The Reduction and Removal of Land and Civil Rights of the Catholic Gael Community - Essay Example

? Social Unrest, Political Disorder and the There are many historical accounts which suggest that the IRA came into being as a result of a harsh feudal background. From its early years, the IRA emerged as a secret society peasant protection group, attaining attention from media as well as the government, when it began to be viewed as a serious terrorist organization. In the case of Ireland, the Irish peasant protection groups can be seen since the 12th century when there were Gaelic defenders against the brutalities of Henry II. The reduction and removal of land and civil rights of the Catholic Gael community, which continued for about four hundred years, forced them to form such peasant protection groups. Such easy formation came as a result of the isolation which Ireland had due to its geographical location. Just like any organized crime group or a terrorist group, the IRA has a method of operating in a hierarchical manner with exclusive membership and explicit rules (Mahan and O’Neil 1998, p.6) Although, IRA does not consider itself to be an organized criminal group in any way, neither as a mafia of any sort, but when analyzed closely, it does appear to have a historical background of being involved in criminal activities and terrorism. But they have evolved from merely a rural peasant protection group to a secret society which constantly challenged against the status quo. According to Mackenzie, there are different agendas which secret societies have, ranging from spiritual, moralistic, patriotic, and political to criminal activities (Mackenzie 1967). The IRA has experienced a similar process of evolution over the years and operated in a corresponding manner in each of the cases as per circumstances. Furthermore, the IRA shares organizational characteristics which befit only criminal business groups with much focus diverted towards their political goals (Bell, 1997). For the purposes of analyzing the IRA and its methodology, ethnographical research method is deemed to be most appropriate. According to Hobsbawm’s observation (1969), in any oppressed society, there is always to be found a minority group which is willing to devote itself to rebelling against the status quo. In that, some people will choose positive methods and some will be inclined towards illegal means to achieve the same end. One feature that stands out in the IRA is that it was basically formed to raise a solemn voice against oppressing conditions of the peasants in Ireland and the high degree of feudal practices to suppress the masses There was massive unrest especially after the forceful 1800 Act of Union was passed by Westminster to create United Kingdom, which ended up binding Ireland under its rule. This is a significant curve at the point of which the peasant protection group was compelled to take political action (Toolis, 1995). As there increased the number of peasants willing to fight for the political cause they all believed in, the need for more organized formation arose and hence, the IRA was formed. ‘The Whiteboys’ and ‘the Oakboys’ along with ‘phoenix’ were a precursor in Ireland for forming such hierarchical groups for cohesion and organization with enhanced sophistication. It became a sub-culture within a sub-culture (Lambart, 2010). Something that gives them authority is their ability to monopolize violence in their respective communities. Traditionally, Ireland is known for its familial unit and camaraderie, hence the rise of the IRA has its roots in such a background. Those who were out of any secure means for livelihood sought shelter in such organizations for mutual protection (Collins, 1986). The modus operandi of the IRA depends on the kinship and friendship networks that it has developed through practicing its hold on its community. If there is kept no check from the government’s side on their activities, they spread their values and ideologies very easily. Even there had been such fortunate historical events in favor of the IRA where their sub-culture has proliferated with changing patterns in migration of people. This made their members spread themselves and their political views (Soule, 1989). Ever since the creation of the IRA, there has been interest in its structure and organization from both the political and media side. It started with the ‘Army Council’ taking charge of all the IRA operations (Coogen, 2002). To operate within a designated area, the method adopted was to form separate ‘volunteers’ and ‘battalions’ for each area, which would be headed by the ‘Brigade Commander’ of that specific area. In the IRA, there were particular departments and units which were responsible for arms smuggling, money laundering, transportation and bomb making. But this method of operation was proven ineffective when the law enforcement agencies broke them down and penetrated in them through increasing number of informants. For this reason, the IRA had to change its method in 1976. Another major change in its structure was a little role played by the Army Council and more power being given to a mini-Army Council; especially to oversee every single operation in the North (Toolis 1995, p.318). The IRA carried out much guerrilla warfare against the British government and its agencies, just like its Gaelic ancestors. The IRA has not changed its method of operations since 1919 with bombings, assassinations, beatings, intimidation and arms smuggling. These methods have all been used by the IRA successfully for its advantage over the years (Toolis 1995). But a major event that marks its method of operation prominently was the Ulster riots of 1969, which are commonly known as the ‘Troubles’ (Bell, 1997). In 1970, the split between the official IRA and the provisional IRA began a long campaign against the British government and its occupation of Northern Ireland (White, 1997). There have been many devastating events since then, such as the IRA attacks in Northern Ireland and England in 1972 with the July bombings in the centre of Belfast, known as ‘Bloodly Friday’ resulted in the death of 9 people and left 130 injured. Since the ceasefire followed after the ‘Good Friday’ agreement, there has been some slowness shown in the IRA’s strong commitment to its political cause (English, 2003). There are indications that the IRA splinter groups, the ‘Real IRA’ as well as the ‘Irish National Liberation Army’ have both put into use their trans-Atlantic connections with arms smugglers and drug traffickers. There have been many trials in Columbia on their attempt to traffic Cocaine (Bishop and Maille, 1986). To evolve the successful method that was employed by the IRA was to get mixed with the legitimate authorities. The advantage that the IRA had was that the communities supported them and accepted their informal control of the administration and its justice (Knox, 2002, p.173). The analysis of such a behavior says that there exists a pragmatic need to control criminal behavior and those which are a threat to the de facto authority. But there seems to be a balance in this presumed legitimacy that the IRA receives from the people, because they on the other hand feel secure. But according to another analysis of their method, there has been a shift in balance with the increase in the Irish paramilitaries taking more criminalizing activities like racketeering and illicit drug markets (English, 2003). Even though this has led to some degree of political stability in Ireland with a change for democratic resolutions increasing, but it has put in jeopardy the IRA’s informal legitimacy. Now, their method has become to invest in big businesses and they use paramilitary to hide behind it (Knox 2002, p.177). The IRA’s activities have been affected by the governmental legislations as well as policies over the years, which have been afflicted their communities. In fact, the evolution of the IRA has been a direct result of the oppression of legislative rights over hundreds of years (Geraghty, 2000). In 1971, the Special Powers Act of 1922 was invoked by Stormont to bar down some suspected terrorists without trial, as a result of which the IRA performed violent acts with an average death toll from 8 to 114 covering almost four months. These activities forced the government to consider some sort of alternative legal procedures. Hence, in 1972 the Special Powers Act was abolished and the recommended change was put into action in the form of Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act of 1973. The ‘Diplock’ courts for the trial of political cases were formed where there were no juries but only a single high or county court judge. This whole step by the government was made worse by the decision of treating all paramilitary prisoners as criminals, those who were charged after 1976 in the United Kingdom. Again this led to the dirty protests by the IRA prisoners in Long Kesh who felt like political prisoners, and they murdered 17 people by the end of 1979. This made them strong in their resolve to take direct action (Bell, 1997). In its nature, the IRA has been a severe difficulty for the government and presented many challenges to the law enforcement agencies. Because of their clandestine nature, the gathering of information and proofs become rather impossible task (White, 1997). To make matters worse, the law enforcement agencies face the same issues and pressures as do the legislative issues. This has raised the need to cooperate more through multi-agency at both national and international levels but the IRA gets an advantage when there is hesitancy from any agency to share information (Holland, 1999). The permeable borders are one factor along with globalization that demands the multi-agency cooperation with the increase in the threat of global terrorism (Soule, 1989). The difficulty faced by the law enforcement agencies to overcome the differences in national laws present itself as an impediment and such a thing can well be exploited by the IRA (Whyte, 1990). Hence, the requirement for coordination at all the levels is dominant, because the IRA takes its full advantage of criminal activity from the very macro level. One of the most effective tools for IRA is to get the action from the political and social demands of the people. If the government controls things at the local level then there is no danger from any alien conspiracy taking place and hence the IRA will not find grounds to grow its roots (Collin, 1986). It is due to the mutual relations between the IRA and the corrupt legitimate authority which has led strength for the IRA, but it is solely the corruption in the government that has let the IRA survive successfully for so long even after harsh law enforcement. The basic instigation from the IRA to influence some people in the authority has always helped them won their cases (Holland, 1999). The moving of the IRA officials into political positions has made them sought legitimacy and then get strengthened. References Bell, J.B., 1997. The Secret Army: The IRA. 3rd Edition. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers Bishop, P. and Mallie, E.,1987. The Provisional IRA. London: Heinamann Carlton, C., 1981. ‘Judging Without Consensus: The Diplock Courts In Northern Ireland’ Law and Policy Quarterly, 3, pp. 225-42. Collins, Timothy M., 1986. The IRA (Irish Republican Army): An Examination of a Terrorist Organization. Defense Technical Information Center Coogen, Tim P., 2002. The IRA, New Jersey: Palgrave Macmillan English, R., 2003. Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. Oxford: Oxford University Press Geraghty, Tony. 2000. The Irish War. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press Hobsbawm, E.J., 1967. Peasants and rural migrants in politics. In C. Velez (ed.), The politics of conformity in Latin America, Oxford: Oxford University Press Holland, J., 1999. Hope against history: the course of conflict in Northern Ireland. New York: Henry Holt Knox, C., 2002. ‘See No Evil Hear No Evil: Insidious Paramilitary Violence In Northern Ireland’, British Journal Of Criminology, 42, pp. 164-185. Lambert, T., 2010. A brief History of Ireland. Available at: http://www.localhistories.org/irehist.html [Accessed 12 March 2011] Mackenzie, W.  1967. Politics and Social Science. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Mahan, S. and O’Neil, K., 1998. Beyond The Mafia: Organized Crime In The Americas London: Sage Publications. Soule, John W. 1989. “Problems in Applying Counter terrorism to Prevent Terrorism: Two Decades of Violence in Northern Ireland Reconsidered” Terrorism, 12, pp. 31-46. Toolis, K., 1995. Rebel Hearts: Journey Within The IRA’s Soul. London: Picador Books White, Robert W. 1997. “The Irish Republican Army: An Assessment of Sectarianism” Terrorism and Political Violence 9, pp. 20-55. Whyte, J.H., 1990. Interpreting Northern Ireland. Oxford: Clarendon. Read More