Irish Terrorism - A Problem of British Design.
Abstract
Northern Ireland has been literally destroyed and rebuilt several times as a result of the fighting between the Irish and the British. There is no doubt that the present day Irish Republican Army is a terrorist organization in the full sense of the term. However, this was not always the case. During the past 800 years, the Irish have continually fought for independence from the crown - a dream for all 'true' Irish. The United Kingdom has been able to stave off this desire through oppression, inaction, and just a general inability to deal with the Irish people as more than subjects of the Crown. In addition, the protestant plantation of the 1600s initiated a basis for disagreement that enabled England to 'close her eyes' to the Anglo-Irish problem on the basis that it was a religious problem, not a political one. In spite of numerous efforts on the part of the Irish people to have their grievances heard, all rhetoric has been basically wasted as the English are not really interested. Although the United Kingdom would like to believe otherwise, the cause of the terrorism in Ireland is that conventional means of dealing with England have yielded no results and forced the Irish into a situation that is the ideal breeding ground for terrorism; i.e. the percepton of social injustice, support from elsewhere around the world, and an ideology that a better way can be achieved. It must be realized that British inaction has caused Irish action. The blame for the problems of Northern Ireland falls squarely on the shoulders of the Crown. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 15, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA168766
Entities
People
- John J. O'connell Jr
Organizations
- UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science