A Broad Church: The Provisional IRA in the Republic of Ireland, 1969–1980

by Gearóid Ó Faoleán

This groundbreaking book is the first to detail, with startling new revelations, just how integral the Republic of Ireland was to the Provisional IRA’s campaign. The sheer level of sympathy and support that existed for militant republicanism demonstrates that the longevity of the ‘Troubles’ was due in large part to this widespread tolerance and aid. Former IRA volunteers attest to in interviews and previously unpublished accounts of training camps in the Republic. Juried courts for IRA suspects were phased out as both juries and judges were regularly acquitting republicans in cases of blatant IRA activity.

The extent of activity, training, financing, demonstrations and goodwill for the IRA in the Irish Republic is rarely if ever acknowledged in Irish mainstream media or the education curriculum. This book will dramatically change that view forever.

Genres: History, Ireland, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2019

Reviews

[Robert Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a whole new aspect of history for me and for others, I suspect. The effort to collect and compile many oral histories into a very digestible and readable format is to be commended.

The dualism of Garda heavihandedness with IRA prisoners in the South, but blind eyes at the border, is something hard to understand. The author does give examples of conflicting or contradictory ideas held by people on the IRA at the same time, but maybe this could be explored in a separate study of the Irish security forces.

While I understand that not everything can be covered in one book, I would be very interested in a second edition to see how the author would put the 1970 Arms Trial into context. This trial led to the sacking of Charles Haughey over the planned diversion the previous year of Irish government emergency relief funds to weapons purchases for the Official IRA - the most prominent example of the Irish political establishment's ambiguous attitudes, with the Garda on one side and Military Intelligence (G2) on the other.

[Thomas Harte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early in the book the author says that while Northern Ireland was the cockpit of The IRA, the Republic of Ireland was the engine. Most contemporary readings of the IRA concentrate on Northern Ireland so this book is a very welcome addition to the numerous studies on the IRA. It deals with the early years of the IRA and the most fascinating part is the ongoing tension between north and south. It is well researched, and gives an understanding of the origins of the most recent phase of militant republicanism.

[Differengenera · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the better books about the IRA over the past few years, does a far better job of scrutinising points of view on the basis of who their coming from, what interests may have been at stake than a lot of others working on the same questions

[Vic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know much about the situation regarding ROI & NI. I found this book interesting and entertaining, a good read.

[Matthew O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

An very important book on the IRA. It will certainly go down in history as one of the "classics" of the irish republican struggle.

[Redspud · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good academic wrote book, a mixture of interviews, media reports, internal figures.