Trying to understand the relationship between republicanism and anti-drugs?

It's a good question, and an issue I often had plenty of debate about when I was active in Republican politics. There are a number of different facets to the issue I suppose.

The Provisional IRA was very much a community-dependent organisation in the sense that for it to operate as an effective guerrilla army it had to rely on the support of the people in the areas where they operated. They depended on nationalist communities for recruits, transport, safe-houses, information, support, arms dumps, money and even for those not that supportive of them to turn a blind eye. In the north, the fabric of these communities was often tested not only by the British occupation or actions of Loyalist paramilitaries, but also by anti-social behaviour and drug dealing from within those communities themselves. As the main actor and main organisation in these areas, the IRA were often looked upon to provide some sort of "policing" in order to combat this. Their opposition to the drug trade was rooted in the fact that it is often cannibalistic and socially destructive; and in the case of Irish working class communities they weren't far off the mark in that.

It's important to realise as well that parts of Ireland had a pretty horrific drug problem that wasn't limited to cannabis. The likes of heroin for instance was a hugely destabilising factor in parts of Dublin which wreaked havoc in areas that were once proud and cohesive working class communities. This is a drug that allowed parasitical elements there to amass a fortune and leave total destruction in its wake; everything from ODs, prostitution, massive amounts of street robbery and burglary as well as young people being negatively influenced by gangsters. While the IRA was rightly against the heroin trade, it is important to realise that most of the anti-drugs stuff in the 1980s and 1990s were community-based movements where the link with the IRA was tenuous at best. The Provos played a supporting role, despite the protestations at the time that it was an IRA front. Nevertheless, Republican participation in anti-drugs campaigns were a major factor in them gaining a political foothold in the capital.

Today there are a myriad of groups out there using a multitude of different names. While some people involved in these are sincere they also have attracted a rump of gangsters and it's an unfortunate fact that many of these characters are actively extorting drug dealers. This is something that is definitely taking place in Cork and Dublin anyway.

There are people in that movement who do have a very narrow-minded "anti drugs" philosophy, there is no doubt about that. I know people who would go apoplectic about the thought of someone smoking a joint but have no problem skulling twelve pints of Guinness at a function. While that hysterical view wasn't wholly uncommon, it wasn't the view that drove Republican involvement in anti-drugs campaigns. In other words, they weren't going out shooting people for smoking hash rather targeted the elements in that trade they perceived to be destabilising communities.

The Provisional IRA was never involved in drugs. There are plenty of things you can criticise them for and that's not one of them. Any IRA Volunteer caught at that craic would have been shot pretty quick.

tipptom wrote: »

[/B] Im not saying that they did and I wasn't saying that any volunteers were directly dealing but that it has been said in many reports that they took protection money from "licenced" drug dealers.

Propagandist nonsense. The same crowd in the media were also calling IRA members "godfathers" and all of that craic. The media offensive was as much an integral part of the conflict as the military aspect.

Generally the Provos had a no-tolerance attitude to heroin dealers, but it got a muddier for other drugs. I personally know of one Belfast-based ecstasy manufacturer who was known to senior IRA figures in the city, but essentially left alone on the basis of his family being within the republican camp, and the potential usefulness of his chemistry knowledge to them down the road. This was around 1990. Other republican groups were up to their eyes in drug and other criminal revenue, as were some loyalist groups.

Best thing the provos ever did was keep heroin out of areas they controlled, the contrast with loyalist areas was stark.

As for dissidents its sad to say that the sunday world has largely been proved correct (about Dublin at least)