Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict

by David McKittrick

Hopes for an IRA ceasefire faded as Mason’s assessments were shown up as unrealistic. While he had talked enthusiastically of rolling the IRA up ‘like a tube of toothpaste’, a leaked 1979 army document written by a senior army officer painted a very different picture of the organisation. He wrote: There is a stratum of intelligent, astute and experienced terrorists who provide the backbone of the organization. Our evidence of the calibre of rank-and-file terrorists does not support the view that they are merely mindless hooligans drawn from the unemployed and unemployable. The IRA will probably continue to recruit the men it needs. They will still be able to attract enough people with leadership talent, good education and manual skills to continue to enhance their all-around professionalism. By reorganizing on cellular lines, PIRA has become much less dependent on public support than in the past and is less vulnerable to penetration by informers. The campaign is likely to continue while the British remain in Northern Ireland.