Official IRA/Sinn Fein

CSC

I have been reading some books lately about the Civil Rights movement and the outbreak of political violence in the north in the late 60's and early 70's and somewhat confused about the Official IRA/Sinn Fein?

Can some one explain what happened to them after they declared a ceasefire in 1972? I know they were involved in feuds with other republican factions for a period of time but what happened then? Did they disband and give up their weapons similar to what the Provos did in 2005? What happened to Official Sinn Fein, did the party disband and members join The Workers Party?

Any expanation would be good or even point me in the direction of a book that would cover that movement's history.

José Alaninho

Basically, what you have said was what happened. The OIRA sold/donated a lot of its weapons to the Welsh Republican Army, and kept a few for 'housekeeping' (so to speak, for feuds and such). Eventually, after Aldershot showed them to be such a joke militarily, they just faded away. Official SF just merged with the Worker's Party I believe, and some even went on to form what is now Labour, however I'm not 100% on this.... all my books on the subject are sadly at home

Edit: a good book for the subject, that keeps to the facts and doesn't bog you down with too much detail, is Jack Holland and Henry McDonald's 'INLA - Deadly Divisions'. Although it obviously focuses on the INLA splinter group, it has a good bit of detail on how Cathal Goulding ran down the OIRA's military strength, and eventually turned Official SF into Sinn Fein - The Worker's Party, and so on.

CSC

What happened at Aldershot?

I do believe Democratic Left split from the Workers Party and then merged with the Labour Party. Did the likes of De Rossa and Rabbitte start off their political careers with Official Sinn Fein?

FTA69

You're a bit off there José.

Basically, what you have said was what happened. The OIRA sold/donated a lot of its weapons to the Welsh Republican Army,

This happened in 1967, a few years before the Official/Provisional split. The IRA Chief of Staff, Cathal Goulding, sold IRA weapons to the Free Wales Army in order to raise money for posters and pamphlets. The Sticks themselves never decommissioned a thing and there are small remnants of them around parts of the north who retain arms. Most of these are f*cking eejits involved in all sorts of criminality, they own one or two drinking clubs in West Belfast.

Eventually, after Aldershot showed them to be such a joke militarily, they just faded away

Not really, they engaged in vicious feuds with the Provisional IRA in 1972, the INLA in 74/75 and the Provisional IRA again in 1979. Also in 1979, in an act of pure cynicism Jim Flynn, a Stick from Belfast murdered Séamus Costello in Gardiner Street in Dublin. Similarly they also engaged in numerous robberies south of the border to raise cash, this continued into the mid 1980s. They were engaged in counterfeiting too, the bould Pat Rabbitte was once caught in an office in which a banknote plate was found.

Official SF just merged with the Worker's Party

It did and it didn't. Similar to what happened to Sinn Féin a couple of years ago, the onus was placed on the party but a military structure remained in some shape or form. The Official IRA remained in existance up until the early 1990s prompting Democratic Left to split off. Many of those who joined DL (and later Labour) such as De Rossa, certain people here in Cork, and Rabbitte would have all had some background or dealings with the Official IRA in the 1980s.

What happened at Aldershot?

The Sticks bombed the headquarters of the Parachute Regiment after Bloody Sunday and killed 5 cleaning ladies and a priest.

CSC

Are there any good books you could recommend FTA69 for further information on that movement?

getz

CSC wrote: »

Are there any good books you could recommend FTA69 for further information on that movement?

i do believe and have been told the best book to read is by a canadian called peter hart its called[ the IRA and its enemies ] i have to say i havent read it but there is a lot about it on web sites

José Alaninho

I was never too up on the Stickies to be honest; ask me about the Provisional movement tho and you'll be hard pressed to shut me up

Thanks for the clarification FTA, good to brush up on some of the more obscure characters in the republican movement.

CSC

getz wrote: »

i do believe and have been told the best book to read is by a canadian called peter hart its called[ the IRA and its enemies ] i have to say i havent read it but there is a lot about it on web sites

Thanks but I believe that book is about the IRA in Cork in the 1920s. I am looking for something more specific on the "Stickies"; I'll have a look on Amazon and Ebay even though it may be in vain.

FTA69

getz wrote: »

i do believe and have been told the best book to read is by a canadian called peter hart its called[ the IRA and its enemies ] i have to say i havent read it but there is a lot about it on web sites

Peter Hart has been completely discredited and at one stage was claiming that he interviewed people long dead. His book is a load of sh*te, and I have read it.

There is no book solely devoted to the Sticks but "Deadly Divisions" has a good bit about them, although it's a hard book to come by. Personally I think the best books about the IRA are Tim Pat Coogan's "The IRA", Richard English's "Armed Struggle" and Ed Moloney's "Secret History of the IRA".

I wouldn't bother reading anything by that eejit Hart. Possibly the most ridiculous book I've read is Tony Geraghty's "The Long War".

CSC

I have found a book on the Officials that I will read to gain more of an understanding of that movement.

Official Irish Republicanism, 1962 to 1972 by Sean Swan

www.lulu.com/content/644207

A history of the Official Irish Republican movement, from the IRA’s 1962 ceasefire to the Official IRA’s permanent ceasefire in 1972. The civil rights movement, the outbreak of violence in August 1969, the Official IRA’s campaign, the ceasefire, and later developments towards ‘Sinn Fein the Workers’ Party’, are explored. "the first in-depth study of this crucial period in the history of Irish republicanism. Using his unprecedented access to the internal documents of the movement and interviews with key participants Swan’s work will transform our understanding of this transformative period in the history of the movement.", Henry Patterson, Author of 'The Politics of Illusion: A Political History of the IRA'. "There is much fascinating material … and also much good sense.", Richard English, Author of 'Armed Struggle, A History of the IRA'.“…an outstanding job teasing out the detail of an incredibly complex process”. Roy Johnston