How did the PIRA keep drugs out of Northern Ireland

enricoh

enricoh wrote: »

Lads started selling heroin here in the 90's along with e's and speed. The ra pretty much gave them 24 hours to leave town. One genius decided against it n was kneecapped. They really did keep a lid on it for the guts of 20 years. However if they tried it now it'd be the ra getting 24 hours to leave town unfortunately

You surely appreciate that the reason was not some objection to immorality, after all child abusers got to canvass with SF leaders, but probably because he wasn't giving them a cut of the profits.

Seanbgyytl

mfceiling wrote: »

Most of you haven't a clue. I used to be into the rave culture in the mid 90's and early 2000's. We went to clubs all over the north. Loyalists and Provos both used to sell drugs openly at these events. I never took them but I knew enough to keep my head down and ignore the blatant dealing which took place.

There was a club in Banbridge called Circus Circus. Walking up the 2 flights of stairs and there were anywhere between 20 - 30 tattooed hard men asking what you wanted..."E's, speed or acid mate"...

Other clubs would have had lads standing in the toilets dealing openly from large bags. Again eyes straight ahead and no contact.

You're living in some sort if fantasy land if you think that paramilitaries on both sides didn't peddle drugs.

I think we all know this is rubbish (for various reasons) but anyways I think the OP meant at an organised level just because one provo sold a few tablets doesn't mean that the IRA sells drugs and anyways if they did they would be bringing it in from the top an organisation that needed 10 million a year to simply function wouldn't be sending the lads out to club toilets selling tablets.

Seanbgyytl

Seanbgyytl wrote: »

I think we all know this is rubbish (for various reasons) but anyways I think the OP meant at an organised level just because one provo sold a few tablets doesn't mean that the IRA sells drugs and anyways if they did they would be bringing it in from the top an organisation that needed 10 million a year to simply function wouldn't be sending the lads out to club toilets selling tablets.

Yeah. There's no money in that sale and supply of drugs business. If you wanna make the millions, you need your men in 9 to 5 PAYE stuff.

Seanbgyytl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yeah. There's no money in that sale and supply of drugs business. If you wanna make the millions, you need your men in 9 to 5 PAYE stuff.

Did you read my post at all?

Red_Wake

I remember when Alan Ryan[RIRA lad in Dublin] was killed, and the SF apologists on this site were trying to spin him taxing his local drug dealers as keeping drugs out of the area.

I see the revisionism is still going.

Paedophiles, murderers and drug dealers, and they claim the moral high ground against anyone.

Seanbgyytl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Was reading the thread title and thinking precisely of this. The rave and dance in the North was, by all accounts, much bigger than in the 26 counties, and no way was that fuelled by pints or energy drinks. I guess the topic title should really be limited to heroin, and that can simply be an environmental thing, for example where I grew up half the country was on drugs, but very much party stuff, no heroin at all, it just wasn't the done thing. It hit Dublin and Glasgow harder than most other European cities, the question should really be why they were outside the norm, not NI.

By the way the OP was referring to the republican areas, drugs were certainly in the north but they wouldn't be sold in those areas whatsoever even cannabis, Back in the late 80s a provo was caught in possesion of a small amount of cannabis he was then shamed and dismissed with discgrace and rejected by his community, all over enough for a joint f****** hell.

Seanbgyytl

Red_Wake wrote: »

I remember when Alan Ryan[RIRA lad in Dublin] was killed, and the SF apologists on this site were trying to spin him taxing his local drug dealers as keeping drugs out of the area.

I see the revisionism is still going.

Paedophiles, murderers and drug dealers, and they claim the moral high ground against anyone.

SF have nothing at all to do with Alan Ryan so I don't know why you used that term, but anyways he didn't keep drugs out of anywhere.

Seanbgyytl

Seanbgyytl wrote: »

By the way the OP was referring to the republican areas, drugs were certainly in the north but they wouldn't be sold in those areas whatsoever even cannabis, Back in the late 80s a provo was caught in possesion of a small amount of cannabis he was then shamed and dismissed with discgrace and rejected by his community, all over enough for a joint f****** hell.

Can't remember Martin Ferris running his son out of Tralee.

But then again, as we learned from Liam Adams, those with connections were...different...

Seanbgyytl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Can't remember Martin Ferris running his son out of Tralee.

But then again, as we learned from Liam Adams, those with connections were...different...

Kind of irrelevant

Red_Wake

Seanbgyytl wrote: »

SF have nothing at all to do with Alan Ryan so I don't know why you used that term, but anyways he didn't keep drugs out of anywhere.

The individuals in question were SF apologists, though Ryan himself has been more celebrated and lionised by the the likes of 32CSM and such.

Seanbgyytl

Red_Wake wrote: »

The individuals in question were SF apologists, though Ryan himself has been more celebrated and lionised by the the likes of 32CSM and such.

Anyone who is a fan of Alan Ryan should despise Sinn Fein so I would guess they don't really know they're talking about.

riffmongous

Red_Wake wrote: »

The individuals in question were SF apologists, though Ryan himself has been more celebrated and lionised by the the likes of 32CSM and such.

Then they were hardly SF apologists

Conall Cernach

mfceiling wrote: »

Most of you haven't a clue. I used to be into the rave culture in the mid 90's and early 2000's. We went to clubs all over the north. Loyalists and Provos both used to sell drugs openly at these events. I never took them but I knew enough to keep my head down and ignore the blatant dealing which took place.

There was a club in Banbridge called Circus Circus. Walking up the 2 flights of stairs and there were anywhere between 20 - 30 tattooed hard men asking what you wanted..."E's, speed or acid mate"...

Other clubs would have had lads standing in the toilets dealing openly from large bags. Again eyes straight ahead and no contact.

You're living in some sort if fantasy land if you think that paramilitaries on both sides didn't peddle drugs.

I remember that club when it was called The Coach in the early 90s. Drugs were freely available in it but they were controlled by the UVF and later the LVF. Banbridge has always been a Unionist/Loyalist town. Republican/Nationalist areas had nowhere near the level of drugs as Loyalist areas.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Seanbgyytl wrote: »

Kind of irrelevant

Just to your bias.

mfceiling

Seanbgyytl wrote: »

I think we all know this is rubbish (for various reasons) but anyways I think the OP meant at an organised level just because one provo sold a few tablets doesn't mean that the IRA sells

Yeah I'd take you seriously if you grew up in the north and frequented the dance clubs in the 90's...but you didn't and I did so I think I have a better handle on it than you.

And it wasn't one provo selling a few tablets. This was clubs where 10 - 20 men covered the door (bouncers), sold huge quantities of pills in the toilets and had minions walking the floors to make sure everyone was "sorted".

One famous club in Armagh had upwards on 2000 people going through its doors on a Saturday night...fairly sure there was more than a "few pills" sold there.

mfceiling

Conall Cernach wrote: »

I remember that club when it was called The Coach in the early 90s. Drugs were freely available in it but they were controlled by the UVF and later the LVF. Banbridge has always been a Unionist/Loyalist town. Republican/Nationalist areas had nowhere near the level of drugs as Loyalist areas.

You're mixed up buddy. The coach was a different club. Circus Circus was about 500 yards past the Coach above a row of shops. People used to leave the Coach to head to Circus about 1 a.m...it was a mad place...the police turned a blind eye to it, the bar only sold soft drinks and the dj was in a cage (dj tizer)!!

FTA69

Provisional IRA mass selling ecstasy in Banbridge of all places in the early 2000s would you ever go on. Pure and utter spoof. Jesus, the IRA have done plenty to warrant criticism over the years without making stuff up.

At the end of the day, the IRA never engaged in drug trafficking because they were ideologically opposed to it. It's really that simple. If anything, people involved in that organisation tended to have a fanatical hatred of drugs bordering on the silly.

Was every IRA member a saint and did some get involved in crime? Yes (same as it was for the past 100 years). Was the IRA as an organisation involved in drugs? No. And the fact that its members served tens of thousands of years in jail without that ever coming up is practical proof enough.

mfceiling

FTA69 wrote: »

Provisional IRA mass selling ecstasy in Banbridge of all places in the early 2000s would you ever go on. Pure and utter spoof. Jesus, the IRA have done plenty to warrant criticism over the years without making stuff up.

At the end of the day, the IRA never engaged in drug trafficking because they were ideologically opposed to it. It's really that simple. If anything, people involved in that organisation tended to have a fanatical hatred of drugs bordering on the silly.

Was every IRA member a saint and did some get involved in crime? Yes (same as it was for the past 100 years). Was the IRA as an organisation involved in drugs? No. And the fact that its members served tens of thousands of years in jail without that ever coming up is practical proof enough.

Where did I mention the PIRA selling drugs in the Circus? If you'd have bothered reading the poster before me you'd have noticed that Banbridge was a Loyalist controlled town...guess who controlled the drugs trade there?

You don't believe the RA had anything to do with drugs in any of the predominantly nationalist clubs? You never went to The Arena or Exit 15? Thought not.

FTA69

Its gas the way you're trying to portray anyone disagreeing with your contentions as some sort of naieve uninformed idiot. I was politically active in the republican movement since I was around 14 years old and had relatives doing the same stretching back to the mid-60s. As someone who practically grew up in the contexts of that political trend; I'm more than familiar with the ins and outs of it. As I said above; the IRA were never involved in drugs, were largely implored by their communities and support base to keep drugs out of certain areas and for all their many deeds, never had people convicted of such behaviour.

During the time you're alluding to the military side of things was winding up and they were building a political vehicle in the form of Sinn Fein. The notion of tattooed Provos knocking out big bag of yokes in the 2000s is a ludicrous caricature with little or no bearing in reality. Jesus, it's not even reflected in the media coverage of the time and god knows they were throwing every spurious accusation under the sun at SF at the time.

mfceiling

FTA69 wrote: »

Its gas the way you're trying to portray anyone disagreeing with your contentions as some sort of naieve uninformed idiot. I was politically active in the republican movement since I was around 14 years old and had relatives doing the same stretching back to the mid-60s. As someone who practically grew up in the contexts of that political trend; I'm more than familiar with the ins and outs of it. As I said above; the IRA were never involved in drugs, were largely implored by their communities and support base to keep drugs out of certain areas and for all their many deeds, never had people convicted of such behaviour.

During the time you're alluding to the military side of things was winding up and they were building a political vehicle in the form of Sinn Fein. The notion of tattooed Provos knocking out big bag of yokes in the 2000s is a ludicrous caricature with little or no bearing in reality. Jesus, it's not even reflected in the media coverage of the time and god knows they were throwing every spurious accusation under the sun at SF at the time.

Can you read? Seriously can you read and understand English? The tattooed hard men I mentioned were on the way into The Circus...in Banbridge...which was a Loyalist stronghold...and it was in the mid to late 90's. I was there most Saturday nights for almost a year...same craic every Saturday night. No caricature...plenty of reality.

You know that the provos had absolutely zero involvement in drugs. Cool, I'll take your word for it then.

Yamanoto

FTA69 wrote: »

If anything, people involved in that organisation tended to have a fanatical hatred of drugs bordering on the silly.

Odd then, that they'd choose to provide training & assistance to one of the world's most infamous narco-terrorist organisations.

Indeed how SF / IRA squared the circle of FARC's use of child soldiers, mass rape & violence against indigenous people with their own supposed progressive and inclusive ideology is baffling, to say the least.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Yamanoto wrote: »

Odd then, that they'd choose to provide training & assistance to one of the world's most infamous narco-terrorist organisations.

Indeed how SF / IRA squared the circle of FARC's use of child soldiers, mass rape & violence against indigenous people with their own supposed progressive and inclusive ideology is baffling, to say the least.

The biggest drug traffickers in Colombia at that point were the right-wing paramilitaries. They were also the biggest victimizers, killing over 80% of civilians who died in the conflict and displacing most of the six million or so who lost their homes in the war.

(Colombia has the second highest number of internally displaced people after Syria, their land usually taken by ranchers and industrialists) https://colombiareports.com/para-economics-in-colombia/

Anyway, not to go too easy on FARC, they are utter scum. But the IRA have committed many of the same atrocities or even taught them to FARC- they seem to have given them the idea of the 'proxy bomb', perhaps better described as a coerced suicide bomber.

mfceiling

mfceiling wrote: »

Most of you haven't a clue. I used to be into the rave culture in the mid 90's and early 2000's. We went to clubs all over the north. Loyalists and Provos both used to sell drugs openly at these events. I never took them but I knew enough to keep my head down and ignore the blatant dealing which took place.

There was a club in Banbridge called Circus Circus. Walking up the 2 flights of stairs and there were anywhere between 20 - 30 tattooed hard men asking what you wanted..."E's, speed or acid mate"...

Other clubs would have had lads standing in the toilets dealing openly from large bags. Again eyes straight ahead and no contact.

You're living in some sort if fantasy land if you think that paramilitaries on both sides didn't peddle drugs.

Ah yeah Banbridge, full of Fenians. I suppose the Provos made loads in Ballymena and Portadown while they were at it. :rolleyes:

ScumLord

FTA69 wrote: »

At the end of the day, the IRA never engaged in drug trafficking because they were ideologically opposed to it. It's really that simple. If anything, people involved in that organisation tended to have a fanatical hatred of drugs bordering on the silly.

The Italian mob said the same thing at first, they'd kill anyone found dealing. But then the money started rolling in and they basically had no choice in the matter.

I used ecstasy in the mid naughties and it was common knowledge all the drugs came through the IRA. Now maybe that was all just talk and people were going around saying they were getting drugs off the IRA but I'd imagine they couldn't go around saying that for long if it wasn't true.

As far as I knew the IRA were involved in all sorts of illegal activity to support their cause, including selling drugs. where else would they get the money to buy weapons.

FTA69

ScumLord wrote: »

The Italian mob said the same thing at first, they'd kill anyone found dealing. But then the money started rolling in and they basically had no choice in the matter.

I used ecstasy in the mid naughties and it was common knowledge all the drugs came through the IRA. Now maybe that was all just talk and people were going around saying they were getting drugs off the IRA but I'd imagine they couldn't go around saying that for long if it wasn't true.

As far as I knew the IRA were involved in all sorts of illegal activity to support their cause, including selling drugs. where else would they get the money to buy weapons.

The IRA was always short of money, it spent huge amounts of time trying to acquire it. Money predominantly came from donations, robberies, smuggling and a rake of semi-legitimate businesses; which is pretty much out in the open these days.

Your point doesn't make sense to be honest, you're basically saying that the IRA condoned people going around publically stating they were supplying drugs - hardly something that would be of benefit to them at the time Sinn Fein was building a growing party and trying to win support. Also to reiterate a point I made earlier, if the IRA were running these sale and supply massive drug empires how come none of them ever were caught or served time for it? I mean thousands and thousands of people went to jail for IRA activities over the course of the past fifty years.

At the end of the day Republicans couldn't have won working class support if they were the people seen to be involved in drugs. From a personal point of view, I've never heard of anyone associated with the organisation selling drugs and any dealers in the area I grew up in were just run of the mill scumbags.

Zebra3

PIRA was riddled with touts back in the day.

A huge PR coup by the Brits would've been to expose PIRA figures or the organisation itself as being involved in drug dealing.

Yet my understanding is that there was pretty much zilch. Arms dumps found all over the place. Convictions left, right and centre for murder, robbery, knee callings, whatever.

But for dealing drugs? Nowt as the Brits would say.

Strangely enough while the Brits like spreading this propaganda they never had an issue with the CIA dealing drugs. Nothing like a good auld bout of hypocrisy.

Junkyard Tom

Zebra3 wrote: »

PIRA was riddled with touts back in the day.

That's another popular myth that has been propagated by the media.

In fact, by the 1990s the resilience of the IRA was a crucial factor encouraging the British government to include Provisional Republicans in a political settlement. The IRA’s military strength by the 1990s also points towards the prominence of political factors in persuading the IRA to call a ceasefire by 1994.

academic.oup.com/tcbh/article-abstract

maccored

Red_Wake wrote: »

I remember when Alan Ryan[RIRA lad in Dublin] was killed, and the SF apologists on this site were trying to spin him taxing his local drug dealers as keeping drugs out of the area.

I see the revisionism is still going.

Paedophiles, murderers and drug dealers, and they claim the moral high ground against anyone.

weird memory you have. SF people defending the realIRA? sounds like afairytales to me. any links to post to back up your claims?