Up Above, you can clearly see two soldiers. Men of duty, but seemingly completely different. There is a clear difference in weaponry among the two, also a difference in uniform and overall evil appearance. The world will typically tell you that on the upper left is a hero, and on the upper right is a terrorist, or a radical. The left is a depiction of a continental soldier during the American Revolution. On the right is an IRA soldier during a north Ireland "Struggle."
Funny isn't it, two soldiers who are fighting for the same thing, yet have been painted out to be complete opposites? One a hero, and one a terrorist. What are they both fighting for? Independence from England. The IRA has an interesting past and present, I am going to take a deeper look into it.
Home Rule (1870-1914)
Home Rule was an act that was brought up by the Home Rule League in 1870 which would allow Ireland to be self-governed but still remain in the u.k. Several attempts were made to get the act into effect but they were unsuccessful. However on May, 25, 1914 a Third Home Rule was passed, although it was rejected by the House of Lords three times the Commons used the Parliament Act to get the act passed without the House of Lords. This "Third Home Rule" Divided Ireland into Northern and Southern halves.
The Act was postponed until the end of World War I, The Irish Volunteer Army was also split, most of them accepted the promise of the home rule act, but some of them split off to form the IRB which fought for Irish Independence before the home rule was enacted. Finally however it was, in 1922 most of Ireland was self ruled. This was accepted by many as the first step towards full Independence.
The Unionist Rule (1921-1972)
North Ireland was still largely a Protestant state while "free" southern Ireland was catholic. Northern Ireland was ruled by a Unionist style government. It was declared a Protestant state for Protestant People. In the 60s, inspired by Martin Luther King, the North Ireland Civil Rights Association started up, leading to several civil rights protests. One Sunday The 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights protesters, killing 27. Bloody Friday was the IRA response, several bombings on North Ireland economic and military places. This however did not hurt Britain, it hurt Ireland. The IRA Issued an apology after the events. Saying it was not their intent to kill non combatants.
The Direct British Rule (1972-1999)
Britain decided that they needed to take charge in North Ireland, they decided to rule it directly from that point onward. In the 80s the IRA used a weapons shipment from Libya to battle for freedom, these efforts failed. But the violence eventually led to a more republican style of rule for North Ireland. The IRA continued to fight for Independence until 2005 when they gave up violence. North Ireland has had its new form of government since 99, who knows what will happen in the future, but if it does flare up again, pray that the worst is already over.
The IRA
In 1916 the IRA was formed, before it were some movements for Independence but not as powerful as this. Its full name was the Irish Republican Revolutionary Organisation, which was then changed to the IRA Team, no these are not the super soldiers you remember from television, this was the IRA Team. It is now simply known as the IRA. From 1919-1921 they fought a small war against Britain, and they fought again from the 80s until 2005 when they agreed to give up violence against Britain.
Conclusion
If you have indeed stayed with me through this unusually long and dry post that feels like it would serve better in my computer's recycle bin than on my blog then you are in for a little treat. This is the part where I tie everything together in an interesting way and try and add a comedic aspect to a few things while maintaining the serious nature of the subject. The IRA may seem like terrorists, but that is the tactic, not the people. Sure terrorism is not the best way to handle fighting a war, but it has been proven effective in our own revolution against England. When you call an IRA soldier a terrorist, just note that terrorism was used in our own revolution and civil war. The two soldiers you saw at the top of this ridiculously long and slow paced post were not that different from one another. It is quite sad that through heavy weapons shipments from two nations and through several battles the IRA was not successful in achieving their goal, what better way for the victims of Bloody Sunday to rest in peace would there be than their full country having full Independence. I believe that with the odds stacked against us so highly in the revolution, it was God himself who helped us through to the end. Perhaps in the future God will help Ireland in the same way.
And that's the post, hope you enjoyed it!
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