'safe haven' for terrorists/
First book based on unprecedented access to archives of party and Orange Order . Shows how precar... more First book based on unprecedented access to archives of party and Orange Order . Shows how precarious the position of Unionist and Orange elites was as they struggled to conflicting demands of working class Protestants for British standards of welfare and wages, of industrialists who opposed the welfare state and populist Protestantism who denounced Stormont government for 'appeasement'
The history of Belfast's Protestant working class has raised many problems for socialists and lab... more The history of Belfast's Protestant working class has raised many problems for socialists and labour historians . Why should the most industrially developed part of Ireland, far from being the centre of class conflict have been what James Connolly called 'the happy hunting ground of the slave driver and the home of the least rebellious slaves in the industrial world.' The book examines the interplay between economic class consciousness, Labourism, sectarianism and Unionism in the formative period of both the labour movement and the mass mobilisations of Unionism and Nationalism.
Given to a conference on 'Labour and Northern Ireland : Foundation and Development' 5 October 201... more Given to a conference on 'Labour and Northern Ireland : Foundation and Development' 5 October 2019 in The Mac, Belfast
This formed the basis for my address to the 50th anniversary Civil Rights Festival in the Guild H... more This formed the basis for my address to the 50th anniversary Civil Rights Festival in the Guild Hall, Derry, 6 October 2018
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