On This Day PIRA

The IRA were not Wild West style gunslingers who challenged the local lawman to a shootout at high noon. Their modus operandi was to engage them while off duty and effectively defenceless or, particularly when it came to the RUC, to murder them while on duty but unable to defend themselves (like David Ead - shot in the back of the head on a seaside promenade on a sunny day before the murderers made off through the crowds). You can review the cases of off duty murders we have covered to date on the twitter account here . When Republicans point out that a relatively small percentage of murders by the PIRA in border areas had no security force connections they ignore the fact that Protestants had a strong tradition of serving in the security forces along the border and indeed in the regular armed forces. The Fermanagh based Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers had a history dating back to the 17th century for example. They also ignore the fact that most of those...

Thomas Niedermayer, general manager of Grundig in Northern Ireland and IRA murder victim. When it comes to looking at any period there are two things which will determine many of the conclusions you come to. One is what evidence you choose to look at. The other is what questions you ask when examining that evidence. Those familiar with Northern Ireland politics will remember the Haass talks back in 2013. While the talks didn’t result in an agreement the document which emerged has shaped much of the discussion about how Northern Ireland should deal with what politicians describe as the past. I felt then and I feel more strongly now that if the themes proposed in the Haass document (listed on page 33 here ) form the basis of how events in Northern Ireland are examined the IRA will get off the hook in relation to a plethora of important issues. Sometimes I read responses to my tweets saying that what the IRA did was pointless  or didn’t achieve anything. I don’t thin...