Overview

Who is the 'real' IRA?The Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army, the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA have all assumed responsibility for the struggle for Irish freedom over the course of the late-twentieth century. Yet as recently as 1969 there was only one Irish Republican Army which had attempted to unify Ireland using physical force.Andrew Sanders explains how and why the transition from one IRA to several IRAs occurred, analysing all the dissident factions that have emerged since the outbreak of the Northern Ireland troubles. He looks at why these groups emerged, what their respective purposes are, and why, in an era of relative peace and stability in Northern Ireland, they seek to prolong the violence that cost over 3500 lives.Key FeaturesExclusive interviews with members of all dissident and mainstream republican organizations, all loyalist factions and security force sources.Extensive archival research.The first scholarly analysis of Irish republican division.Shows influence of Irish-America in provoking dissent within republicanism.

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9780748641123

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Reviews

A compelling study of one of the most important themes in modern Irish politics. The question of schism and re-born militancy remains potent in contemporary Irish republicanism, and Sanders' historically informed analysis represents a significant, illuminating interpretation. -- Richard English, author of Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA A compelling study of one of the most important themes in modern Irish politics. The question of schism and re-born militancy remains potent in contemporary Irish republicanism, and Sanders' historically informed analysis represents a significant, illuminating interpretation.

A compelling study of one of the most important themes in modern Irish politics. The question of schism and re-born militancy remains potent in contemporary Irish republicanism, and Sanders' historically informed analysis represents a significant, illuminating interpretation. -- Richard English, author of Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA A compelling study of one of the most important themes in modern Irish politics. The question of schism and re-born militancy remains potent in contemporary Irish republicanism, and Sanders' historically informed analysis represents a significant, illuminating interpretation.

Inside the IRA triumphs in its attempts to provide a consistent narrative and analysis of what is a complex and often controversial era of history … Sanders’ work currently stands alone in this field and is a testament to thorough scholarship and cogent historical reasoning. * British Politics and Policy at LSE Blog * Inside the IRA triumphs in its attempts to provide a consistent narrative and analysis of what is a complex and often controversial era of history … Sanders’ work currently stands alone in this field and is a testament to thorough scholarship and cogent historical reasoning. * British Politics and Policy at LSE Blog * A one-stop-shop for those who want a comprehensive overview of the republican family ... there is still a place for books that take the longer and broader view, and Sanders makes a solid contribution to the genre. -- Henry Patterson, University of Ulster * Irish Political Review * A one-stop-shop for those who want a comprehensive overview of the republican family ... there is still a place for books that take the longer and broader view, and Sanders makes a solid contribution to the genre. -- Henry Patterson, University of Ulster * Irish Political Studies * Inside the IRA: Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy challenges Irish historians to seek both an internal analysis and an external observation to frame the pattern of Irish republican factionalisation … The sweeping rigor of this book provocatively offers a frank discussion of the controversial concept of republican revisionism that is based upon the author’s attentive scholarship. -- Margaret Keiley-Listermann, Georgia Gwinnett College * The Journal of British Studies * Inside the IRA: Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy challenges Irish historians to seek both an internal analysis and an external observation to frame the pattern of Irish republican factionalisation … The sweeping rigor of this book provocatively offers a frank discussion of the controversial concept of republican revisionism that is based upon the author’s attentive scholarship. -- Margaret Keiley-Listermann, Georgia Gwinnett College * The Journal of British Studies * A compelling study of one of the most important themes in modern Irish politics. The question of schism and re-born militancy remains potent in contemporary Irish republicanism, and Sanders' historically informed analysis represents a significant, illuminating interpretation. -- Richard English, author of Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA A compelling study of one of the most important themes in modern Irish politics. The question of schism and re-born militancy remains potent in contemporary Irish republicanism, and Sanders' historically informed analysis represents a significant, illuminating interpretation. -- Richard English, author of Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA

Author Information

Andrew Sanders is John Moore Newman Research Fellow, UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin. He is the author of Inside the IRA: Dissident Republicans and the War for Legitimacy (Edinburgh University Press, 2011)

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