History of the Troubles

A Troubles history based on British records will not be the whole story but it’s still worth it

Brian Walker on November 26, 2021, 8:24 pm

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Irish Times columnist and distinguished historian Diarmaid Ferriter dismisses the British government proposal for an “official” British history of the Troubles. Although it could hardly be the last word, this is a project I believe is well worth exploring if it means opening state archives to independent historians. If an amnesty of some sort is passed, greater access to state records would be part of the deal, to accompany the end of prosecutions. While such a deal would produce furious …

Professional historians will be wary of terms like these for writing an official History of the Troubles

Brian Walker on November 15, 2021, 5:43 pm

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The Daily Telegraph reports… An official history of The Troubles will be commissioned under government plans, amid fears the narrative of the conflict is being distorted by republicans. It would also focus on the role of the British Government and Armed Forces in the 30-year sectarian conflict, including the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972, when 13 civilians were shot dead by troops. If signed off, the official history project would sit alongside a package of measures announced earlier this year to …

Is there a spirit of the Troubles that could help see us through Covid 19?

Brian Walker on March 20, 2020, 2:09 pm

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Some people have been invoking “the Blitz spirit” to cope with the “war” against coronavirus. Is there a Troubles spirit that might help too? Perhaps. In the early 70s the threat of the no warning bomb was the terrifying norm. People skirted around incidents and shopkeepers called in council workers and the glaziers, (a highly profitable trade), to clear up the mess. It helped that a chief constable’s certificate rather than insurance became the norm for claiming compensation. Once town …

We have it easy today compared to what happened after 5th October 1968

Brian Walker on October 5, 2018, 6:58 pm

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October 5 1968 was indeed a sort of Bastille Day for Northern Ireland when a single event triggered a “ bliss it was to be alive” moment. Like the French Revolution it was followed by a long and darkening era of violence when “ things would never be the same again”. Of course it had deep roots in the past. It emulated a wave of street actions in the US, Paris and Prague, all with different outcomes. Whole volumes of …

Kevin McNamara RIP, champion of an old Labour approach to Ireland

Brian Walker on August 7, 2017, 10:43 am

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The late prime minister Jim Callaghan was said to have described Kevin McNamara once as “the Fianna Fail member for Kingston upon Hull North”. Kevin himself recalled how Tony Blair on being elected Labour leader summoned him and told him straight : “I don’t want you in my shadow cabinet.” At which Kevin rose from his seat and walked out. Both anecdotes say a lot about of Kevin’s outlook but not the whole story. He was an unapologetic and consistent …

Brendan Duddy RIP. A peace maker in real time

Brian Walker on May 13, 2017, 7:30 pm

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It is remarkable, in an age of sophisticated back channels and espionage replete with digital and satellite communications, how a modest domestic background figured so significantly in the moves which eventually led to the ceasefires – and all the more effectively for it. The problem was how to establish trust when contacts had to be deniable, were often dangerous and were frequently interrupted by another piece of violence. Key contacts were often made in Derry, presumably because the town never …

Martin McGuinness’s limited self revelations of the IRA boss and the peace-making politician, will be worth studying for years

Brian Walker on March 21, 2017, 10:36 am

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Although I may be speaking too soon, it comes as a relief that the traditional Irish decencies are being observed on the death of Martin McGuinness, not only on merit but for the sake of preserving relations between the DUP and Sinn Fein. It’s too early to speculate how his death will affect the interparty talks. I doubt if we’ll ever be sure whether quitting the Assembly was fully his own decision, or if his need to retire from illness …

A quiet reformer of church practice and a frustrated man of peace. Bishop Edward Daly remembered

Brian Walker on August 8, 2016, 8:28 pm

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While it was cameraman Cyril Cave’s iconic image of the priest with the blood stained hankie that shot Eddie (known to intimates as Ned) Daly to unwanted fame, his appointment soon after Bloody Sunday as bishop of Derry marked a discreet but substantial change in the ordinary life of the church and Catholic society behind the Troubles. His predecessor Bishop Neil Farren who had concelebrated the Bloody Sunday funeral masses in the dying days of a thirty year tenure, was …