Our Day Will Come: The Politico-Military Strategy of the Irish Republican Movement, 1916-2002

Date of Graduation

Spring 2003

Degree

Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies

Department

Defense and Strategic Studies

Committee Chair

Ulrike Schumacher

Abstract

For several decades, the Irish republican movement, composed of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and its front group Sinn Fein (SF), adhered to a strategy of armed struggle in its objective of eradicating the British presence in Northern Ireland and unifying the North with the Irish Republic. The 1994 ceasefire and subsequent participation in the "peace process" has marked the culmination of a new stage in republican strategy. This study analyzes the evolution of republican politico-military strategy in order to understand the relationship between force and politics. The research findings suggest that though the political strategy has been successful in recent years, the military strategy will ultimately remain the core of the republican movement. In this sense, the peace strategy can be seen as the continuation of the struggle by other means.

Subject Categories

Defense and Security Studies

Copyright

© Christopher P. Marcoux

Citation-only

Dissertation/Thesis

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